Las Cafeteras: From community organizers to musical leaders



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From left to right: Annette Torres, Denise Carlos and Daniel French.

What is music and what is its purpose? Although it has different definitions for different people, I believe it is safe to say that music should be interesting, pleasurable and above all, inspiring.

Listening to Las Cafeteras, an L.A. band composed of seven community organizers and nonprofit workers of Mexican descent, perform at the California African American Museum´s courtyard, was certainly a moving and inspirational experience.

The band mixes traditional Son Jarocho – a centuries-old form of Mexican music from the eastern state of Veracruz, that combines indigenous, Spanish and African musical elements – with diverse rhythms, and creates music that touches the soul.

While on stage, these musicians radiate pride, love, anger, happiness, but above all, hope. Their energy and verses transmit and infuse among the audience, a feeling that justice and equality is attainable if you fight for it.

Once the concert concluded, I had the chance to interview David and Hector Flores, two of the members of Las Cafeteras.

Last month you released “It´s Time, your first studio recorded album. How was this experience?

Hector: It was an incredible amount of work. When we started off as a band, we saw ourselves as students of the music. It was not until very recently that we began considering ourselves as artists. When we saw what we were doing with the music, we felt that we had to leave a mark and inspire people to tell their stories. If we don´t tell our stories, other people are going to tell them for us. Creating the album required hard work and a lot of fund raising, but we made it happen and it has been a wonderful story ever since.

Until now, music has been a side job and a recreational activity for you. Have you considered transforming it into full-time work?

David: To put everything else aside is scary and a bit nerve-wracking. It’s something we feel we are going to have to consider.

So your answer is yes. You may become a full-time band?

Hector: Yeah. This is a conversation we just had. By the end of the year, we will have decided if we´re going to go one hundred percent.

Do you have enough time to rehearse during the week?

Hector: Right now we’re rehearsing six hours a week. It´s not enough time considering the musical projects we have in mind.

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From left to right: David Flores, Hector Flores, Leah Rose Gallegos and Jose Cano.

How do people react to the way you mix traditional Son Jarocho with different rhythms and musical styles?

Hector: We just finished a national tour, and folks have received us with love and admiration. They are excited about the fact that people are remixing traditional music to make it relevant with what´s going on today.

Your lyrics include many community-focused political messages. Tell me how this idea originated.

Hector: Son Jarocho is a music genre that comes from slavery and is rooted in resistance. To play Son Jarocho music, and not talk about the conditions that created this music, would be disrespectful. We´re not a political band, we’re a real band talking about real issues.

You mention in your web page that your mission is to learn, share, and practice the beauty, culture and energy of Son Jarocho music for the purpose of building autonomous communities. What is your definition of an autonomous community?

David: To define autonomy everyone would have to autonomously do it. That´s exactly what we encourage people to do. People have to figure it out for themselves. What is their community? What do they need? What do their families need?

You mention in your songs that you are against wars. Do you think the world would be a better place if military programs ceased to exist?

David: Is the Pope Catholic? We´re most definitely against war and aggressive behavior.

Hector: We´re anti-war, but that doesn´t necessarily mean we´re against military programs. What we are against is the fact that the United States spends more money in military operations and domestic protection programs than the rest of the world combined.

During August, a group of housekeepers, laborers, students and immigration activists traveled around the country in a caravan chanting “no papers, no fear” and declaring “I´m undocumented in public gatherings.” This bus tour, dubbed the “indocubus,” was carried out to challenge their anti-immigrant foes in the ongoing national debate on immigration. Was the bus tour a good idea?

Hector: I think the “indocubus” was an incredible tour of people wanting to voice their stance for dignity and a fair immigration policy in the United States. It was a beautiful thing.

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The audience enjoying the show.

The presidential elections are a month away. Why do you think there still hasn´t been a women president in the United States?

Hector: We still haven´t had a president that really serves the needs of the people in this country. In order to move forward, we need a president that supports everybody. It´s less about whether we have a female president, and it´s more about whether we have a president that serves our needs.

What´s your stance on the deferred action policy under which certain young immigrants in the country without documents can get a two-year work permit and a reprieve from deportation?

Hector: Although deferred action was by no means a solution to the movement´s demands, it was a response that showed us that the government is listening. It’s an opportunity for the immigrant rights movement to push even harder.

What do you think of the U.S. pilot program designed to deport illegal immigrants by flying them to Mexico City instead of deporting them to violent border regions?

Hector: It’s ridiculous. It’s like expecting to cure a man that has been shot with Tylenol. If this country really cared about the safety of its immigrant folks, it wouldn´t support racial profiling and anti-immigrant laws.