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Mariachi Bands Are Using The Power Of Their Voices To Protest

Señor Codo / Flickr
By April 26, 2017 at 6:58 pm

If you think mariachi bands are only good for playing at quinceañeras, you have not been paying attention. Mariachi’s are actually the secret voice of the people. Several instances of protest have been performed by mariachi’s recently and they’ve been amazing. Not just because they’re taking a stand, but because they’re dressed all the way up and playing music as a form of protest. It’s a beautiful sight. They’re basically superheroes without capes.


1. This group of mariachi performed their protest at Republican Senator Cory Gardner’s talk at a Chamber of Commerce event in Colorado Springs.

The mariachis played “¿Dónde Estás Corazón?” just as Gardner was beginning to speak and answer questions. The band was there representing the group “Americans for Conservation of the Arts” as well as the Latino community at large. A representative of that group had been trying to get a hold of the Senator who has refused to meet with constituents in a public forum according to CNN. They paid the $250 joining fee for the Chamber of Commerce just to interrupt it.


2. This mariachi band performed a remixed rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, outside the US embassy in Mexico City.

A representative of the band told reporters that they performed the song as “a gesture for building bridges” instead of building a wall.

3. There were also protests this week in Los Angeles in Mariachi Plaza against the displacement of the mariachi who live in the area.

The protests were held in Boyle Heights’ Mariachi Plaza, which is 1) not a joke, they actually live nearby and 2) that’s probably the best place in the world for mariachi to protest (okay, maybe that last part was a joke). All jokes aside, though, many people came out recently to protest massive rent hikes. Rent has gone up for some residents of the area by 80%, which is an astronomical amount for the mariachi living in the area with families and lives to sustain from their art.


4. Mariachi music is all about love, but when they need to, they can use that love to fight injustices. Like when they protested at Trump Tower.

Credit: TMZ / Youtube

Although they were escorted away by police, these mariachi made a stand and played beautifully all while being pushed out.

5. They’re even protesting internationally, like when these mariachi trolled Trump on a visit to Scotland.

Credit: COMMON FOLK / Youtube

They’re doing the work of the people!


So next time you hear mariachi, listen up and show some respect.

Credit: wecanfxit / Youtube

Or else.


READ: Valentina Took To The RuPaul Stage Dressed As A Mariachi And It Slayed


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Marco Rubio Took To The Senate Floor To Condemn The Torturing Of Gay Men In Chechnya

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Marco Rubio Took To The Senate Floor To Condemn The Torturing Of Gay Men In Chechnya

By Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez April 27, 2017 at 11:34 am

Marco Rubio is standing with the LGBTQ community for the first time.

The government of Chechnya (a majority-Muslim region of Russia) has been drawing international anger for rounding up and imprisoning members of its LGBTQ community — mainly gay men. Reports claim that at least 100 men have been detained at concentration camps for homosexuals in Chechnya and at least three have been killed. The men detained at these prisons are being subjected to extreme torture, including multiple beatings a day, having their hands electrocuted, and being forced to sit on bottles. As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, And Global Women’s Issues, Marco Rubio has spoken up against the Chechen dictator, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his plans to exterminate all gay men in the region by the start of Ramadan. The arrests of the men are being executed based on proof or speculation of being gay.

“Unfortunately, this is not a new reality for those living under the brutal tyranny of the Chechen leader, who by the way happens to be a loyal ally of Vladimir Putin,” Rubio said on the Senate floor. “There have been reports in the past of similar abuses although these reports seem to be the most brutal and should provoke anger in all of us. We should never ever tolerate human rights violations against any person for their political views, their religious beliefs, [or] their sexual orientation.”

Rubio spoke passionately about the need to condemn the act of violence against Chechnya’s LGBTQ community and the need to condemn the government in the most efficient way possible. Canadian LGBTQ activists are calling for the Canadian government to start granting emergency visas to LGBTQ Chechens in order to relocate them away from the present and imminent danger of violence and death by the hands of their government.

Rubio has long drawn criticism from LGBTQ activists because of his previous stances on LGBTQ issues. According to the Human Rights Campaign, Rubio has consistently voted against the interests and rights of the LGBTQ community in Florida and the United States. He has voted to block marriage equality, prevent same-sex couples from adopting, and even vowed to vote against his own immigration bill if it allowed immigration rights for same-sex couples. There are even reports of Rubio speaking at a fundraiser to raise money for the debunked and harmful practice of conversion therapy, which is its own form of torture on LGBTQ people.

“If this bill has in it something that gives gay couples immigration rights and so forth, it kills the bill. I’m gone. I’m off it,” Rubio told CNN about his immigration bill. “I’ve said that repeatedly. I don’t think that’s going to happen, and it shouldn’t happen. This is already a difficult enough issue as it is.”

Are we seeing a change in Rubio’s attitude towards LGBTQ people? Only time will tell.


READ: Watch Marco Rubio Drag Trump’s Secretary Of State Pick

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