On March 18, 2022, René Perez—also known as Residente and member of the famous duo Calle 13—released the video to his 2022 song, “This Is Not America,” featuring the Afro-French Cuban musical duo Ibeyi.1 The first six seconds of the video are silent and show a short segment of Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar's 1987 installation, “A Logo for America,” a 42-second animation for an electronic billboard in New York City's Times Square.2 A map of the contiguous United States made from small colorful digital orbs appears on screen with the words “THIS IS NOT AMERICA” superimposed on it. What follows is a powerful audiovisual exercise in destabilizing the meaning of the word America with a deluge of impactful images: Lolita Lebrón, militant of the Puerto Rican nationalist party, leading an attack to the U.S. House of Representatives; violent sequences displaying police brutality in protests in Argentina, Venezuela, Chile,...

You do not currently have access to this content.