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February 8th has always mattered in my family. It’s my youngest sister’s birthday—the unexpected arrival who insists, correctly, that her day deserves celebration. So when the whole country seemed to throw a party on Sunday evening, we let her believe it was just for her.
We gathered at my parents’ house and watched what was billed as the Super Bowl halftime show—but became something much more. It wasn’t just entertaining. It was joyful. And in this moment, joy itself feels like defiance.
From the start, Bad Bunny rejected expectations.
He didn’t open on a football field, but in sugarcane fields—grounded in Puerto Rico’s history and in the lives of people whose families labored on land they would never own. Cotton fields. Rice paddies. Farms that fed others, not themselves. He didn’t deny that history; he transformed it into celebration.
In 13 minutes, he told familiar stories—of birthdays, weddings, dominoes, music, and dance as acts of survival and resistance. He transcended language, trusting us to understand meaning without translation. Through rhythm and imagery, he told a universal immigrant truth: whether you came here by choice or by force, this is home—and what happens next is up to you.
As the show ended, the internet argued over what he said. My 77-year-old mother said it best:
Did I understand the words? No. Did I understand the message? Absolutely.
Before more than 135 million people, he reminded us that darkness may feel inevitable—but joy is still a choice. He acknowledged hardship without letting it win. He made a political statement without slogans. His presence alone said what’s happening in this country is wrong, and silence isn’t required.
When he symbolically handed his Grammy to a young Latino boy, it wasn’t about trophies or firsts. It was about refusing traditions that deny dignity and safety. On the world’s biggest stage, he modeled civil disobedience—showing that resistance happens not only in the streets, but wherever power expects compliance.
He widened the lens beyond the United States, flying the flags of Latin America and centering Puerto Rico’s affordability, displacement, and energy crises as daily realities. And he reminded us Puerto Rico isn’t an exception. Swap in Mississippi, Georgia, Nevada, or Nebraska. These aren’t anomalies; they’re warnings.
Democracy only survives if it delivers.
And it has before. Labor rights, civil rights, voting rights—all proof that change is possible, which is exactly why our opponents try to erase those victories.
By the end, the metaphor was clear: we’re in a political halftime. Democracy and authoritarianism are on the field. The score may not favor us—but the game isn’t over.
Bad Bunny spiked the football and gave us the play. Together, we’re still here.
Now let’s go fight—and win.
This week on our podcast Assembly Required [ [link removed] ], I spoke with my friend Joy-Ann Reid . Check it out now ⬇️
Go Deeper
I spoke with Anne Applebaum for the Autocracy in America [ [link removed] ] Podcast about the attacks on our voting rights ahead of the midterm elections, and about how Republicans and the Trump regime are trying to rig our elections.
But Wait, There’s More
I joined Brad Rourke from the Kettering Foundation for The Stakes [ [link removed] ] podcast, to talk about the FBI’s raid on the Fulton County Elections Office, and the assault on voting rights ahead of the midterms. Watch below ⬇️
Doesn’t Stop There
I joined the Brown Ambition [ [link removed] ] podcast for a great conversation about the 10 Steps Campaign [ [link removed] ], and many other things. Take a listen ⬇️

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