Rosie Perez was compelled to make her directorial debut a documentary about her roots because she was sick of having to explain her Puerto Rican pride to others. Perez was born and raised in New York but was always taught to take pride in her Latino roots.

After realizing how tough American life can be for Puerto Rican ex-patriots (Boricua) she decided to make a movie about her parents' homeland. And, while making "Yo Soy Boricua, Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas! (I'm Boricua, Just So You Know!)," the actress recalled childhood memories where she was made to feel stupid - because of her background.

She explains, "The biggest struggle I had was having people recognize I was an intelligent human being. They thought that since I had an accent, I must be stupid. There were a lot of times I didn't handle it well. I punched out a teacher and I got suspended and I realized, 'OK, I need another course of action dealing with this frustration.'

"I was inspired to do this documentary because I just got tired of explaining myself as a Puerto Rican. I think it's really sad that we constantly have to explain our culture. We have to explain our history. We have to explain everything. It's like enough is enough."

Check out Rosie HERE.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)