MolinaSoleil“La Historia del Mexicano” by Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals, CHiTT Productions 2008
I wrote the first version of La Historia del Mexicano back in 2002 during my days as an undergraduate student activist. I began performing it as a spoken word piece, then a lyrical acapella piece, then rapping it over other artists’ beats. Mannequin Rituals put a sound to it in 2008.
La Historia is a story that traces three generations of struggle and triumph. A tribute to los inmigrantes who risk their lives for their families, the wise elders who keep ancient knowledge alive, the young activistas who carry the flame.
Latinos are indigenous survivors of 500 years of colonization throughout the Americas. Most recently, brown people have been targeted by racist laws in Arizona, including SB 1070 and other legislation that bans ethnic studies and goes so far as to say that people without accents cannot teach English classes.
As “America” browns (people of color will be the majority by 2050, if not sooner), conservative white backlash will grow and become more violent, reminding us again and again of the 60s.
Us who condemn racism, us who affirm human rights and human dignity, we join together to celebrate culture, to celebrate the his/her stories of the people of the Americas. Indigenous, black, brown, white, Asian, all relations on all continents, we join together to reaffirm a movement for justice. We never die.
Up Before the Sunrise.
Tags: A.M. Soleil, Adrian H. Molina, Arizona, Chicano history, CHiTT Productions, Immigration Reform, La Historia del Mexicano, Mannequin Rituals, Molina Music, Molina Speaks, music blog, racism, Retrospectively, SB 1070
