Mia Gasero
This week's reading reminded me a lot about how culture impacts music through storytelling. The role of an “artivista” and how these emerging Latinox artists have chosen another route to express their activism by showcasing their healing mechanisms through music. Also to keep “their ancestors strong through difficult times…”(265) as said in American Sabor by Berros-Miranda, Dudley and Habell-Pallan.These Latinx artists differ from those who have become widely known from mainstream media that has cared more about “spectacle over participation.” Artivistas are centered around the idea of giving back to their community. The idea of an “artivistas” relates back to songwriting being storytelling in Imaginaries by Gonzalez. Music is essentially history and a lot can be remembered in a song whether it is discussing the past, present or future, it still allows the listener to grasp on to what time period were in and how that reflects the current state of a community such as whether they are rising or healing. Gonzalez writes, “When we become critical of the discourses that teach an outlook of community assessment through a lens of deficit and instead look to our communities from an asset-based perspective, we stand to create something more sustainable.” (13) Essentially meaning that by using what they have already and discussing with others, they are still able to decolonize the space they are in through imagining. Their music represents the fight for social justice first and foremost while visualizing the life of Latinx. These two articles emphasize the importance of creative, cultural expression through music that is not overshadowed by mainstream media.
I choose “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday as it represents an idea highly seen today within the BLM movement and the protest song will never be forgotten.
I choose “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cookie as it also represents cultural storytelling about the civil rights movement and represents the BLM today.
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