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blackouts beginning in 2001. “Governmentally organized,” however, translated to longer
lasting power outages in poorer neighborhoods, leaving them without electricity or running water
for days, or even weeks: as opposed to hour­long blackouts in other parts of the country.
On this day, my host in Yamasá, Jesus Guillen, was organizing a tour around his
communal clay workshop. As he drove to make sure traffic was running smoothly, we noticed
smoke beyond a line of stopped cars. When we finally understood what was happening, our
priorities switched from the tour, to getting this community heard. Since Jesus also worked with
some of the ​paleros​ who performed for Mamá Tingó, he knew that one of them worked for a
local news station. The ​palero​, also a resident of Yamasá, quickly responded and arrived on
scene with his cameraman. The ​same ​paleros​ that were performing for Mamá Tingó were now
organizing media coverage of this protest to gain mass attention. As Jesus explained later,
“​entendemos las luchas de cada día. Lo único que podemos hacer es ayudar a nuestra
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​Simon Romero, ​International Business; Lights Out in the Dominican Republic​ (2004).
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