Lucecita: Musician & Activist Blacklisted For Her Refusal To Whiten Her Appearance

0 Posted by - February 15, 2022 - LATEST POSTS

Lucecita (Luz Esther Benítez) – musician and activist.

Lucecita was blacklisted from Puerto Rican television during the early 1970s for her refusal to whiten her appearance and for her support of revolutionary movements in Puerto Rico and Cuba (many Puerto Rican television stations were owned and staffed primarily by white cuban exiles). In response to the harsh criticism she drew due to her adoption of what was referred to by the Puerto Rican press as ‘the African look’, Lucecita released songs that rejected eurocentrism and celebrated the African heritage of Puerto Rico. She also transgressed gendered boundaries by performing in ‘masculine’ outfits, such as suits and tuxedos, which were traditionally never worn by women on stage. In addition to her outfits, Lucecita often used masculine adjectives in her songs and interviews, sometimes interchanging between masculine and feminine. The catholic church and homophobia were also targets of Lucecita, both of which she openly criticized throughout the 1970s.

article found @https://foreverblackeffusion.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/lucecita-luz-esther-benitez-musician-and-activist/

2 Comments

  • Patricia Kayden August 26, 2018 - 9:44 am

    Can you fix your pages so that the photos are fully visible. Your headline cuts off the top of the photos.

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