Princess Nokia Is Doing What Our Government Failed To Do—Launching A Hurricane Maria Relief Initiative

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last September, the island was not only devastated but Puerto Rico’s government recently admitted that more than 1,400 deaths occurred as a result of the natural disaster. One thing that became very clear to many, was the lack of support our federal government provided for the island. The Trump Administration and FEMA failed to help victims in Puerto Rico recover and because of it Puerto Ricans still remain in need of help and support, which is why Nuyorican rapper Princess Nokia is doing something about it.

The feminist artist and social justice activist recently announced a new initiative called Hood 2 La Gente, a campaign with the aim to provide direct support to organizations on the island. Nokia announced the news a few days ago on Instagram.

“We are launching this campaign to not only bring awareness to the political crisis in Puerto Rico but to support grassroots organizations working to actually serve, not exploit, the people. We know we cannot trust the government or the millionaire non-profits aligned with it to fight for our people,” she wrote. “We are excited and honored to be partnering with community-centered organizations including Sol es Via, el Hormiguero, Luis Llorens Torres projects, Urbe Apie, the Puerto Rico Trans Youth Coalition and el Centro de Apoyo Mutuo de Utuado. Join us in supporting organizations putting in real work for la gente de Puerto Rico, not for the government and Wall Street. Our goal is to raise at least $2,000 for each organization we are partnering with in Puerto Rico. From the Hood to La Gente, united we stand for Puerto Rico!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPXZ0pgapI/

Nokia even called people out in positions of privilege or power and encouraged them to donate.

“I myself am personally donating $1000 to launch the Donation,” she continued. “I ask any one in any position of privilege or power to be generous and kind and donate their resources to this cause …”

Nokia also shared a post announcing that Hood 2 La Gente is also accepting donations at the Justice Center en el Barrio, located in East Harlem, NYC. They are accepting everything from non-perishable foods, school supplies, first aid supplies, handheld gardening tools, battery powered tools and more.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmOVRTcgCm0/?taken-by=princessnokia

Hurricane Maria was a humanitarian crisis that left those who managed to survive the storm with destroyed homes, no power and little to no food. Even nine months after the hurricane (this past June), a number of Puerto Ricans on the island still didn’t have power. Unreliable power also means having to depend on limited canned foods that don’t need to be stored in refrigerators. The devastating crisis also lead to a drastic increase in suicide rates on the island. In the months since the hurricane, there was a 29 percent increase in suicides.

The situation has been tragic but we’re happy to see someone like Princess Nokia really stepping up and doing what she can for the people of Puerto Rico—which our government seems to forget are also U.S. citizens.

To help out, donate to Hood 2 La Gente’s gofundme Puerto Rico Relief page here.