Have you ever wondered how Puerto Ricans feel about the prospect of Puerto Rico becoming a state? This work allows you to ask many hypothetical Puerto Ricans (represented by the emoji) for reasons in favor or against statehood. "Tentative" is inspired by a lifetime of considering and debating this issue and triggered by the recent Puerto Rico Status Act, which "provides for a plebiscite to be held on November 5, 2023, to resolve Puerto Rico's political status. Specifically, such plebiscite shall offer eligible voters a choice of independence, sovereignty in free association with the United States, or statehood."

This work is a minimalist, focused implementation of a concept explored more fully in a Mastodon bot (@PRstatusdebate@botsin.space) and a work titled "It's Complicated" forthcoming in the Los Angeles Review, which offer arguments in favor and against all three status options, generates origins for the Puerto Ricans making statements, and has more emoji to represent my people. These works seek to capture the complexity of this issue and the Puerto Rican people's collective ambivalence. Share and enjoy!

Credit: This piece was programmed in conversation with Chat GPT in January 2023. All the words were written by me, with the exception of "The star in our flag doesn't fit in the U.S. flag," which is my translation of "Porque la estrella de mi bandera/ no cabe en la americana," from the song "La estrella sola" by Andrés Jiménez.