Mariachi

So does everyone remember the class from last Thursday? I figured since we will be talking about the Mariachi in the future I would like to link it to some of the background culture we learned. Though the band has changed over time the term Mariachi originated in the 19th century and this made it click in my mind of how Professor Hutchinson was discussing how there was an emperor at one point by the name of Maximillian. I'm sorry but I can't remember who has work related to Mariachi's but I found alot of great information on the history of these bands.

http://www.mariachi.org/history.html

Music and Political Movements

Well...here goes my first blogging experience.

I would like to express some thing that came to mind when I read the article: "Music and Political Movements" by Turino. If you turn to page 191, paragraph 3, it says something extremely important: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it."

As I continued to read through and learn about the strategies employed by the Nazis, I couldn't help but notice some parallels between steps that were taken in Germany by a minority group and steps being taken here by a minority group...

Ultimately, in Germany, they did things like: "demonizing Jewish people to create an image of German superiority and to justify theft and extermination, the Nazi had to deny Jewish humanness and any contributions Jews might make to society. To admit that non-Aryans could produce good art or anything else of worth would be to admit that they might be valuable human beings after all, and this the Nazis could not do."

--> They banned books. They did a lot of brainwashing. They preyed on the state of the economy, on the low morale of many people...etc.

My point with all of this is that there are things being put in effect here that strive to strip a whole group of people of their history...and there just seem to be many similarities. Or may be I could just be looking into this too much?

Check out this link. There seems to be a movement which seeks to eliminate the fact that slavery ACTUALLY occurred in this country from all history textbooks. Is that not brainwashing? Why are they trying to rewrite history? (Someone help? Lol):



http://www.bvblackspin.com/2011/01/14/tea-party-wants-slavery-removed-from-student-textbooks/

Todos Somos Arizona

Check out the video for this new song called "We are all Arizona," in reaction to the recent SB 1070 law.
http://www.mexiamusic.com/portal/hgxpp001.aspx?154,3,12,O,E,0,MNU;E;1;6;MNU;,

And here are the lyrics:
http://www.hiphoppress.com/2010/05/los-tigres-son-pens-fight-song-for-his-generation-mexias-somos-arizona-expresses-fear-and-dismay-ove.html

Ska Music

Hey guys I am not sure about you all but I listen to varieties of music and one of the genres that I personally love listening to would be Ska Music. As I begin to look into Mexican Music I learned that Ska music entered Mexico during the third wave of it in the United States in the 1980's and maintained popularity in the 1990's just like in the United States. This is something that has me interested in finding more artists playing this form of music.

Here if you guys wanna have a listen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P341W77b9hY

Welcome to our course!

This is a blog created by students in the Syracuse University course "From Azteca to Zapatista: Mexican Music and Social Movements," taught by Prof. Sydney Hutchinson. We hope to bring up some thought-provoking new ideas on social movements, social justice, and Mexican and Chicano culture here. Please tell us what you think!