June 12th: A Special Day

In the month of June, there are so many things going on. It's where people get excited over the weather. It starts getting hot. Or in some cases, hotter. Then, just as all the other months have, June has birthdays and anniversaries. Whether it's the anniversary of your college graduation, the anniversary of a friendship, or a wedding anniversary that's in it's 1st year or maybe even 13, 20 years. Whatever the case, it's all happening this month.

But what's more exciting to many people, especially amongst the puerto rican people, is the Puerto Rican Day Parade. The first Puerto Rican Day Parade took place on Sunday, April 12, 1958 in "El Barrio". The Parade went National in 1995 to extend its borders and outreach. The Parade was established to create a national conscience and to appreciate the Puerto Rican culture and its contributions to the American society. It also stimulates the study, progress and development of the Puerto Rican culture and art. The National Puerto Rican Day Parade is a yearly event with on-going educational, cultural, social and artistic presentations throughout the year. Close to two million people attend the Parade making it the largest outdoor celebration event in the United States.

Of course, I went to this event many times as a young girl. But I stopped going because I could not stand the crowds and millions of Puerto Rican people yelling and showing each other love. What? Showing each other love? Yes, it's true. Only on the this day does every Puerto Rican person show love to one another. It's actually nice. But the next day, there's no hugging strangers or high fiving another PR person in the streets or subways for miles.

Now, it's a nice day for all the PR people, but some of them can get really stupid. A few years ago, there was the attack on a few young girls by several boys at the parade. When you have things like that, it only makes the PR people look bad. It's bad enough that they already do now, but it was a bit shocking to know that this happened on that day. Hopefully, when the parade comes about on June 12th, it will be a good day for all. Even those that are not PR can enjoy the day.

So if you want to stop by and see why this pararde is the most talked about, go down to Manhattan's 5th avenue. Get there early for a front row view and watch all the people come down dancing and smiling. Listen to the music and hug a fellow PR person. Don't worry about the millions of PR people riding the subways and walking around. June 12th is a special day for them and they will only be more than happy to show you why.