I called my cousin in Chile today to discuss the Benito Bowl, and commiserate about the fact that there is one family member who shall remain nameless who HAD NEVER EVEN HEARD OF Bad Bunny until seeing something about it on my Instagram.
Unfathomable.
Anyway, said cousin and I have been fans for a while. He even had a section from one of his songs included in his digital wedding invitation back in 2022. More than discussing the show itself, we also wanted to talk politics, cause we also have that in common.
He thought it was perfect, but wished it was more explicitly political… Maybe a mention of ICE? But I thought it was just perfect, punto. Because Bad Bunny had already opened his Grammy speech with “ICE OUT!” the previous week, and what he did at that football game was not only art, it was magic.
In magic, as in politics, it’s important to know what you’re against. But it’s even more important to know what you’re for.
Politically, I don’t even have to go too deep into this. If you have any desire for a fair and healthy planet, you already know that—especially in the U.S.—a major challenge has been that politicians and movements often struggle to articulate a vision people can get excited about. It’s much easier to mobilize opposition than it is to inspire devotion to a shared future.
When working magic, sometimes it’s easier to start with the negative: I don’t want to be single. Okay, great. But who do you want to be with? What kind of person? What qualities, what dynamic, what shared vision? Getting into a clear, vivid understanding of what is required for you to feel happy and fulfilled in a relationship matters just as much (if not more) than knowing what to avoid.
Yes, knowing what you don’t want helps you steer clear of it. And sometimes the anger or energy generated by opposition can be channeled productively.
But what was so incredible about el espectáculo de medio tiempo del Super Tazón was that while it visually and narratively named many of the challenges of Puerto Rico and nodded to the latin experience (the blackouts aka hurricane Maria’s devastation, Ricky Martin!! Singing in Spanish!! About colonialism!!), it focused even more powerfully on what we are for.
And what we are for was depicted as joy, dance, beauty, community, connection (come on, an actual wedding!), food, drink... things people can rally around, things that feel alive.
So whether you watched it casually, stuck between halves of the game, and simply enjoyed the spectacle… or whether you experienced it the way so many Latinos around the world did, as a spell being cast for our collective future (because a spell is a ritual that enacts the future that you want to see in reality, and that’s exactly what Bad Bunny did on Sunday), there’s a lesson there.
When the time comes, you go all in. You bet the ranch, or the casita, as the case may be, on the vision of what you want, without letting yourself get distracted.
The most moving moment, of course, was when he said:
"Mi nombre es Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, y si hoy estoy aquí en el Super Bowl 60, es porque nunca, nunca dejé de creer en mí. Tú también deberías de creer en ti. Vales más de lo que piensas. Confía en mí."
Translation: "My name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and if I'm here today at Super Bowl 60, it's because I never, ever stopped believing in myself. You should also believe in yourself. You're worth more than you think. Trust me."
😭
And again, that reminder is just as vital for our political work as it is for our magical endeavors.
Believe in the vision. Believe in yourself.
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I don’t believe in magic, but I know that it works!
Magic is not a belief system, it’s a practice that works. Don’t believe me? Come try it out. If it doesn’t work, you lose nothing. But if it does… your dream life is about to begin!
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“El poder está en la acción.”
— Maritza Schafer