There are a lot of stories out right now that center around some of the negative aspects of the world, so instead I’d rather draw your attention to a celebration that involves heritage and pride. 

And that celebration is National Puerto Rican Day in New York City.

The National Puerto Rican Day Parade is on Sunday, June 12 this year and will be sure to bring about some of the best aspects of the Puerto Rican culture! Interestingly enough, you don’t have to be Puerto Rican to join in on the festivities either (of course)!

The celebration, which marks its 59th year of tradition, plans to be exceptionally rowdy and will cause the streets of New York to be filled with traditional dancing, singing and more.

One of the exciting parts of the parade is that there will also be celebrity honorees who will be in attendance too.

Some names on the 2016 roster are people like Rosario Dawson and Carmelo Anthony, who have been deemed this year’s “queen” and “king” of the parade, respectively.

The Puerto Rican Day Parade is the largest pride festival in the nation, and is focused on providing cultural, educational, social and cultural events that take place all over New York each year.

Not only is its importance needed to continue spreading awareness about the current 5 million Puerto Ricans that reside in the U.S. today, but it allows people to be exposed to another culture in a fun and eventful way.

Being from Panama myself, I love to see large celebrations of someone’s culture and heritage being displayed for others to see. And though I wish we too had a parade, I’m all for helping to promote another day honoring others!

America is made of so many different people, that parades like this only make sense.

What makes this year even more special is that this is the first year that WABC-TV in New York will be broadcasting the family friendly event.

There is an estimated 1.5 million spectators coming to the party and around 100,000 participants in scheduled events.

The NPRDP group also establish events leading up the parade to spread awareness.

This only makes the point more poignant and vocalized, connecting to their parade theme “Un Pueblo, Mas Voces” (One nation, Many Voices) and truly showcasing the variety that lives within every Puerto Rican person.

 Not only does the celebration bring about a sense of pride and heritage for people, but it also acts as an extension for good deeds; the organizers offer student scholarships every year for high school seniors with outstanding grades.

Two years ago, the organization was able to provide $30,000 worth of scholarships to lucky recipients.

This year, they were able to provide $120,000 worth of scholarship; a big leap and even bigger impact for people who want to apply.

Students each year are able to submit an application in the hopes of gaining a scholarship. This year they are awarding sixty scholarships in total, each one worth $2,000.

They also plan to hold a food drive for needy families as well. The point that the organization tries to always make is that helping out your community, helps you and all people in the long run.

I have never personally been to NPRDP myself, but I hope to attend in the near future to be a part of this amazing opportunity. All I can say about the NPRDP committee is ¡Viva Puerto Rico!

Hello, New York City. I’ll be coming for you!