Blog Post #5

"Latinoamérica" and "Querido F.B.I."

In the song "Latinoamérica" by Calle 13, there are many references to the issues of identity and memory. For example, in the first few lines of this song, the lyrics "I am what they left behind, I am the leftovers of what they have stolen... Peasant labor for your consumption". These lines pertain to the issues of memory and identity because the singer is referring to the fact that the U.S is currently holding Puerto Rico as a territory. While the people may be considered citizens, there is a history of the U.S excluding the Puerto Ricans from access to certain fundamental rights such as access to the first amendment, freedom of speech. Also, these lines are remembering the peasant labor that was used back when Puerto Rico was used as nothing more than a place to farm sugar cane. Back during colonial times, Puerto Rico was under the rule of Spain who made the natives farm sugar cane and did not treat them properly. The people revolted with the help of the U.S, but the U.S forced their hand by essentially making Puerto Rico sign itself over from Spain to the possession of the U.S.

Another section of the song that stuck out to me as important is "I am Latin America, a nation without legs but still walking". This is an extremely important verse because I think this references all of the interference that the U.S has had in South America, and also how U.S corporations either used to or currently control much of the wealth or resources in certain countries. For example, we talked in class about how U.S copper giants had Chilean people working for pennies on the dollar in awful working conditions, and the companies were taking all of the wealth and resources for themselves, leaving nothing for the people that actually worked for it. Overall, the rhythm of this song seemed to follow the stereotypical Puerto Rican clapping rhythm that Dr. Quintero showed us in class today. This is an integral part of identity because this rhythm is almost ingrained in the Puerto Rican culture. It helps the Puerto Ricans feel a sense of belonging when they listen to it.

With this song "Querido F.B.I", I am not quite sure how to feel about this song. Basically, this song is about a botched raid that was led by the F.B.I to bring Puerto Rican Revolutionary group leader Ojeda Ríos to justice for crimes he had committed in the United States. He had been on the run for close to 15 years, and the raid went wrong and he ended up getting killed. It is theorized that due to the recent success that the Puerto Rican Revolutionary group had concerning gaining traction for the Puerto Rican Independence movement, the F.B.I wanted to punish and subdue the group by killing their leader. I do believe that this COULD be a motive, but also the man was wanted for 15+ years for leading a bank robbery in Connecticut. In my opinion, he should not have died and I do not think that is what the F.B.I intended, but I do not think that they did this just to punish the movement.

Concerning memory and Identity, one big topic that was mentioned in the song and the music video was 9/11. I could barely find any English lyrics for this song, so I am not quite sure what is being said about 9/11, but this attack is a huge part of American identity because this was by far the largest unification of Americans to date because on that day, it did not matter your skin color or where you were from, we as a people and our way of life was threatened and attacked by people who sought to destroy what we know and love. This ties back in with memory because you can ask practically any adult older than 30 "Where were you when the towers fell?" and I can guarantee you can get an answer from nearly all of them. Finally, one thing that stood out to me was the repeated use of the work machete and how the revolutionary group literally has the word in its name. I think the machete is an integral part of the Puerto Rican culture due to how the peoples of the island were made to farm sugar cane using this tool and how it was almost a symbol of oppression. Now, it seems as if they are changing the meaning by having it symbolize freedom and independence. This makes the machete a big part of the Puerto Rican identity because for some, it represents their heritage and how they came from people who were forced to work, and for others, it represents their emancipation from the U.S because now they are fighting to gain freedom from the U.S.

For the song that Dr. Quintero wanted us to find, I think I may have one. I have difficulty trying to find one that matched with the themes we discussed today but I did my best. This song is called "Passionfruit" and it is by Drake. It includes tropical rhythms that he normally does not have in his songs, and this reminded me of the Puerto Rican songs and the vibes that I feel when listening to them. Also, DJ Moodymann makes an appearance at the start of the song when Drake used a sample from one of his live performances. This sample is used to make people either remember and reflect on his performance or to inspire them to learn about it as I did. Also, this artist is an inspiration for Drake, making him apart of Drake's identity and including a sample of his in the song is a way to pay homage to him as an artist. This sampling is something that we discussed in class today, but I was not able to find anything that had significant cultural memory associated with it.