Book Talk – P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance

Join us for a Book Talk and Discussion with professors and authors Vanessa Díaz and Petra R. Rivera-Rideau, featuring selections from P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. 

Mikey Oquendo will moderate a conversation exploring Bad Bunny’s rise as a global cultural force and examining how Puerto Rican music has long served as a space for joy, protest, and resistance. Through readings and dialogue, Díaz and Rivera-Rideau situate the book within broader historical, political, and cultural contexts of Puerto Rican life, illuminating the intersections of music, race, gender, empire, and popular culture.

Vanessa Díaz is Associate Professor of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies at Loyola Marymount University. A multimedia ethnographer and journalist, her work focuses on race, gender, and labor in popular culture across the Americas. She is the author of Manufacturing Celebrity: Latino Paparazzi and Women Reporters in Hollywood (Duke University Press, 2020) and director of the bilingual documentary Cuban HipHop: Desde el Principio. Her writing has appeared in outlets including The Washington Post, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Latina, and People.

Petra Rivera-Rideau is Associate Professor and Chair of American Studies at Wellesley College. Her research explores race, popular music, Puerto Rico, and Latinx identities. She is the author of Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico and Fitness Fiesta! Selling Latinx Culture through Zumba, and co-editor of Afro-Latin@s in Movement. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Latina, and served as a consultant on major reggaetón projects, including Bad Bunny’s 2023 Coachella headlining set.

Together, Díaz and Rivera-Rideau co-authored P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance (Duke University Press, 2026) and co-created the Bad Bunny Syllabus Project. Their university courses on Bad Bunny and resistance have garnered national media attention and were even discussed by Bad Bunny himself on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

The conversation will be moderated by Mike Oquendo, a Chicago-based producer and creator of The Mikey O Show. Oquendo’s work spans comedy, theatre, and music, and he played a key role in establishing the first Latin Grammy Awards. His credits include the sold-out Off-Broadway production Made in Puerto Rico and collaborations with MSNBC, HBO Latino, and WTTW. He is also the founder of Comedians for Communities, an initiative supporting Chicago nonprofits.

📅 SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, January 24, 2026
🕚 Time: 11:00 AM
⏰ Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the event start time.

📚 Books will be available for purchase on site.

⚠️ PLEASE NOTE: This event has reached full capacity for in-person attendance and will now be offered virtually.
👉 RSVP is required to receive Zoom access.

For more information, contact [email protected].