Like a 19th-century sugar cane plantation brought to life, Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show staged a visually rich jíbaro vision of Puerto Rico—the foundational cultural figure representing the island’s self-sufficient, hardworking mountain farmers—in Santa Clara, Calif., a region long shaped by Spanish colonization and U.S. expansion, on land where Ohlone (specifically Tamien/Tamyen) people lived alongside coastal Miwuk, Patwin and Yokut communities.
The show’s imagery underscored layered histories of colonization and empire that resonated beyond the stadium.
A love letter to Puerto Rico, its diaspora and Latino people across the globe, the performance suggested that love was indeed stronger than hate, as millions danced to the sounds of freedom, whether they recognized it or not.
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