Communications

Statement on Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan

January 19, 2021: In an article for PRISM, journalist Tina Vásquez exposed prominent human rights lawyer and activist Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan for posing as Latina despite being a white North American. Ora Bannan has asserted a Latina identity due to the fact that she was raised by a Colombian stepfather who played a crucial role in her identity formation. We recognize that culture and identity may be deeply personal, but at the same time that it is socially and historically constructed. As such, we do not wish to act as arbiters of her claims to Latina identity. Instead, we wish to discuss the implications of Ora Bannan’s claims to Puerto Rican identity based solely on a political and “spiritual” connection to the archipelago and diaspora. Indeed, Ora Bannan is only the latest example of a white North American woman claiming a Puerto Rican identity. 

Just a few months ago, Jessica Krug resigned from her position at George Washington University after a group of scholars found evidence of her  posing as Afro-Puerto Rican and exposed the ways Krug had violently inserted herself into Black, Puerto Rican, and Latinx spaces. These performances of Puerto Rican identity, despite the intentions and political commitments of the individuals involved, were deceptive and harmful. Further, such actions have, whether intentionally or not, disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable and marginalized members of our communities. 

The controversy surrounding Ora Bannan’s spurious claims to Puerto Rican identity has uncovered the entrenched race, class, and place-based hierarchies that structure dominant understandings of Puerto Rican identity and who is Puerto Rican. Our colleagues Zaire Dinzey-Flores and Hilda Lloréns have eloquently expressed how Ora Bannan’s deception was enabled by the racial exclusions embedded within latinidad and puertorriqueñidad, which fetishize whiteness. As they powerfully note, “Each time someone is ‘outed’ for passing, we are reminded that it is often easier for a White woman from Kansas or Georgia to be accepted as Latina, than it is for actual Black and Afro-Latinxs.” The easy acceptance of Ora Bannan’s claims to Puerto Rican identity compel us to reckon with the ways that discourses of mestizaje, such as “la gran familia puertorriqueña,” allow white North Americans with no discernible ties to Puerto Rico to be accepted as boricua while Black, Afro- and Asian-Puerto Ricans are constantly questioned and treated with suspicion. 

In addition, this controversy is also a painful reminder of the tensions between Puerto Ricans in the archipelago and in the diaspora. Prominent Puerto Rico-based activists have defended Ora Bannan on the grounds that she has a long-standing record of working alongside Puerto Ricans on decolonization and causes such as anti-militarism in Vieques. We can’t help but note that, historically, the same grace has not been extended to Puerto Ricans from the US. Puerto Ricans in the diaspora, particularly those who are Black or of a mixed ethnic background, those who might not have fluency in Spanish, or those who might not have spent significant time in the archipelago, are often made to feel “less than” or like imposters. Puerto Rican Studies teaches us about the ways that Puerto Ricans in the diaspora have fought to expand the boundaries of Puerto Rican identity in order to reflect the complexities of identity formation under colonialism. We see that the struggle of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora to be accepted and included within puertorriqueñidad is now being used to extend “honorary boricua” status to a white North American woman. On the other hand, we have also seen individuals call for stricter conceptions of Puerto Rican identity, boundaries which will inevitably exclude Puerto Ricans in the diaspora who might not conform to narrow ideas of what Puerto Ricans should look or sound like. 

We do not discount Ora Bannan’s work and advocacy, but we do note that, in order to do that work, she did not need to assume a Puerto Rican identity. White North Americans and other non-Puerto Ricans have often worked alongside Puerto Ricans as they struggled for freedom and human rights both in the archipelago and diaspora. Historically, Puerto Rican social movements, such as the struggle to free the political prisoners or eject the U.S. Navy from Vieques, have often been sites of multiracial and multiethnic coalition.

Ora Bannan recently issued an apology that relies on the supposed porosity of Latinidad and Puerto Rican identity as a justification for her actions. We urge Ora Bannan to acknowledge the harm her deceptive claims of Puerto Rican identity have caused. Only then can the work of repairing and restoring relationships and trust begin.

Ultimately, the controversy around Ora Bannan’s claims to both Latinidad and puertorriqueñidad reminds us that we must continue to discuss the ways in which white supremacy and colonialism continue to structure who is included and excluded from our communities. At PRSA, we are committed to these conversations and we invite everyone to join us in having them on social media, at future events, and at our conferences. 

PRSA stands in solidarity with the people harmed by these acts. As a coalition of Puerto Ricans from both the archipelago and the diaspora, we also stand against the exclusions and hierarchies between us and will actively work to strengthen ties of solidarity between Puerto Ricans everywhere.