The Connection Between Politics and Music Expressed in Many Songs

Music can provoke different types of feelings; we all have different interpretations when we hear a song. We can see the connection between politics and music being expressed in multiple songs that derive from multiple cultures. Songs can portray a political message on current situations that affect a population or a particular community. A band that has no limits when it comes to delivering a political message is the Puerto Rican band Calle 13. Calle 13 became active in 2003 and they were immediately distinguished by their music style and social commentary about the problems in Latin America. The song presents social, historical, and political themes that are present in Latin America. Even though Latin America has been oppressed for years, we are also able to see the strength of Latin America as a whole and how it connects back to our themes of the course.

Different images come into mind when listening to the song “Latinoamerica” as well as different feelings and thoughts that get triggered. For instance, the sound of the heartbeat depicts the image that all of Latin America shares the same heart because all people young or old have been through similar struggles. No matter the adversities they have been through at the beginning, they have always found a way to overcome their struggles and rise even stronger. Unity is represented, by being able to listen to vocalists from different countries. This brings a variety of colors and joy knowing that our countries are being represented and that no matter where we come from, we have all suffered and fall, but we got up like invisible warriors.

Therefore, they all have a piece to contribute in what it means to be Latin American and unite together in order to let the world know that political issues are still affecting them. In the song we can hear a small fragment in Portuguese, often we do not remind ourselves that Brazil is part of Latin America since they speak a different language than Spanish. Yet, no matter the linguistic difference that exists in Latin America it is not a problem to achieve the goal of creating harmony and peace in our world. Moreover, in the song we can notice the constant phrase “tu no puedes,”, especially in the chorus. “Tu no puedes comprar al viento. Tu no puedes comprar al sol. Tu no puedes comprar la lluvia. Tu no puedes comprar el calor… Tu no puedes comprar mi alegria. Tu no puedes comprar mis doleres” (Cabra & Perez. “Latinoamerica”). This part states that you cannot buy everything with money such as the wind, sun, heat, rain, happiness, and pain.

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The foreigners such as the United States can take away many other things such as land, but they are not able to buy the things that matter to people and that is their culture and traditions. Not everything is about money in this world, money does not buy happiness or lost time with your loved ones. This connects back to the article “Family Separation and a Hard Lesson from Japanese Internment,” in which Olivia B. Waxman explains how the United States took decades to admit that the policy of Executive Order 9066, which caused the incarceration of many Japanese families was wrong. “It’s been just about 30 years since President Ronald Regan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The law paid out reparations of about $20,000 to every survivor of those internment camps “to right a grave wrong”.

Even though there were Japanese Americans who survived the internment camps and were given $20,000 to be able to continue with their lives that was not enough. Since they did not have the ability to go back to their homes or businesses, coming out of those camps had a sense of shame and guilt due to something they had no control over. “There was widespread support for the internment because of racism and government’s claim that Japanese-Americans were a national security threat”. The United States did not care if children were being affected by this decision, they just wanted to do what they thought was right for this country and that was by getting rid of Japanese Americans and place them into these horrible condition camps. Since they were seen as a threat for the United States. Causing the death of many people and psychological problems to those who were able to survive this experience.

This all relates to the song “Latinoamerica” because no matter how much money the United States was willing to give the Japanese Americans it was never enough to buy their happiness or their pains that marked families for a lifetime. Furthermore, the song also argues that people in Latin America have been dehumanized and turned into factories and cheap hand labor that benefits the economy of foreign countries. “Soy una fabrica de humo, mano de obra para tu consumo” (Cabra & Perez. “Latinoamerica”). They are using the word “tu” which refers to the foreign invaders who have been exploding the working class by doing these jobs at a low cost, benefiting foreign countries for a long time. For instance, in “The Bracero Program: When the US Looked to Mexico for Labor,” Robert Longley talked about how this was an opportunity for Mexican people to come to the United States, yet this was not something positive because people were not treated fairly. “Mexican farmworkers were to be paid a minimum wage of 30 cents an hour and guaranteed decent living condition”.

This was the agreement between Mexico and the United States, in which people who came to work on the fields were not going to be mistreated. On the other hand, this agreement was not followed through because most of the braceros were brought to perform work that required them to constantly bend over the whole day which caused back injuries. “Braceros complained of unsafe housing, overt racial discrimination, repeated disputes over unpaid wages, the absence of health care, and lack of representation”. This is still a problem of the unemployment rate and underpaid cheap labor that people of third world countries still face today. Going back to the fragment of the song, people in Latin America being the ones working long hours in factories and not getting paid enough for their hard work and they are still seen as less in countries such as the United States.

To add on, we can see more struggles that Latin America has faced but remains with hope. To understand Latin America and the people we need to know the history that has impacted lives. The song mentions the colonization of America and it demonstrates it by showing a diversity of people. “Soy lo que dejaron, soy la sombra de lo que se robaron” (Cabra & Perez. “Latinoamerica”). referring back to the American conquest because of how Latin American people had their land stolen without any shame. The importance of this message is for history to not repeat itself, to look back at all those struggles that our ancestors had to face for us to be in the place that we are in now. All of this relates to the article “Manifest Destiny” by Richard Griswold del Castillo, which discusses the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and how people were affected by this treaty.

“The history of the first generation of Mexican Americans under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is one failed promises and impoverishment”. This treaty was made when the United States won the Mexican American war in1848, which granted the United States land from Mexico and a clause that ensured Mexicans would be able to keep the land they owned. Yet, Mexican rights and the land of ownership were soon violated in which the United States took away Mexican land. This represents the song lyrics because Mexican people had their land stolen away and by us learning about this history it would not be easy for history to repeat itself once again. On the other hand, the song refers to present issues that we can see today which is the U.S and Mexican border.

It is mentioned in “Un desierto embriagado con pellotes, un trago de pulque para cantar con los coyotes” (Cabra & Perez. “Latinoamerica”). When they mention “coyote” the singer refers to the people who help those coming from Latin America cross the border to get into the United States, focusing on an issue that has been occurring for decades and it is still happening today. It also demonstrates how people struggle when they come to the United States because they are being discriminated against and have been called “illegal aliens” for coming to the United States, to give their families more opportunities for growth. For instance, in the article “Will Mexico Get Half of Its Territory Back?” Enrique Krauze talks about how our current president Donald Trump sees immigrants as those to blame for everything bad that is happening.

“Presenting the United States as a victim of Mexico, a country that supposedly steals jobs, imposes onerous treaties and sends its “bad hombres” across the border” (Krauze, 1). Trump views immigrants like the ones who take away jobs, but this is not true. Immigrants are the ones who come to the United States to contribute to the economy, who take the initiative to do the high-risk jobs and endure the jobs that no one wants to do or the hard-manual labor. “The United States owes Mexico an honest reconsideration… in its museums and books (Karauze, 2). Even in the present we do not acknowledge the hard work that people in Latin America has done for the United States, we are left out of history with no recognition of our hard work and effort.

The song “Latinoamerica” shows that music is capable of delivering multiple messages with just one composition. We can see the struggles that Latino America has faced over the decades due to political problems, race, and class. The song offers a solution, that is all Latin American people coming together and fighting against the inequality that they have faced and are still facing today. By having Latin Americans jump borders and bringing together Latin American countries together, either speaking Spanish or Portuguese makes us realize that our surroundings are beautiful and that when we all unite together, we can make a difference in our world and break all those barriers. “El que no quiere a su patria no quiere a su madre,” we all need to have pride of where we come from our traditions and culture should be intact, no one should feel ashamed from where they come from or their skin color because we are all humans and we all deserve the right to be treated equally. When we come together as whole, we are representing all those struggles and pains, showing the rest of the world that no matter the circumstances we stand for one another.

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