05-16-19 A New Song amongst Hegemony
I had never heard of Rebel Diaz before the readings, but our reading on the group made me interested in learning more about them. They don't align themselves with any particular party and emphasize how our 2 party system fails us when it comes to voting.
Their Chilean background was the topic of our class and we discussed how their own father had been imprisoned during Allende's fall. I had known that Chile had gone through waves of democratization and dictatorship, but I never knew that part that the U.S. had played until today. The U.S. didn't agree with Allende being put in power through legitimate votes and many copper corporations voiced concerns when they were not able to exploit Chilean citizens with Allende's plans for the economy. Since Allende had been voted into power with the consent of the people, the U.S. could not just march in and throw him out. Instead, the CIA created a coup climate and like President Nixon was quoted made the economy "scream". At this time the Chilean new song surfaced and its audience was mainly the working class. The song was meant to encourage people to organize themselves and take action. The Chilean new song reminds us today to fight for what we want and to use these activists as examples and inspiration. Victor Hará was one of these activist and he famously sang his song up until he was killed for doing so. Music has the power to remind you of the very first time you heard a song, create a sense of community and to inspire someone to take action. Hegemony was rampant in Chile and it still is rampant in our world, but many of us don't take notice of it or don't even know that it is occurring. Hegemonic structures are popular and socially accepted and citizens participate in them, often without a complaint. Music can help combat this by not following the norms and containing lyrics that call out injustices that can arise from hegemony.
Their Chilean background was the topic of our class and we discussed how their own father had been imprisoned during Allende's fall. I had known that Chile had gone through waves of democratization and dictatorship, but I never knew that part that the U.S. had played until today. The U.S. didn't agree with Allende being put in power through legitimate votes and many copper corporations voiced concerns when they were not able to exploit Chilean citizens with Allende's plans for the economy. Since Allende had been voted into power with the consent of the people, the U.S. could not just march in and throw him out. Instead, the CIA created a coup climate and like President Nixon was quoted made the economy "scream". At this time the Chilean new song surfaced and its audience was mainly the working class. The song was meant to encourage people to organize themselves and take action. The Chilean new song reminds us today to fight for what we want and to use these activists as examples and inspiration. Victor Hará was one of these activist and he famously sang his song up until he was killed for doing so. Music has the power to remind you of the very first time you heard a song, create a sense of community and to inspire someone to take action. Hegemony was rampant in Chile and it still is rampant in our world, but many of us don't take notice of it or don't even know that it is occurring. Hegemonic structures are popular and socially accepted and citizens participate in them, often without a complaint. Music can help combat this by not following the norms and containing lyrics that call out injustices that can arise from hegemony.
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