PUERTO RICAN CHOCOLATE COMPANY TEAMS UP WITH A BELOVED SUPERHERO
San Juan’s Chocolate Cortes and Superhero La Borinqueña Raise Funds for Youth Arts Programs
New York City NOV. 2021: In San Juan, Chocolate Cortés, a 92 –year old Puerto Rican and Dominican family-owned chocolate manufacturing company, and La Borinqueña, the first female Afro-Puerto Rican comic book superhero have launched Activate Your Powers With the Arts, a program created to raise funds for youth art programs in Puerto Rico. Four special edition hot chocolate bars containing a new four-part comic strip series featuring La Borinqueña are now available online and in select US markets. Proceeds from the sales of the bars and special merchandise will support the Fundación Cortés whose mission is to educate and inspire with its passion for the arts of the Caribbean. The program also celebrates and honors Latinx culture on the heels of National Hispanic Heritage month and in anticipation of November’s National Puerto Rico Heritage Month.
“We are proud to launch this partnership with La Borinqueña to further enrich the Latinx communities in the Diáspora,” said Carlos Cortés, fourth-generation Cortés family member and Creative Director at Chocolate Cortés. “Both Chocolate Cortés and La Borinqueña are committed to strengthening these core values in our communities – culture, identity, self-sufficiency, social justice, and dignity. The Activate your Powers with the Arts initiative will be used to raise awareness of the Fundación Cortés’ cultural and educational programs in Puerto Rico. The campaign will feature several executions that will be in the works throughout this year, including the first-ever La Borinqueña exhibit, “La Borinqueña en San Juan,” which opened to the public at Fundación Cortés in Old San Juan in June 2021.” The four-part comic strip series shares the Chocolate Cortés story – from “farm to bar” through the adventures of high school students, La Borinqueña and newly launched superhero La La Liu. To support this initiative, the Fundación Cortés’ newest visiting artist exhibit features the work of Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez and La Borinqueña, the character’s history, her path and her impact on society. “My comic book series was created with the intention of uniting Los Boricuas in the diáspora with those on the island, conveying a central message of love,” said Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez. “This alliance with Chocolate Cortés provides a unique opportunity for La Borinqueña to reach both of those groups simultaneously and on a large scale. My hope is that it will be an important step in sharing with the world the story of our people.”
Reviving a Tradition – Hot Chocolate and Literacy
Education and promoting the arts has always been an important core value in the 92-year history of Chocolate Cortés, best known for its hot chocolate bars, a staple in many Puerto Rican and Dominican homes. From its start in the Dominican Republic where the cocoa beans are grown, Chocolate Cortés holds a warm place in the hearts of many Puerto Rican and Dominican families who can recall memories of the hot chocolate-making ceremony their grandparents shared with them as children. And as rich as the company’s chocolate history is, its commitment to supporting education and the humanities is just as rich. Click here (https://chocolatecortes.com/hot-chocolate/) for the recipe to create your own Chocolate Cortés hot chocolate drink. For more information on Activate Your Powers with the Arts partnership and how to secure the collectible bars please go to https://chocolatecortes.com/cortes-x-la-borinquena/
The Chocolate Cortés family has been manufacturing Caribbean chocolate from farm to bar since 1929. Known for its signature rich hot chocolate, Cortés has provided countless moments of warmth and joy to the homes of Puerto Rican and Dominican households ever since. Currently, Cortés is the largest chocolate manufacturing company in the Caribbean and is one of the most recognizable brands in both countries and their diasporas. Since its inception, the company has considered education as a key ingredient to reach new horizons: providing an inclusive education in which the integration of arts and humanities play a main role in helping to transform our society and improving the quality of life. https://chocolatecortes.com/
Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez created La Borinqueña, a female Afro-Puerto Rican superhero, in 2016, when the character debuted at New York City’s Puerto Rican Day Parade alongside Miranda-Rodríguez who was named Outstanding Boricua that year. She is an original comic book character presented in a classic superhero story and promotes social, environmental, and other important values that impact today’s society. At the time only three pages had been drawn but after a trip to Puerto Rico with his family, Miranda-Rodríguez was inspired to finish the comic book and it was launched in full that year at Comic Fest Aguada Con in Puerto Rico. He has just launched his third comic book with his newest Latina superhero, La La Liu, a Dominican Chinese LGBTQ+ character who transforms into Lúz. https://www.la-borinquena.com/
Established in 2012, Fundación Cortés is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization with the mission to educate and inspire with its passion for the arts of the Caribbean. Their theory of social transformation consists of designing innovative and interactive art integration activities that complement academic and other theme-based curricula. To date, through their core program, Educa Cortés, they have served over 14,000 underserved children, youth, and adults from all around Puerto Rico and have over 75,000 registered visits. Their two Caribbean contemporary art exhibit halls, open free of charge, become the main classrooms and the artworks the key educational tools. Fourteen exhibitions have been presented to date, including the current by Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez featuring La Borinqueña and the newly launched superhero La La Liu or Lúz. Exhibits are free and open to the public and available for private events and special meetings. https://en.fundacioncortes.org/quienes-somos 
