In the Our Latin Thing/Nuestra Cosa film, Director Leon Gast highlights the lives of the Fania All-Stars on and off stage, in addition to the salsa culture in New York City. As Marisol Berrios-Miranda states in her article, “Salsa Music as Expressive Liberation,” “Our Latin Thing was the first documentary that portrayed salsa as an expression of Latin American urban social identity” (Berrios-Miranda, 160). The film illustrates that salsa culture is more than just musicians playing at nightclubs for an audience, dancing to the music. It is kids playing on makeshift drums, couples dancing in the streets, men having their roosters participate in cockfights, men playing dominos, people singing and playing music while smoking cigarettes, and women and children getting Coke snow cones. This film is meaningful because it shows the history of salsa music and culture in America during the 1970s, including the impact salsa music had on communities. For many Latinos and African Americans living in the poor areas of New York City, salsa was life and life was salsa. …show more content…
In the “Salsa Music as Expressive Liberation” article, Marisol Berrios-Miranda discusses the popularity of salsa music in Latin American and around the world during the 1970s and why it became so popular.
She argues that salsa music became the preferred musical style and expression because of social conditions and international events such as the Puerto Rican dilemma of colonial status, the Cuban revolution, and the civil rights movement in the U.S. Salsa musicians wrote lyrics that “spoke to the struggles of the poor and the stuff of life itself, and it went beyond popular entertainment to become a movement for social change and national recognition” (Berrios-Miranda,
162). Berrios-Miranda goes on to detail how salsa music offers Latinos liberation of the body and mind as well as challenges the hierarches of race and class. Dancing to salsa music is a form of liberation because dancing is a type of human behavior and is a part of our daily lives, showcasing our emotions. Additionally, “salsa became a symbol of racial integration...,” allowing Afro Latinos to celebrate and take pride in their culture during the civil rights movement and defy against the assimilation to Eurocentric American culture. This article is significant because this relates back to African American musicians who used their music as form of expressive liberation during the civil rights movement. For instance, Nina Simone was one of many black artists who used her platform to liberate herself and other African Americans through her music with songs such as “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.” Additionally, Latin music continues to be a form of expressive liberation in this decade. Latino musicians such as John Santos and Joan Baez use their music to promote social change and bring hope to their communities.
For centuries, music has been defined by history, time, and place. To address this statement, Tom Zè, an influential songwriter during the Tropicália Movement, produced the revolutionary “Fabrication Defect” to challenge oppression as a result from the poor political and social conditions. On the other hand, David Ramsey discusses, in mixtape vignettes, the role of music to survive in New Orleans’ violent setting. Furthermore, “The Land where the Blues Began”, by Alan Lomax, is a film and perfect example to understand under what musical conditions profound ways of communication are made to stand the hard work of cotton plantations. As a result, music plays a crucial role in the sources’ cultures and its creation relies on particular conditions such as the social
This film represents our indigenous culture and regardless of what happens we can find good in a situation. Together the black and white community can come together and achieve more than they could ever do by themselves.
Ragland, Cathy. "Mexican Deejays and the Transnational Space of Youth Dances in New York and New Jersey." University of Illinois Press: Ethnomusicology. Autumn 2003 47.3 (2003): 338-53. Print.
The documentary “Rize” by David LaChapelle, focuses on the lives of Black Americans who live in South Central Los Angeles and the struggles they go through in their daily lives. Moreover the film also introduces two types of dancing groups that they have in the community. These dance groups are meant to keep the youths and children occupied and distracted from all the problems that have been going on in their community, such as the LA riot. The two styles of dancing are Clowning and Krumping. Clowning was created by Tommy the Clown in 1992. Tommy used to be a formal drug dealer, he went from having his life together to losing all his money and house. However, instead of doing nothing productive with his life, he decided to help his community by changing the lives of others through entertainment. In addition, not only did this dancing group help him get to a better place in life but also the group members are like his family. His main goal was to help put similes on people’s faces and help get some of these children and youths away from gangs. On the other hand, Krumping was also generated from Clowning, however Krumpers believe that their form of entertainment is different from clowning. Moreover, these dancing groups main focus is to distract the youths and children in the community by giving them the opportunity to do something they love, which is dancing. Furthermore, passion, spiritual connections and connection to the African culture are conveyed through the film by Clowning and Krumping.
This movie is based on changing the lives of Mexican Americans by making a stand and challenging the authority. Even when the cops were against them the whole time and even with the brutal beatings they received within one of the walk out, they held on. They stuck to their guns and they proved their point. The main character was threatened by the school administrators, she was told if she went through with the walkout she would be expelled. While they wanted everyone who was going to graduate to simply look the other way, the students risked it all and gave it their all to make their voices
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911…” . This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issue, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz.
New York: Routledge, 2003 Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print Shaw, Lisa and Stephanie Dennison. Pop Culture Latin America: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company Publishers, 2009.
I decided to analyze the poem English con Salsa by Gina Valdes, because I can identify myself with this poem in many different aspects. Both my parents and I were born in Mexico, but decided to move to the United States on February of 2000. With us moving here, we brought along our traditions and customs. My family has a blend of American culture with Latino culture since a few of my uncles married American women and had children. I feel that Valdes poem is about finding that “in between” feelings that are brought up when two cultures are mixed together.
In Deidre Sklar’s “Dancing with the Virgin” and Cindy Garcia’s “Salsa Crossings” the ethnographers navigate their positions in their research communities through their own experience. While both of their positions do not distinguish them as solely “outsider” or “insider”, their dominant position (Sklar as outsider and Garcia as insider) has a profound effect on how they write their ethnographies. Sklar’s dominant position as outsider, causes her to present more observational analysis, whereas Garcia’s dominant insider position presents her with more space for critical analysis. Neither perspective is more significant than the other, but they both offer distinct ways of presenting ethnography; Sklar through translated connected experience, and
African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans. First is about the effect of slave music on American history and African American music. The slave music’s
This article shows the power of music. As a musician myself, I find it so important that the art is appreciated and seen for what it really is. I want people to know that music isn’t just a sound, otherwise we’d just call it noise. Music is a language, something that contains passion and culture. Personally, the music that Lin-Manuel Miranda creates is relevant. He makes music from my culture, he represents my people. He incorporates latin music and Puerto-Rican roots into broadway shows, something that was never done. He makes me feel represented, as if my people are finally being appreciated in the most appropriate way. As a young Latina who’s interested in pursuing the music field, it is inspiring to be represented by this very successful and happy person, who is just like me. I beleive little kids all over the world are inspired by Lin-Manuel Miranda as well. It’s so important for kids to see themselves represented in the media, as it brings a sense of hope. Another things that is article presents to me is Puerto Rico! I am Puerto-Rican and Cuban, unapologetic for both. Majority of my family is in the island right now, suffering immensely from the repercussions of the natural disasters. Knowing that the music industry and media is involved, although the government may not be, is so pleasing! The article gives Puerto Rico a voice, and a chance to be heard. Hopefully, that chance is taken and turned
Did you know that Latinos began migrating to America around the 1940’s and 1950’s? Did you know that Latinos are known for their music, acting, and many other amazing talents? Did you know that Latino’s are still popular for their amazing singing, dancing, and other talents in the U.S.? Many Latinos moved to New York where they became musical sensations. They also were popular actors. By the 1940’s, Latinos such as Desi Arnaz, Jose Feliciano, Celia Cruz, and Ritchie Valens were well known singers of New York. Artists were also a big chunk of the Latino culture in America. This was the Hispanic Explosion in the U.S. and it was just beginning to start a new era of music and talent.
Latin language was one of the most used languages throughout the history. Despite its glory on different periods of time, usage of Latin in today’s world obviously is very rare. Throughout the history Latin functioned in several positions, while it doesn’t experience any of these functions nowadays (citation). Among those functions the most impressive one was its mythic function- as an official language of Catholic Church, which survived much longer compared to Latin language’s other uses (citation). Therefore, in spite of being already out of other uses even around 1800s, Catholic Church’s keeping the usage of Latin Language so long and abandoning it suddenly is the case that should be examined. Through the articles I read and examined, there
As the Hispanic Caribbean has evolved it has managed to grow and thrive beyond belief, whether one is discussing art, music or just the culture alone the Hispanic Caribbean is truly reaping the benefits of allowing themselves to be influenced by many other cultures. While the Hispanic Caribbean is thriving they are still facing the many new found struggles that come along with the territory of becoming more affluent as well as more accepting to other cultures and their beliefs. Often with the growth of large proportions comes many problems, problems also can come about when incorporating of different cultures as a whole as well as just bringing in their beliefs and mannerisms. None the less it can be argued that the struggles being faced in
As one moves past the initial onslaught of rhythmic beats that calypso has to offer, it is difficult to miss the way in which it reverberates with negative and demoralizing images of women to their male counterparts. Whether it is within the lyrics of Sparrow’s “Drunk and Disorderly” or Square One’s “My Ding-a Ling”, an ample number of verses are often dedicated to making lewd comments about the female body and the suggestive body language described through thinly veiled rhymes and puns, can be offensive depending on the listener. The half naked models being displayed on the various album covers of calypso, soca and rap mix tapes further reinforces these negative connotations. This bandwagon has been jumped upon by many, including the rap genre in the last two decades, wanting to capitalize on a marketing strategy that generally purports to flag consumer attention, playing on their sense of eroticism. The sections titled “Music, Sex, Sexism” and “Woman Rising” within Peter Manuel’s text: Caribbean Currents, dive into the many issues surrounding gender within music as well as female portrayal specifically in calypso. Observations can be made simply by reading through the textual comparisons. Many aspects of this subject area allude to the fact that the issue of gender portrayal in music can be construed differently depending on who the critical listener happens to be. With the increased awareness and heightened sensitivity to the way in which females are portrayed in popular media, it is important to reflect on the impact these lyrics have on male-female relationships within the communities who most often enjoy this music genre.