ThrobbingHood
“I’m Sorry for 2025”
Black people rallying around Bad Bunny and the Super Bowl stands in stark contrast to their feelings about the election.
Bad Bunny told America on “Saturday Night Live” last week that people still have a few months to learn Spanish to get ready to best enjoy his Super Bowl halftime show performance.
Some Black people aren’t playing about it, as seen on social media.
There’s a groundswell of support bubbling up for the international superstar, withplenty of posts and comments among Black people celebrating Bad Bunny’s selection for the prestigious gig.
It’s a national conversation about who gets represented on one of the biggest stages in American sports and entertainment – and how language and identity play into that.
Actor and creator O’Neil Thomas has shared massively successful posts about learning Spanish in the time since Bad Bunny and the NFL made the consequential announcement.
Puerto Rican singing sensation and actor Ricky Martin liked Thomas’ first post; language education app Duolingo commented, “I see a 4 month Spanish streak in your future.” The post amassed more than 9 million views.
Thomas told CNN in a recent interview thathe’s been Facetiming with his Dominican friend to learn Bad Bunny music lyrics and how to properly pronounce necessary words. His family is getting in on the Spanish lessons, since they always watch the halftime show together. This year, they will be joined by some of his Latino friends.
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‘Here in Puerto Rico, we support all the African American issues’
Emil Medina worked with Bad Bunny for four years as the founder and chief operating officer of Buena Vibra Group, a Puerto Rican creative firm. Medina said the artist is a “creative genius” who is “like a sponge” and very much tapped into all the conversation being had about and around him.Bad Bunny is also someone who stands firm in his support of marginalized people.
“We’re the agency that helped Bad Bunny promote his first years and we started sharing info (with Bad Bunny) about the social injustice in United States because he wants to do the crossover (into the US market),” Medina explained. “And in 2020, when the George Floyd incident happened, we created a local statement (in Puerto Rico) with Black Lives Matter. People were not aware about Black Lives Matter, and we created a big footprint and some murals on the streets and Bad Bunny was a strong advocate.”
Puerto Rico is the home of “African Caribbeans and we have a strong connection with the African American community,” Medina said.
He added that “here in Puerto Rico, we support all the African American issues,” and pointed out that young Puerto Ricans in particular are politically engaged.
“They’re very active, they are very well outspoken about those issues,” Medina said. “And that’s the biggest fandom of Bad Bunny.”
