“I will do anything to support the island, but I don’t for a second pretend I know what’s best for the island because I don’t live here,” Lin-Manuel Miranda said on the November 12 installment of CBS Sunday Morning. “My job is to amplify the concerns of Puerto Rico.”
Though Miranda was not born in Puerto Rico, his parents were, and he grew up spending summers with his grandparents in Vega Alta, outside of San Juan. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony winner has proudly declared his lineage for years—particularly in his Tony-winning Best Musical In the Heights—but now he’s using his voice to advocate for his ancestral land. Fifty-three days post Hurricane Maria, much of Puerto Rico still remains without power and in need of aid. To date, the Hispanic Federation has raised $20 million to support the United States commonwealth, and that's not including Miranda’s single “Almost Like Praying,” which he wrote and recorded with Latino pop stars to support relief efforts. The single has sold over 150,000 copies on iTunes to date.
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