Together We Are America

"The only thing more powerful than hate is love"

Emerging from a maze of sugar cane fields erected on the Super Bowl playing field, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny delivered a halftime history lesson wrapped in spectacle and woven into a cultural kaleidoscope of struggle, hope, love, possibility, and resilience.

The sugar cane provided a silent reminder of a dark history when U.S. forces invaded Puerto Rico in 1898 to “liberate” Puerto Rico from Spanish rule. They quickly colonized the country, drove small farmers off their land, converted it into sugar plantations, and forced workers into low-wage plantation labor on land they once owned, paying them as little as 12 cents a day.

Bad Bunny sang, in Spanish, “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, and you should also believe in yourself, you’re worth more than you think.”

Bad Bunny danced with Puerto Rican women whose ancestors were subjected to a massive sterilization campaign after the U.S. claimed that overpopulation was responsible for the island’s poverty, unemployment, and “backwardness,” rather than the U.S. exploitation of the country’s national resources.

Lady Gaga performed a salsa version of her hit song “Die With a Smile.” Ricky Martin, one of Puerto Rico’s greatest crossover artists, performed Bad Bunny’s “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii” (“What Happened to Hawaii”), a rallying cry for Puerto Rico’s cultural autonomy in an era of neocolonialization.

Behind Martin, jíbaros in pavas (traditional farmers in hats) climbed power poles that exploded, symbolic of Puerto Rico’s frequent blackouts and failing power grid.

Then came a performance of the song “El Apagón” (“The Blackout”), which references Hurricane Maria and the ongoing anger and frustration over persistent, chronic power outages, as Bad Bunny himself climbed a sparking power pole.

Bad Bunny carried a Puerto Rican flag, a symbol of the Puerto Rican independence movement, “LA MuDANZA,” highlighting the struggles and resilience of the island’s people and the historical oppression faced by those who supported liberation.

At one point, Bad Bunny knelt before a young boy and gave him his Grammy… the boy meant to remind us of the abduction and detention of 5-year-old Liam “Bunny” Ramos in Wisconsin last month by ICE agents and the Good Bunny Foundation, devoted to empowering children and youth from underprivileged communities in Puerto Rico through music, arts, and sports.

Bad Bunny often carried a football during his performance and wore an all-white football jersey with his real last name, Ocasio.

He ended his performance by revealing a message written on the football, “Together we are America,” and then spiked the ball in a victory celebration.

Bunny spoke in English at the end of the show, saying, “God Bless America,” and then named countries in the Americas: “Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil” and so on, including the United States and Canada — a reminder that while it is common to use “America” as a synonym for the U.S. in the U.S., it is the name used across two continents.

“And my motherland, mi patria, Puerto Rico, seguimos aquí.” In English, “My homeland, Puerto Rico, we are still here.”

Behind Bad Bunny, a screen read “THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE,” a direct quote from his recent speech at the Grammys, where he won Album of the Year for "Debí Tirar Más Fotos," Best Música Urbana Album for the same album, and Best Global Music Performance.

Postscript:

It’s projected that between 135 and 142.3 million viewers around the world tuned in to watch Bad Bunnie’s 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.

Some 6 million chose the alternate Kid Rock halftime show staged by Turning Point USA, produced in response to a national right-wing outcry with blatant racist overtones denouncing a Spanish-speaking performer at the Super Bowl who was roundly condemned by President Trump and reviled by his MAGA cult.

The world chose love yesterday. MAGA chose hate.

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RESOURCES:

Bad Bunny makes Puerto Rico the home team in a vivid Super Bowl halftime show ~ NPR

Good Bunny Foundation ~ Goodbunnyfoundation.org

Invade, Exploit, Oppress, Deny, Condemn ~ Perspectives

The Death of Decency ~ Perspectives

Bad Bunny won big at the 2026 Grammys. It’s a boost at a dark time for U.S. Latinos ~ AP

The real reason conservatives are furious about Bad Bunny’s forthcoming Super Bowl performance ~ The Conversation

The Dark History of Forced Sterilization of Latina Women ~ Panoramas

Revealing the Hidden History Behind the U.S. Invasion of Puerto Rico ~ The American News