This week on Boricua Culture Mix, we sit down with Anthony “Ant” Rivera, a North Philly filmmaker and storyteller behind the documentary project La Lengua del Tambor.

We talk about bomba as a language—a living archive born from resistance during slavery, a rhythm that carried messages, survival, and joy when our ancestors were denied freedom. Ant connects Loíza (la raíz, el corazón Afro-Boricua) with North Philly Boricuas, showing how culture travels, transforms, and still protects us in the diaspora.

In this convo we get into:

• Why Loíza’s stigma says more about colonial fear than Loíza itself

• Protecting sacred traditions from being diluted or commercialized

• The role of elders, community, and stewardship in storytelling

• Unlearning anti-Blackness and the “pages they took out the book”

• Why vi ...