WEBVTT - How I Made It: Las Cafeteras 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:04.000 This is Latino USA, the radio journal of News and 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:08.840 Kurtur Latino USC. Let listen Latino USA. I'm Maria Inojosa. 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:12.960 We bring you stories that are underreported but that mattered. 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:14.840 To you, overlooked by the rest of the media. 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:16.759 And while the country is struggling to deal with these, 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.440 we listen to the stories of black and Latino Studio 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:24.560 United Latino Front, a cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:32.440 of the movement. I'm Maria Inojosa. Welcome to Latino USA. 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:36.320 I'm Maria Nojosa. Enjoy this episode from the archivos. 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:39.519 We know La Bamba is a song that's over four 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:43.440 hundred years old. That song survived because people sang that song. 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:45.120 They didn't know how to read, they know how to write, 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.559 but they just passed it on. How are people going 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:53.680 to know our story at Chicanos, mestizos, brown kids, mixed kids. 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:55.840 If we don't tell our story, how are we going 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.400 to survive for four hundred years? And every art form, 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.440 there's people who hold on to what they believe is tradition, 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.360 and then there's people who are trying to like evolve 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:09.039 with it. Don't let a conversation or those ideas of 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.360 what tradition is keep you from telling who you are? 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:21.880 From Futuro Media and RX It's Latino usay I'm Maria Inohosan. 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.720 Today one of our How I Made It segments, this 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:32.720 time with East La band Las Cafeterias. Las Cafeterias made 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.800 a name for themselves with their politically charged lyrics set 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:39.400 to traditional Mexican and Afro Mexican instrumentation. 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:41.720 The group from. 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:45.680 East La fused a base of Sonharocho with rock, ska, 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.240 spoken word and hip hop, telling the stories they grew 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.320 up with and the realities they still see every day 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:52.880 in their. 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:59.919 Communities and black and brown fighting together. 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:04.560 One day, I'm singing in English, Spanish and in Spanish. 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:07.560 Their message has reached the ears of listeners all over 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:10.639 the world, from the stages of the Hollywood Bowl all 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.359 the way to New Zealand. On today's edition of our 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.239 How I Made It Series, we check in with three 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:22.120 members of the group, Denise Carlos, Ector Flores and Danielle French. 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.760 They tell us about their beginnings, their work to tell 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:30.000 and preserve brown stories, and they break down one of 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.320 their songs, I'm not Your puppet. 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:38.359 I'm daniel French. 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:42.600 I play harana keys, I sing, and I spit and 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:44.280 whatever else the band tells me to do. 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:45.959 My name is Ector Flores. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:50.400 I play harana terreceta, I dance a patiado and I 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:53.280 sing with a little bit of spoken word of rap 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:54.440 rap rat Hi. 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.360 I'm Denise Carlos and I play the harana primera, I 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:03.760 sing and I dance abat. We are Lasta. 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.240 I always tell people who don't know Confidettas. I always say, 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:12.040 if Leela. 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:16.160 Downs and go go Bordello had a baby in East La, 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:17.839 that would be last Confidittas. 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:22.280 It's La music. It's all the things that reflect the 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:23.120 way we grew up. 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:29.200 What we're doing is carrying immigrant stories, Chicano stories, Brown stories, 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:31.160 and that's what we want to keep on doing. 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:35.880 We offer a reimagination of what it means to look Mexican, 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.360 to sound Mexican, to speak Mexican. Because even in Las 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:44.560 Cofetera's if the experience varies, the language style varies, that 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:47.120 self imposed identity varies. 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:50.960 In a way, I think it reflects the pressure cooker 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.160 of life in La and so of course the music 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.840 we create is influenced by how we grew up. The sounds, 0:03:57.840 --> 0:03:59.920 we heard, the foods we ate at other people's house. 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:09.320 You see us, and we don't look like Mexicans. We 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:10.720 don't look like Spiliy Gonzales. 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:11.080 Right. 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:15.960 We speak English, we speak Spanglish, we speak Spanish. We dance, 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.040 you know, Narteno style. We do staff atiallo, but then 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.279 we also do ska and cumbia and you know rock. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.840 And I think what we offer is a discomfort and 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.080 a reimagination of what it means to be American, to 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:32.160 look American, what that sound is, what that story is. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.240 Pasca that comes from the East Side Cafe. It's the 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:51.440 space that Denise and Jose Gano, the drummer and percussionists 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:53.120 in our band. They were part of a bunch of 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.840 students who helped found the space, and so when we 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.320 were starting to play music there, we would go play 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.599 everywhere coffee shops, on the streets and the corners or wherever, 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:06.160 and people would say, oh, here the caffeteros from the cafe. 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:09.520 But we had women and the crew, and they're like, 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:11.960 we're not calfordos, we're caffaderas. 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:14.680 And we're like, yeah, even though we have men in 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:17.640 the group, let's take on the feminine identity because we 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:19.880 all come from a woman, so it's a great way 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.320 to honor that we all have feminine inside of us. 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:31.200 We fell in love with this style of music called 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:34.640 so which is in Afro Mexican style of music. 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:41.679 It comes from this mix of West Africa, the Mecca, 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.680 and the indigenous peoples of southern Vera Cruz and the 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:54.400 Sotavento region, and you have the Spanish and Arab influences. 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.960 Is about telling stories. It's about call and response. I 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.360 tell a verse and sing it back to me, so 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:14.200 we make sure we're listening to each other. We talk 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:16.719 about the real things going on in our life. And 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:21.440 I think that's where Las Capetra's story takes flight, because 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:24.719 then we say, okay, they're telling their stories. But we 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:27.000 didn't grow up in Vera Cruz. We grew up here 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.600 in La So what happens when we tell our story? 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:33.480 What happens when we let the music reflect our experience 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:34.240 and where we live. 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.320 As a Chicana was being told that the way I 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:47.080 placed on Ha wasn't correct and it was disrespectful because 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:51.040 I spoke Spanglish because I didn't understand everything I was 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:51.719 singing about. 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.479 We used to dress up like we used to dress 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:58.160 up in all why where the Sombreros? But we stopped 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:01.920 doing that because we're not how to We're not from Betakruz. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.200 We don't say we placed on Haidocho music. 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:09.880 We are grounded in Hadrocho, which taught us your story 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:14.600 is important and vital, taught us that we are valid 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.080 right and for that we are forever grateful. 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:18.720 But we are not had choice. 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:25.880 In Las Cafeterras, and through so I was given this platform, 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.840 in this vehicle to no longer be ashamed, to be 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:30.600 able to be proud, and to be able to make 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:32.600 connections with people all over the world. 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:36.160 The more we create that space in our band where 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.880 everyone can express themselves and be who they are, the 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.480 more I feel like we've created this space outside on 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.760 stage for the listeners to say, hey, no matter where 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.160 you're from, homie, like get up and dance. There ain't 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:48.600 no wrong way, you know. And I think because we've 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:50.680 been told that we were doing it the wrong way, 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:54.280 we learned to shed our concern for what people thought 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.560 and to acknowledge that we respectfully are going to go 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.320 our own path and let our to reflect who we are. 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.000 That's such a powerful thing for young people of color 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:05.800 to be able to do, and to do it in 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.160 a way that we're not apologizing for do it in 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:11.040 a way we're not ashamed, but being proud of our 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.120 own existence and our own stories. 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:24.600 And it's almost chasle A Yia. 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.400 We recorded a song called I'm Not Your Puppet, which 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:32.400 is based on a song called I'm Your Puppet. 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:36.800 Which we love, but we just added one word, not 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:38.360 I don't know you. 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.240 When I think about oldies and now, there are tragic 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:48.840 love songs, but a lot of this stuff is about, 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.760 you know, really unhealthy relationships. So we were strategic and 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:54.240 trying to pick songs. 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.720 That we loved that could be flipped a little bit. 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:58.040 I'm just too. 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:00.240 Old. 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.079 These are something I guarantee you that no matter whether 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:06.320 you're black, white, brown, Asian, wherever you're from, if you've 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:08.959 been in America that long, like you have that story, 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:10.160 you have that connection to this. 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:11.800 Song, dude, just what I have to. 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:18.080 I do anything for you, but I'm not your. 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.160 Part of the things that we do in blas Confidea 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.679 is we always like to perform spoken word, We like 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:31.400 to do perform hip hop pieces. Anything you know, everything 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.760 you need I knew all that this is y'all get 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:34.760 down on one knee. 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:36.120 It can be a permit. 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:38.840 We decided to write a little piece just to include 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:39.880 something different. 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.199 Would be silly. You can be your soul man and 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:44.880 listen to Ron Man show you how to slow dance. 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:49.600 I think it kind of expresses this connection between Detroit 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.760 and the folks who created that music, and Los Angeles 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:56.160 and Mexico, and it kind of unites this continent and 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.240 unites our stories and reminds us it's just a thin 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.640 line between our cultures. 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:04.959 I think saying I'm. 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:05.560 Not your puppet. 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:07.760 I can love you, I can sherish you, and I 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:11.760 also expect the same bag. It's just hoping that people 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:14.240 listen to this song and say you can love fiercely, 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:18.160 but remember to love yourself fiercely and never to just 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.080 be held by anybody's strings. 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:28.160 No matter what happens. We got to remember to do 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:32.319 the things that give us joy. And we can critique 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:35.640 the people in power. We can critique each other and 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.439 ourselves and talk about what matters and do it in 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:42.480 a way that still gives us energy and life and 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:46.120 motivates us to not just say what's wrong, but to 0:10:46.240 --> 0:11:01.079 go make things right. We can't just preach to the choir. 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.640 And also we can take a message that we never 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.720 thought would resonate with somebody who has a different color 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:11.760 of skin, different upbringing. We say, you should love who 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.480 you are, you should love the person next to you, 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:17.280 and we get the party cracking, and then we slip 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.520 in these little messages we hit them with. You know, 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.240 if I was president, if I was president, on my 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:24.920 slaves as a phrase the congregations, the first thing I 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:28.600 do is re education, and every third period we talk 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.440 about the things that are going on in our country 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.000 and our world. And we see that those words bounce 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:34.640 back at us. 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.480 All black and brown, because that got caught three strikes. 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:40.280 And when they get out, they get so they can 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.160 ride to their future, back to their past the. 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:47.040 Store, and some spaces appreciate that more than other spaces. 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.040 We've been told to stop playing and stopping political, and 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.240 people have walked out of our shows. Making people uncomfortable 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:58.520 is not the goal. Making people reflect on why they're 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:01.160 uncomfortable is what's valuable. 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.920 Conflict is a natural thing, you know, how we deal 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:08.040 with conflict becomes the unnatural thing. 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.520 Growth is always going to be uncomfortable, and so what 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:13.760 I'm hoping for with our music is not that we 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.000 make people angry or that people walk out of our shows, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:20.920 is that we're able to end the discomfort. 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:36.160 Growth the voices of Denise Carlos, Ector Flores and Danielle 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:56.080 French from the East La band Las Cafetires. This episode 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.480 originally aired in November of twenty twenty. It was produced 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:02.839 by Genie Dalgo and edited by Miel Macias. It was 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:07.960 mixed by elishiba Ittu. The Latino USA team also includes 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:14.040 Victoria Estradra, Renaldo Leanos Junior, Andrea Lopez Grusado, Joni mar Marquez, 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:19.599 Marta Martinez, Mike Sargent, Noursaudi, and Nancy Trujuillo. Our co 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:24.079 executive producer is Benni Le Ramidez. Our director of engineering 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:28.760 is Stephanie Lebau. Our senior engineer is Julia Caruso. Additional 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:33.240 engineering support by Gabriel Lebiez and jj Carubin. Our marketing 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:37.000 manager is Luis Luna. Our theme music was composed by 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:40.360 saner Ronos, I'm your host and executive producer Marie jo 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.840 Josa join us again on our next episode. In the meantime, 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.520 look for us on all of your social media. I'll 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:50.880 see you there on Instagram. Remember note vajes nunca astara 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:52.000 proxima bye. 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:59.960 Latino USA is made possible in part by California Endowment 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.719 and building a strong state by improving the health of 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:09.280 all Californians, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and funding for Latino 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:12.280 USA is Coverage of a culture of health is made 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.760 possible in part by a grant from the Robert Wood 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:15.720 Johnson Foundation. 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:21.280 You want me to move on? Or do you want 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:21.480 me to? 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:23.160 We can move on? 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:24.320 Thank you, thank you. 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:27.400 You're tired of hearing me? Sware? Okay, here we go 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:29.640 in three two one