Julia Claridad Cepeda Martinez English Transcription

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Well, today, June 30, 2023, I will be interviewing Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez for my research project titled, “Puerto Rican Bomba Fashions: Consumption, Performance and Meaning-Making.” The purpose of this study is to collect and document information from Puerto Rican Bomba practitioners about their experiences with the Bomba and the dress to understand the deeper meanings and uses of this dress in the context of identity, space, and place. Thank you for being here Julia.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Thank you, Amanda.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Let’s start with, how old are you?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I am 46 years old.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Where do you currently live?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I live in Oakland, California.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Have you always lived there?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, I moved in 2013, I’ve been here for 10 years.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

What do you do for a living?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I am a social worker by profession, I have a master’s degree in clinical social work and I have currently been working with trans Latina women in San Francisco for 9 years.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

And you said you have a master’s degree, what type of education have you completed and where did you complete it?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

In Puerto Rico, I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, so I am a product of Ana G. Méndez, I finished my master’s degree in clinical social work, my bachelor’s degree is in social work and my master’s degree is in clinical social work.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Both degrees where from Ana G. Méndez?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Ana G. Méndez, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Super, what gender do you identify with and what pronouns do you prefer?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I use she, her, her

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

What is your sexual orientation?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I am a queer and genderfluid woman.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Are you in a relationship?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, at the moment.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Do you have children?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Can you tell me a little bit about your family, like how big you are, how close?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Of course, I come from a super large family, I am the fifth generation of 8 uninterrupted generations of the Cepeda family. I have, I come from a super big family because we are, I had 13 uncles that I grew up with, I have two brothers, José Manuel Cepeda Martínez, and my older brother is Félix García Martínez, they are my adoration and well, all my cousins, I have many cousins, I adore them, I have a closer relationship with some, but we are a family that although each one has their own projects, we always try to support each other and be as united as possible, especially the whole generation of us as cousins ​​are super close and I and my brother, José, call us soul mates because we are super connected, although no, although he lives in Puerto Rico, we talk to each other every day, we have to connect in some way, we have a chat with the three of us and we always say good morning to each other, we share photos with each other and with my cousins ​​too. I have a cousin that I am super close with, his name is Rafael Cepeda, and well, he is, he is like my brother, he is not my cousin to me, he is like my brother.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

That’s beautiful, where does your family live?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

In Puerto Rico, my entire family resides in Puerto Rico. I am the only one of that, of the nucleus thast, that does not live in Puerto Rico, but my whole family, well, I have some cousins ​​who reside in the United States in Massachusetts, I have Brenda who is with, her, her Bomba classes, my cousin Barbara Liz who is in Florida with the Claridad school, the Tata Cepeda school is named after her mother, they are the closest cousins ​​who are not, who are not, who are also abroad, who live outside of Puerto Rico like me.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Do you have any physical disabilities?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Could you share your current household income level?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, let’s see, almost 90 thousand a month, a year, sorry.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Yes, don’t worry, and I forgot to ask you where, what town is your family from?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

My family is from San Mateo de Cangrejo, San Mateo de Cangrejo or Santurce, but specifically, we are, we are from Villa Palmera, Santurce, right, but originally from San Mateo de Cangrejo, proudly Cangrejera.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Super, and do you have any religious or spiritual affiliation?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, we believe in spiritual work and we have been raised in Catholicism but the majority, I directly have, no, I do not, I do not practice any religion, but yes we are very, we practice a lot of spiritual things.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Great, well now I’m going to ask you some questions about your Puerto Rican identity, what does being Puerto Rican mean to you?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Well, my Puerto Rican identity means everything to me, it means my culture, it means traditions, values. The Puerto Rican identity for me covers a fairly large circle, because it is what, what we, in addition to the flag, what identifies us from the vocabulary, from how we move, the gestures, from how, I believe that from even how we laugh, “they Puerto Rican, look at their energy,” so for me the identity is, it’s very small when I only refer to the flag, I mean a whole, flag, language, vocabulary, gestures, everything, everything, everything. Sometimes people, people say, “wow Boricua, you are like that, like that, like that,” and they already have like a book, almost, they have us read in it, thanks to, to, social networks, but that is what gives us, for me, identity is culture, tradition, the flag, it is the flag, it is who we are as individuals and everything that identifies us, even food, gastronomy is super important because it also identifies us as Puerto Ricans.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That’s right, and has there been a time when you’ve felt bad or good about your Puerto Rican identity?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

In, in what sense?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

In the sense that has there been an interaction, some moment, a piece of news that has made you feel more secure or less secure in your Puerto Rican identity.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Super.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I have always felt very firm. I believe that being born and raised in Puerto Rico created a strong foundation in terms of identity even outside of Puerto Rico, I have always felt Puerto Rican, I have never had doubts about, not even a little bit…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Very good.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

About who I am and there hasn’t been a change in my heart. There has been a geographical change, but in my mind, in my soul, I have always felt super Puerto Rican.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Very good that’s it, I like it. And now we are going to talk about, right, a very important element in Puerto Rican culture, which is the Bomba.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Of course.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Are you currently active in your participation?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes of course.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And what is your role in Bomba, do you dance, sing?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I will always consider myself a student at Bomba even though I have been dancing for 41 years.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Oh wow.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I have been dancing since I was, 46, yes I have, I started at 5 years old, I think it has been the beginning of all the members of my family since they were 2 years old, 3 years old, 5 years old. I think I was the oldest girl who started dancing when I was 5 years old. My debut was at the Center of Fine Arts with my family and the San Juan ballet at that time. So I’ve always considered myself a student, but I’ve been dancing for 41 years.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And your participation in the Bomba was, right, tell me how it went, it was something that you saw your family do, you just did it, something called you, you were interested, what was it that called you?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Well, look, there have been several things, I grew up, for us in our family it is not a trend, it is like a brand, being Cepeda is part of our identity and so is being a Bombero. I come from a birthplace of Bomberos and Pleneros, from all, all my life, my great-grandparents, my great-great-grandparents made Bomba and I, my great-grandmother and my grandfather, like my grandparents, and in my house it is breakfast, lunch, and the dinner. Being a Bomba practitioner or Bomba student was, well, getting up and every celebration is, playing Bomba was a part of it, at Christmas, it was not something that was done, “oh well, let’s have a plena session because Christmas is coming,” it’s something that happened all the time, is something that even when someone in the family died we celebrated with Bomba or said goodbye to that person who was so special to us with Bomba. When there was a baptism and one of my uncles’ children was born, my grandfather told us that the baby was born and the Bomba was played to see if there was that connection, to see the baby’s reaction when he was born and the drum was played. So for us, that connection with the drum is not something we learned, it was something that occurs as part of the birth of a Cepeda in our family.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, it’s like natural.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

It’s natural, that’s in our DNA, it’s like something that connects you, if you don’t do it, if it’s not now you do it later, but at some given moment you connect, there’s no way to say, it’s like, like at some point you feel the call because it’s your turn that is your responsibility, being Cepeda is maintaining the tradition that is part of, you have like that umbilical cord there, “boom, it’s your turn.” It doesn’t matter what you get.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That is a tremendous responsibility, and what Bomba region do you, or do you practice a single region, right, of the different regions?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I practice, good question, I love that you asked that question because very few people touch on that topic, and the Bomba, even though it is one, or should be one, regionalisms are very present and, and now although there are a mix and everyone dances the different styles, I don’t know, it’s not, there is a difference when you see the dance, you say, “oh, this is this one,” “this is this region.” I practice my family’s Bomba, which is the San Mateo de Cangrejo, Bomba Cangrejera is the one I practice. I have been in areas where it is sometimes played, I have been in the Loíza area, where there are festivals and sometimes they dance a Seis Corrido. In my classes, I practice a little bit of everything, but the Bomba that I learned is the Bomba that I teach, the Bomba must be taught with awareness as well, and with the historical contexts that we are supposed to make it and the responsibility and seriousness that is required.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

And how often would you say, at the moment, you participate in Bomba?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Weekly, weekly, every time I have the opportunity I have my barrels, my skirt… I am always, always practicing, I teach classes with the Bombalele workshop here in California, together with Denise Olis, that is my, we co-direct two projects together, we co-direct the class community that is Bombalele workshop that you can search on Instagram and also on Facebook. You can find her as Bombera de la Bahia Denise Olis, you can find me, I am Julia C. Cepeda, Julia Dansé, which is my individual project, where I do other things and, and that class in particular is aimed at women survivors of domestic violence which has been my professional experience. I worked with the Julia de Burgos Protected House project in Puerto Rico, for more than 10 years working with survivors of domestic violence and their children, I worked as a legal advocate, filling out protection orders in the San Juan court for 5 years, and I was supervisor also in the San Juan court so, what I want to tell you is that my professional experience has also been, I have had the opportunity to combine it with the love that I have for the Bomba, and I believe that through the drum, I am using it as a healing element to work on other projects and that is my other project Julia Dansé, Taller Bombalele is the community project, where every third Sunday of each month we meet to have a Bombazo, for our community, they come from all the communities that we receive, we are LGBTQ-friendly, I still have, we have people from the trans community who come to our classes, so my ex-wife and I have worked hard to build a different community, a community that is not singled out, marginalized, where it can be feel free, where they can make a Bomba in spaces where people are respected as they are and who they are, as they want to be, and I think that is one of the most important things that the Bombalele workshop has.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Thanks for sharing that, I’ll look into it.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

You can look for Bombalele workshop or Batey Tambó.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Batey Tambó.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Batey Tambó, we both direct that project but Bombalele workshop is the baby that we started in 2014, 13, 14, when I moved here we started with the classes and the community project of creating space, maybe going to have a BBQ, bring some rice with chicken, bring that Puerto Rican flavor! Bring it here and also many Afro-Puerto Rican people who live here in California who will also identify with someone who resembles their country, their people, being that bridge where we feel the heat, where you feel that hug when you come to class, where we can talk about important topics, and do different things.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Wow, awesome, and you said that you teach classes, that you participate in Bombazos, are there other contexts that, where you participate in the Bomba?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, well, at conferences, in university workshops, both of us, right, both Denis Olis and I almost always do interviews together because we give workshops at a camp called Born to Drum, we have been invited by more than, well she has been in bahia for 20 years and directed one of the first women’s projects here in bahia too, so her with that context and I with my background, I think that is why we have made like the perfect match of love for culture because although she is not Puerto Rican, she is of Mexican descent, she loves the Puerto Rican Bomba culture unconditionally, at one point it was like wow people knew her more than me. They said, “wow Denise,” they believed she was Puerto Rican, some people still believe that, is that the love is unconditional.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And what does the Bomba mean to you? I know you’ve talked a little but, to reiterate, to reiterate.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

To reaffirm.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Reaffirm that is.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, look Bomba for me is everything. Bomba is an oral tradition, a tradition that has been in my family for 8 uninterrupted generations, it has been the bridge of love between our family and the community, through the Bomba we have had the opportunity to travel the world but we have also had the opportunity to lay a foundation as a family, since my grandparents above all, my grandfather Rafael Cepeda Atilles, was a black man who raised his family and believed in the genre when no one believed it. He was a man who maintained the Puerto Rican images throughout the centuries, he even took them to the stage so that they would stay alive and that the spectators could see not only what people call a show, but that they could carry this story of something that was happening that was being marginalized, because it was only played, the Bomba has always been in my family, but it is still music and historically it is black music, a marginalized music, a music that was persecuted, a music that was not accepted, a music that is completely linked to racism. So that is a story that was only maintained in black families and thank God and the blessing that, right, my grandfather took on that responsibility saying, you know what, I, this must be for the world, for the people, but I am also going I’m going to make some prints and I’m going to wear the Bomba with the traditional costumes. Before they said that, well, it was a show, the Cepeda show, but now it has been replicating and there are many groups and everything, everyone now does it, it is now part of a trend, but we are talking about 50 years ago, 60 years ago. When no one wanted to do Bomba, my family did Bomba, and my grandfather took on that responsibility and my whole family, my whole family because we are a little, having it, we are part of those fruits now, but when, right, but I have been 41 years dancing, but what happened 60, again, 60, 70 years ago, when there were two groups, Cepeda family, Ayala family, nothing else was known or maybe two or three families, there are many Bombera families, but we are talking about those that maintained a trajectory and, and decided as a family to take responsibility when they were even in danger, right, because there are many writings where they were, they were trying to ban the Bomb and that is real, that is real, where they were persecuted where they broke the barrels. I have a piece of writing from the newspaper, I think it’s from 1920, but I don’t know if José already gave you that information, I imagine so.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

No, I think not.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

He is the family historian.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well, he did give me a lot of information.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, for that reason, I don’t want to take the time, but I do have a writing from a newspaper… I think it is the world’s newspaper from 1920 if I’m not mistaken.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Wow.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Where they were trying to, yes, 1921, sorry, the world newspaper. “The persecution of the Bomba dances in 1913 continues, which were denounced by the residents of San Juan.”

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, there have been many, as they say, I don’t know how the Spanish word efforts…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, a lot of efforts.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Efforts to silence the Bomba.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Of course, of course, because everything that, what… everything that has to do with the black race is very close to what they always want to present is to demonize it, it is close because it is bad, and this newspaper, which is a classist and racist article of a man whose name was, a journalist was called Enrique Ramirez Brao, that is horrible, it is even said that the drum and everything wanted to eat the children and the fear. So for me it’s like, yes, it’s good that now you can play in all the bars and on all the corners and you can find Bomba from Monday to Sunday and how cool and that it’s something good, how good, how good, how good that there were families that sacrificed their lives, their blood for this to happen and how good. As I tell you, other generations are also reaping the fruits of that and it is a blessing, but we also have to be aware as young people, because I still consider myself young.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Of course!

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

That, that, that this is part of a history, a history of suffering, a history of racism, a history of persecution, a history of marginalization and that this. the music and Bomba were also one, a tool of power against capitalism, against, right, although that is still continued, now it is used for the opposite, right, to see who gives the most information and to whom I am going to pay the most for the services, that’s another topic, continue with it, I don’t want to…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

That’s another topic.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I get excited, I get excited!

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That happens, that happens

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, love, love of…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes the passion.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

The passion, definitely

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

But, really, thanks to your family, to people like you, who have resisted and who have, and who have resisted these powers, right, to be able to… it’s like, I’m thinking in English but…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, go ahead you can tell me in English.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That you’ve resisted and you have kept this tradition, this life, this, it’s more so a tradition it’s life, it’s history like you said, alive for all these years even amidst the efforts to silence, so thank you cuz you’re doing that work.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yeah, yeah, but for me the ancestors, and all those Bomberos who were there, Angel Laguer, the Verdejo family, the Costoso family, families from San Mateo Cangrejo who were also doing it, I mean it was a collective effort although there were some leaders, right, but wow for me it’s like, like and, and, as I tell you, we are picking some of those fruits, right, but I can imagine all this family in front of, that is, with their barrels resisting there that even standing in a corner was dangerous. So I think that, it’s not that it can’t be done now, it’s good that it’s being done, but I think it’s important that we know why it’s being done, still and by whom, and to recognize what the story is behind it and recognize that we have to do it consciously and recognize that this is something spiritual, we are not talking about Catholicism, or that is Santeria, or that is witchcraft, this is something spiritual that was used as a tool of resistance all these years and that we are, we are that result that is still alive from all those years. For me that’s like wow, we, we are, we Puerto Ricans who are alive, what we are talking about is this, you as a young person who is doing this research for me it is always important to be part of, I always want to cooperate, I always want to support, I always want to, because for me, hey, it’s something important. You could have written about something else, “oh I’m in Iowa let me write about the fashionistas here in this area,” and not, “you said I want to bring, investigate an area that is raw in, although other investigations have been done, because Melania Maldonado, I admire her very much, a Puerto Rican woman who has also been leading the way in academia as well, she has been doing so much research for me that is so nice without losing the essence of knowing and supporting other black Puerto Rican families who have been doing the work.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

That’s right, how nice, thank you for sharing that. La Bomba has many rhythms, right, and I have learned a lot with these interviews, I have learned of the Yuba, Seis Corrido, do you have a rhythm that you identify with?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Of course. My rhythm, my favorite rhythm and the one I identify with is the Yuba. The Yuba in my family is a rhythm that has been, we call it the sacred rhythm, because not only, because the songs of lament and the spiritual songs with greater context have been written in Yuba and what my grandfather always taught me that this rhythm was danced at a given historical moment, by experienced people, old people who had experience in the dance. There were other rhythms like the Cuembe, right, like the Sica that was danced by everyone, all generations, but this particular rhythm in my family when the Yuba was played, it was a rhythm where my grandparents went out to dance, but they also presented the generations of the families and I grew up dancing the Yuba because as part of that generation I was the youngest at that time and my brother José Manuel and I had the opportunity to dance in the Yuba. We danced, my cousins ​​danced, my uncles danced, my older cousins ​​danced and in the end my grandparents danced at the Yuba. So for me this rhythm has a very important connotation, it is like sacred, it is a very spiritual rhythm, very centered, very Afro, so I love it. In addition, it gives me that space as a Bomba dancer to test myself with drummer in that friendly conversation, I get like that, that one, I have that deeper connection and as I say it gives me the opportunity to have that degree of growth within of the dance, on the walk, in what I want to say, is very intimate, it is very, very deep.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And when you dance today, what clothing or accessories do you usually use?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I usually wear my Bomba skirt.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And, oh, forgive me…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

And in our family the use of skirts has been very important. I know that nowadays you dance even with a towel, with whatever you have in your hand, with a handkerchief or with a scarf, that, that is something very modern, very new, very new, very new. If you don’t have anything, take out a scarf. Yes, in my family and in my classes, especially my cousin Tata Cepeda, it has been, there is a lot of emphasis on the use of Bomba skirts, especially because in our family we come from a family of artisans and for me the use of Bomba tools that also come from artisan hands is sacred. For me, that is important, because I come from a family where they made Bomba barrels, where my uncle Mario still makes maracas. So we cannot lose perspective of the hand of the Puerto Rican artisans who create Bomba instruments because without that we cannot do it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

And what material is Bomba usually made of, excuse me, the clothing?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Before, it was traditional to use cotton. Now they use different fabrics, they even use some African fabrics that have a lot of movement, they use another type that is some skirts that have, that are like silk that are softer that have movement as well and that has changed a lot. Before, all Bomba suits were made of cotton with gingham. That was the traditional costume, white or gingham.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

And how do you define your Bomba clothing style, it depends on what you are doing, what you have, how do you define it?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

It depends on, it depends on the event, it depends on the event. Before, when I danced with the family when I was very young, we always used the Bomba costumes no matter what. When my grandparents were alive it was part of, of our events, it was a compulsory part of the family, it was going to an activity and my grandfather would check that all the dresses were very clean. My aunt, for her, the use of petticoats was very important that each petticoat had the ideal outfit with its bows. Yes, there were 80 to 100 bows on Bomba’s petticoats and for my family it was very important, I remember that it was very important that the skirts were very decorated, that we represented our culture adequately that the men’s straps were as clean and shiny as their shoes, otherwise my grandmother had a little box where you could shine them, my dad used to shine the shoes, and, and to, well now I look at it and say, “wow look at that dedication,” now you even buy some tennis shoes and wear a skirt and continue doing Bomba and forget it, the important thing is to do Bomba, but for my family it has been, it was, it was a sacred process, it was something, presenting the family on stage, present an image, everything had to be very detailed. White suits had to look white, not dirty tanned white…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Not beige.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

It was like, no, we’re going to represent our country. For my grandfather it was sacred that it was represented, because we were not representing the Cepeda family, we were representing, we were the, for my grandfather it was being the flag of our country.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And today you wear something, the skirt I imagine as you said?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I wear skirts but I also recently had my Bomba dress made. About several months ago my dad was finishing his Afro rhythms album with Dima Sánchez. I don’t know if you have that book.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I think when I went to interview your brother they were with the book and they were doing an interview as well but not yet, I have to get it.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

That book has codes where you can scan it because it is interactive you can watch Bomba’s videos and the story.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you said that you usually have the dresses made with, with seamstresses, do you have a specific one or…?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Previously the seamstress of our family was my aunt, Petra Cepeda, also my aunt Kety, the wife, the wife of my uncle Modesto, she also made the Bomba dresses but the one who made the suits for all the years in the family was my Aunt Petra.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And nowadays the skirts that you have, that you wear now, are also from a seamstress, do you buy them somewhere?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

My skirt are made, I have them from different Puerto Rican seamstresses. I have skirts from my cousin Tata Cepeda who is currently making skirts and I have skirts from Maribella Burgos, LEM skirts, so I have skirts from both that I really like, each one has their own style and I love it, right. I have some traditional skirts from a seamstress who is not Puerto Rican who made them for me here in San, in California, in Oakland, precisely that is one, she is a seamstress, so but she makes Mexican folkloric skirts and she made me two, she made two of cotton and she made me, she made me one in a fabric that we went to buy, which was the skirt that, it was the, it was fabrics that were left over from a suit, haute couture suits that at that time they made an auction and we went to look for them and the fabric was very, very, very pretty, and I gave the skirt to a student. I never used it, never used it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And why get them from a seamstress compared to, for example, buying them online, now Walmart sells Bomba skirts, why do you get them that way?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Because for me it is a responsibility to be part of and support, especially Puerto Rican artisans. That has been, that has been part of what I learned, as I grew up, part of my beliefs is that, my beliefs are that I am going to continue supporting Puerto Rican artists, artisans because I, personally, do not believe in Chinatown, I do not believe because for me it is disrespectful for, for, for, for, the mass produced against, against, against artisans who make a piece and, and, and because I know what work it is, because I have seen it, because I grew up among artisans. My dad has made barrels all his life and he was the one who maintained the tradition of barrels in my family, and people used to complain, “I can’t believe he hasn’t finished my barrel, yes this, how much,” because my dad has never made barrels with machines.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Everything by hand.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Everything handmade. Well, of course, if you buy it from LPs… machines and a hundred, and you are losing, precisely, that tool that we talked about from the beginning, which is against capitalism and against everything mass produced and everything that is money and everything what is, was lost, all that was lost. Well, it was lost and on the contrary, then Bomba is being used to obtain benefits against what we are supposed to be against, yes or no? So like…they were talking about the Bomba barrels, I think the ones that cost $1,000. Which were?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

I haven’t heard of that.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes recently I think they were LPs.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

When you put on the outfit, the skirt, the accessories, how do you feel?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Super happy to be able to honor everything that has been preserved, like, as I mentioned, above all to honor our ancestors. For me it’s like… like the black dance on another level, but I feel like, it’s always been instilled in our family to be proud of what we do, I mean, yes, yes it’s part of and I feel like, I have to confess to you that the last time they made me the Bomba costume, when I put it on for, for the recording of, of, of the videos, I cried with emotion, because I didn’t wear a complete costume, right, because I have several dresses, but I said, “you know I haven’t had my dress in a while,” so I asked my dad and he told me, “no mulatta, you need the one that is,” and I told him, “oh I have one, I’ll wear it,” and he told me, “but which one?” Which one?,” “Oh, dad, whichever,” he said, “no, no, wear one, have one made so you can have your dress as it should be, a traditional dress.”

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And how many dresses do you have in total?That you know.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I don’t have many, because I lost my childhood dresses when I was moving. I had about six from when I was growing up, and my aunt made them all for me. I have about 4 or 5 now, but they are different, the yellow one was the one I showed you, which I think is in one of the photos, the yellow one and I have the skirt, but the blouse, well, they are no longer nice, but I have more modern ones. I have some newer ones that I have made combinations, I love one that is all indigo blue and the white skirt, I kind of love that combination, but of course it is not like the traditional dress when if I wore the white one it was like , “oh wow,” with my handkerchief and everything, my apron. It was like…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yeah.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Because I did remembered, right, I was transported to my grandmother’s traditional dress, I…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And do you think that the context in which you are dancing, be it a bombazo, a presentation, class, changes how you feel about your clothing?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Well, it doesn’t change my mood because I’m doing Bomba. For me the important thing, the important thing is what I am doing, but yes, it changes, I think that when I am in an activity or an event where I want to show who we are, that part of, that it is as if you were with very loud words saying, “I am Puerto Rican” is almost like that you want to like, and, and I also see people’s reaction. We were at an event called, “Fiesta Boricua” at San Francisco State University. So I was sitting in the audience and I wanted to be in the back, but even so when people arrived, they got excited, just by seeing the clothes. It was like, “wow, there’s Bomba,” and they hadn’t seen the barrels at all, but I think that also lifts our spirits in some way, right, the spectators or those who are going to dance too because I get excited. I think that the day I go to dance and I don’t feel excited, I don’t feel like, it’s because I’m not there. I think it’s part of, I still get nervous, I still get nervous when I go dancing.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I believe you, I believe you.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I get nervous, everyone tells me, “oh you’ve been around for so long, don’t be dramatic.” The, here, my Puerto Rican friends, “stop being dramatic girl, you’ve been dancing for so many years,” but I think that’s what it is, that love for what you’re doing, that responsibility, you want to do it well, you want to represent it in the right way. So of course for me it’s going to be like, I think, I think about those things first.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

It’s nerve-wracking, of course.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Exactly, for me it’s like… and then they say, “oh there’s a Cepeda there, a Cepeda is going to dance, damn it.” Oh, as if I didn’t already have enough pressure.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Like you had to add.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, and then they tell you everything, they want to read you the whole biography, it’s like, oh God.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Oh, oh, oh…and about those styles, right, with the conversation we had about the drums, right, about supporting Puerto Rican artisans, people who are doing this with machinery or mass produced, do you think that where one gets their Bomba dress influence the authenticity of the outfit?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Well look, I understand that yes, but also, because I am a fan of Puerto Rican artisans and that’s it, but there are also many, there are many seamstresses who, women who do haute couture or men who do haute couture and can make the perfect suit, because, because you took the model and you took it, but I have my feelings about that, it’s that for me I always want to support my people, my people, the hands that, that, that they work on that and that know how it should be, right, here and that I always do, do, do, like…it comes to mind that I went to a restaurant one day and they brought me some pink colored cod, and this was a Puerto Rican restaurant here in California and they told me that the owners were queer, Puerto Rican women and that well, and I said, “well, let me start with some bacalaítos to surprise my dad,” who was here, okay. And when I saw the color pink, I said, “did they make a mistake?” And then they tell me, it’s that the people who are in the kitchen are like combined, well that’s how I feel, that’s how I feel when the clothes are made like combined, someone else does it, but what can you do. If sometimes not, it’s not that you don’t want to sometimes also this, we have to say that this is the situation that, the infrastructure and how difficult it is sometimes in Puerto Rico or depends on the area, after Hurricane María there are areas where there is no power still. So you’re hoping that maybe they’ll make ten skirts for you, for the class. And it is difficult for you and in front of you you have a seamstress or a neighbor here where you are living who is not necessarily Puerto Rican, but you have that dilemma sometimes, but my preference, I always buy them, I try, and my students have the information from the seamstress from Puerto Rico, but, but, I always feel that it is missing when it is not from the hands of our Puerto Rican seamstresses.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And with the different styles, right, because Bomba’s clothing has evolved…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yeah.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

What was in its origins, or what is thought to have been in the origins, from what is known as folkloric clothing to what is worn today, do you think that clothing, depending on the style, has a different authenticity?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes and it also has the influence of who we are. I think that what is modern, I want my, my dancers to look more or less traditional, or stay in tradition but with this detail, because I want to mark who the students at my school are and it also happens with others I think that more, that has to, that now depends on what I, the fashion that I want to incorporate, the style that I want to bring. I want my dancers to all have a print like this, like this. For example, I, I, the ones, and I can send you photos of that, sorry I didn’t send you the last ones, I have to get them from Denise, we said, “oh we want to make some petticoats that don’t have bows, but that they have African print,” the petticoats, what happens is that if you see, yes, I have to send you the photos where the girls decided to take the photo without the skirt and you can see the print petticoat, because for me I wanted that to be like the trademark of batey Bombalele, or batey Tambó to mark a difference between us and maybe other schools.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And you have a lot of knowledge, right, with what you have shared you have a lot of knowledge of the history of the dress and how it is made and you have shared that it is through your family, what other resources, if there are, other resources that have taught you about Bomba’s outfit?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, no, no.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And what messages do you think Puerto Ricans make known about the Bomba, or promote about the Bomba?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

It depends on the type of Puerto Rican you are, because there are Puerto Ricans where they show that it is part of our identity, which was one of your first questions, that this is the flag, right, that Bomba has been, there are Puerto Ricans here for example, here in California there are a lot of Puerto Ricans and there is a force, a large number that no, they do not exactly identify with Bomba, they identify with salsa, with a time in their lives, there are clubs that are, “okay, I identify with this, we are not necessarily going to go to a carnival to identify ourselves as Bomberos.” So that’s why I tell you it depends on him, the Puerto Rican, it depends on, how, how he was raised, what his background is, because not all of us have the background to say, you know, “Bomba is identity, Bomba is revolution, Bomba is music of black people, marginalized music, we are part of,” no, no, not everyone, I cannot generalize, because not all of us see, no, not all of us have had that same experience, and one does not necessarily have to come from a family that has supported tradition, but very, very few…not everyone identifies it the same, not everyone, right, as I told you, there is a great, many of the Puerto Ricans that I have met here who have been in the United States for many years identify with salsa, with Cortijo, with Ismael Rivera, but no, no, they don’t take out their flag, “wow, Bomba.”

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Yes, it depends on, on their background as you said.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, yes, it depends on their background, it depends on how connected they have been with, with the tradition, or, or…yes, yes, how connected they have been with the tradition and, because there are many Puerto Ricans who were not born in Puerto Rico, but they have their strength in the Bomba and they seek tradition and they seek culture and there are some who do not and that is very good, we are not here pointing out that, I am only trying to answer your question in a way that is not generalized. My experience has been that, that it depends on the background and, and, and since I have grown up close to tradition, it is that, that is how I see it. There are many, many Puerto Ricans who also do it as a trend, I do it because I want to be part of, I don’t do it because I have a conviction that Bomba is part of my identity as such, or I do it because I want to know, for various reasons, and that is one of the questions I ask when they come to class too.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Like, what is their background of knowledge?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, what, what, what brought you, what brings you to Bomba? Or what is important to you to make Bomba? Because I really want to know who the people are that I have around me.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Do your different identities influence how you feel in relation to the Bomba’s clothing?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Explain to me a little more about what you want to ask me about.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

By different identities, right, I mean, you are Puerto Rican, you are a woman, as you have shared, you are queer, you are, you are black, do you think that these identities influence how you feel about Bomba’s clothing? Do they add it? Do they take away?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, I don’t feel that, that they add or subtract from it, I feel that they are like the right, perfect fit, that’s how I love it, because again, because that was what was instilled in me. I love wearing my clothes because I feel that it is important for me, for my identity, for traditions, for values, for everything, everything else. It’s like a complement, I feel like a complement.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Okay.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

An energetic force also of, of my ancestors, of remembrance, is rememberance.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And does your involvement with the costume influence your daily style? How is what you wear day to day influenced by Bomba’s clothing or elements of clothing?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Sometimes…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Oh yeah.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Sometimes I use, I love to sometimes use my headwraps.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

the…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

The headwrap, I love the headwrap and I feel like super, it doesn’t affect me, no, it doesn’t affect me, but instead… I think my life revolves around Bomba. So that’s who we are, so to me it’s very distinctive…it’s not a costume that I wear. There are people who even ask me and, and for me that is an insult that they ask you for your Bomba costume on Halloween so that they can wear it like what can I say…but I do love skirts, even if they are not Bomba skirts, but I love skirts, I love the, the, the big earrings, I love my headwrap is that I am so very proud of, of, of…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

As it should be, as it should be.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Of being black, of being Puerto Rican, from the mix we have that is incredible, we are, it is like a deliciousness on top of it and I live super happy with, “Boricua!” Puerto Rican please I like it completely.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Yes, of course, of course.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, don’t shorten it, I feel like that, no…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Yes. And I said affects, but it was, the word I meant was influences is that my Spanish…but thank you.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No worries, no worries, you go ahead, you’re fine.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Thank you for understanding, I’m going to show you some of the photos that you sent me and tell me anything about the context, when they were taken, what you’re wearing, a little more about each photo, right.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, yes I’m going to send you the group’s right now.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I’m going to show them to you here so that we are, right, both on the same page.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Okay, perfect. Look, this was in Bomplenazo, I have to tell you the year.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

If you don’t know, there’s no…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

I’m going to tell you, I’m going to tell you in a bit, I’ll write it to you, but it was in a Bomplenazo in New York, I think it was the last one that was done and it just so happens that they invited me to do a number, bless you…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Thank you.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

And my dad was there and I didn’t know that we were going to meet my uncle, Roberto Cepeda, who is one of the most valued Bomba dancers in my family and in New York too, as a Bombero leader, and it was very nice for me that at that time we had the three of us there, and that I was, right, in a Bomplenazo representing and it was also done in this Bomplenazo, it was not under the Cepeda family, it was a group of Bomberos led by Alex LaSalle. There was also Oxil Febles, another Puerto Rican Bombera who has a very nice fashion, when she does, very peculiar, let’s see…Pipo, another Bombero from Puerto Rico, the director of Son de Batey, we were a group of young people, we were, there were like 8 or 10 of us who got together to make that, that presentation. (See Figure 1)

 

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And that, the dress that you have on…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes, that’s the one I mentioned to you, that’s the indigo blue with the white skirt, because they said that was the color.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Oh okay.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

The color was going to be white and blue and then I said, “but what kind of blue?” “Ah well like indigo blue,” and I said, “perfect, I’m going to have a dress made that is indigo blue and I’m going to wear the white skirt,” because I already had the skirt. The white skirt I’m wearing is one of the first skirts from, a Tata Cepeda skirt, from my cousin’s school.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And this next photo…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Aw, that dress was made for me by my aunt Petra Cepeda and that is a photo, one of the photos that I treasure the most because there I am with my grandfather Don Rafael Cepeda Atilles. I was like 7 years old, 7 or 8 years old. (See Figure 2)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And this style is the gingham, right?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

It is gingham, it is, it is, it is a cotton suit, it is a traditional dress, a cotton dress and with a mix of gingham. Our traditional costumes were all like that. The petticoats were all white, all of them, there was no difference and I don’t remember if they were 3 or 5 lines, but they were like, like the neutral you were always going to see, in, in our dresses no matter what, it was the same or completely white or it was white with gingham and, and, you chose your favorite color. I always used blue and that is very particular that you know in this interview. The blue that I always used was my grandmother’s blue, because that’s how she asked for it, my grandparents asked for it and that’s how it was always done, there was no option.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Yes.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

There was no choice, so, I always wanted yellow or red. My aunt Petra wore her dresses, her dress was red, so, and the yellow one was worn by my cousin Tata, one of my older cousins ​​who for me has been my aunt and a role model who is the director of the school Caridad Brenes de Cepeda in San Juan and, and, and the owner of, Tata Cepeda skirts…and she has been someone who has set fashion as well. That is the traditional cotton dress that is the photo of my grandparents. (See Figure 3)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Oh wow, do you know what year this was?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

José can tell you, but if not, I’ll ask him and, and I’ll tell you.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And this was in Puerto Rico I imagine?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

In Puerto Rico, yes in Barceloneta, in fact I think that was for the, for the, the, the, the, the documentary that was made in 1983 or 85.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

This is you, right, this is you in the blue?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes and that’s José. (See Figure 4)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That’s Jose, wow. Was this like a parade or a festival?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yes it is a parade in San Juan, do you see the houses?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Aja and my uncle Modesto, my uncle Carlos in the background. This was at the Institute of Culture. (See Figure 5)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I’m seeing this same one, yes…wow

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

At the Institute of Culture, because my grandparents had a festival, they supported, or, or the Institute supported the family or the family every year they had a festival for, both were in 1970, wow, wow…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

That’s awesome and the next one you have the white dress, you also mentioned it at the beginning of the, not white, forgive me, yellow.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

The yellow dress, this was, this, these photos were in two thousand… or 12 or 13, before moving I wanted to have a section of photos on the beach and we went to do, a friend called Mani Santiago or José Manuel Santiago. He is a photographer in the Luquillo area and he told me, “oh Julia, bring that yellow suit that I love so much,” and I said, “oh baby no,” and he insisted, insisted. Every time I put that photo, a message, the people, there was a boom of messages and what, what, Puerto Rico, and that’s what I tell you about the difference that maybe I get like that… (See Figure 6)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot 

Yeah.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Well, if I put it on, look, I’m on the beach like this with the Bomba dress and well, of course, of course there is a reaction, it’s, it’s, it’s normal, because…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Beautiful.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yeah, you see the, wow, even if you’re not my friend on Facebook you like it.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes, of course, as you say, the reaction is like, wow, natural. And is this photo Clara?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

That photo is my grandmother. My grandmother Claridad Brenes de Cepeda, what happened is that, I also have to ask them about the date because, no, honestly, I don’t know, when…(See Figure 7)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

No problem, no problem. She’s so pretty.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

But it would be, yes, yes.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And this one?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

That photo was at the Bomba y Plena festival in Orlando. (See Figure 8) And they invited me, Carmen and my, I call them my godparents. Carmen and Alberto are the directors of the Orlando festival in Florida. And then that year, they invited the family, they wanted them, no, not like other groups we participated with, they wanted me to go, that photo is from 1974, where my grandmother is in the white dress.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yeah, the one in black and white?

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yeah.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

The first one I taught you.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

The one where she has a little thing on her head. And that, that dress is, was very particular because look, they even had a zipper, almost, most of the dresses had a single zipper on the back and now, on the, on the sleeves. That, that dress is very particular in its sewing because it didn’t have much detail, you see the suits of now very well, or, or do you know how old they are, because if you see them… where are you now?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

In Puerto Rico.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

You’re in Puerto Rico, I don’t know if José has, well I don’t know if they already went to the museum, because they were going to send some costumes to the museum in Washington, because to…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Oh yeah.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, I don’t know if you saw that white one, the one in that photo, didn’t you see it?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

I know that the Smithsonian has a Tata Cepeda suit.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Yeah.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

But it was only one, the one I saw.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Oh, oh okay, I think she still has to keep the outfits that she has, because she has made, she made lot of changes in the fashion, and I think she was one of the pioneers in those changes from traditional to being a little more modern without breaking it, that it wouldn’t look messy, because…yes, they stayed traditional, but with a few little changes here and there, it has been, it has been her and obviously in the area Loíza’s style has also been Maribella.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

And then finally I have this photo.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

That photo is one of the, one of the first photos of the family where you can see the white suits in gingham, with the different colors, that’s why I sent it to you so you could see how pretty they looked, because well, all of mine are blues, but there you see the entire context, the branch of the different colors in gingham. (See Figure 9)

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

How beautiful, and that is a platform.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

It’s a presentation, I don’t remember if that was in Fine Arts.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Oh wow.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Because there were quite a few presentations in theater as well, to present the different Puerto Rican images. The presentations were almost always called Estampas Puertorriqueñas, right, that was the purpose for people to come to see and learn about history through theater, which is why theater is made. I studied theater at the UPI, some little classes, but that, that is the goal, to make theater so that people know the story of so-and-so, the remembrance of, the memories of, through theater, through the visual eye .

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Of course, well those are all my questions.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Okay, I don’t know if you have any additional ones, if we finish, I’m here to help with whatever you need, I’m here for you.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Thanks, of course, if you want to share something else before finishing the recording.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Well, I don’t know if you have any other questions, but…

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

No, we already answered all the questions.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

No, but some additional ones that are not there.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Well…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

If you had any doubts about something.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

No, honestly, I have learned a lot and I am looking forward to going back to the interview, I have to, I have to put captions, and I am looking forward to going back and really listen to everything because I have learned a lot and I love your energy, I love your passion. So, really, I’m full right now.

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Well, thank you, thank you. Look, and again, as I said I am at your service, if a question suddenly comes to you, you text me, “look Julia,” don’t feel like you have to make a whole protocol to, no, no, not between us, no please. Just text me, “look Julia, I’m in that process, I asked you a question about… I would like to tell me something more or do you want to send me something” and I am at your service, because I think it’s important to support, again support the growth and, above all, sorority seems to me to be very important, especially in our master’s and doctoral studies, everything there is to do, high school, nothing.

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes of course…

Julia Claridad Cepeda Martínez

Is this for a master’s degree?

Amanda Ortiz Pellot

Yes.