La Raza Heritage Month Daily Songs

I interrupt my writing on TERF month and the counter-programming because I finished something musically and I want to write about it now.

You may recall that I have struggled with what to call the time period running from September 15th through October 15th. As I was reading the books for that month, they focused on the issues with the names too. I can't promise it will stick, but this month I am using La Raza.

What does that mean? Well, really, they are Indigenous people living in areas of the Americas originally colonized by Spain (and Portugal?). The distinction is language, but of course racially there is a lot of mixing, and there are many different cultures there, not all of which relates to United States history.

I was thinking about those different cultures within the US specifically, and got this idea to do different regions.

Even then it's messy. I don't think "Chicano" has ever been specified as located in California, but primarily US residents of Mexican heritage. I focused on Californians because if you keep heading East from the Pacific, you find Tejanos.

Without it necessarily being fair, I left out Linda Ronstadt because she was born in Arizona. 

I started late, but gave eight days each (for a month of 32 days) to those two, plus Cuban-Americans (focusing on Miami) and Nuyoricans. 

I debated whether that should be Nuyoricans or just Puerto Ricans, from wherever, but I liked the fairly strict definition and it was my favorite music. (Due to the country influence, the Tejano was my least favorite.)

The confusion about whom to include -- and the potential exclusion -- spreads. Oscar Isaac is a Latino musician from Miami. I reviewed Blinking Underdogs in 2016, but he's Guatemalan, right? Maternally yes, but his father is Cuban, perhaps making his presence in Miami make more sense, but people from all over end up all over.

Other musicians that I did not use included B'Real, Irene Cara, and Rudy Sarzo. You could argue against using Rage Against the Machine, because really that was only for Zach de la Rocha. 

This is not the ultimate list, but the list I used this time.

As I get into the books in a few weeks, we may return to the problems of gatekeeping. For now, I think my answer is rotation. Zoom in on specifics and differences, then zoom back out on commonalities, and remember there is always more.

There were a few breaks due to travel, and then a few days filled in with songs relating to a concert I saw (Billy Idol), a book I read (Up, Up and Away by Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo), and a show I was watching (Daria). Then, since we were close to Halloween, two songs about relationships with a dangerous edge.

Chicanx
9/23 “Born in East LA” by Cheech Marin
9/24 “Testify” by Rage Against the Machine
9/25 “Donna” by Ritchie Valens
9/26 “Risk It” by Alice Bag
9/27 “Don't Push Me Around” by The Zeros
9/28 “Tu Historia” by Julieta Venegas
9/29 “En Realidad” by Angela Aguilar
9/30 “Blue Sofa” by The Plugz

Tejanx
10/1 “Lemon Tree” by Trini Lopez
10/2 “Volver, Volver” by Piñata Protest
10/3 “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” by Selena
10/4 “I Can't Stop Loving You” by Freddy Fender
10/5 “Estas Tocando Fuego” by La Mafia
10/6 “Wolves” by Selena Gomez
10/7 “Dance With Me” by Los Lonely Boys
10/8 “Quedate” by Emilio Navaira

Cuban-American
10/9 “Get On Your Feet” by Gloria Estefan
10/10 “Feel This Moment” by Pitbull feat Christina Aguilera
10/11 “Voices In My Head” by Al Jourgensen
10/12 “Cuban Pete” by Desi Arnaz
10/13 “Just Another Day” by Jon Secada
10/14 “My Old Friend” by Beato Band
10/15 “Un Nuevo Amanecer” by Angela Alvarez
10/16 “Yo Viviré” by Celia Cruz

Nuyorican
10/17 “Oye Como Va” by Tito Puente
10/18 “El Watusi” by Ray Barretto
10/19 “Mr. Trumpet Man” by Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz
10/20 “Pa La Ocho Tambo” by Charlie and Eddie Palmieri
10/21 “Bang Bang” by Joe Cuba
10/22 “Idilio” by Willie Colón
10/23 “Pa Que Se Lo Gozen” by Tego Calderon
10/24 “Believe In Me” by Circa '95

10/26 “Save Me Now” by Billy Idol
10/27 “Up, Up and Away” by The 5th Dimension

10/29 “You're Standing On My Neck” by Splendora
10/30 “Maneater” by Hall & Oates
10/31 “Shoorah! Shoorah!” by Betty Wright