During the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, salsa music emerged as a powerful tool for cultural expression and a rhythm of resistance against social injustice and oppression. Black Power was a revolutionary movement that emphasized black racial pride, economic empowerment, and the demand for black history courses. Salsa artists composed songs that reflected the experiences and struggles of the Afro-Latinx community. These melodies have inspired Afro-Latinx youth and organizations to utilize salsa music as a cultural voice in the fight for equality. Learn more about how salsa music played a role in the Black Power movement.
Salsa music as a voice for equality
Music and cultural performances were widely used as tools for social justice during the 1960s and 1970s. From black freedom songs like “We Shall Overcome” to anti-Vietnam War protest songs like “Fortunate Son” (1969), cultural activists use music and songs to express ideas about political conditions and injustice. did.[1] Popular genres were African American spirituals, gospel, jazz, soul, and folk music. However, there is another genre that remains under-explored in this day and age. It’s salsa.
Some salsa artists, or salseros and sonatas, responded to the political climate of injustice. Salcero, a Nuyorican (Puerto Rican from New York), performed songs about the poverty of Spanish Harlem and the ongoing fight for a free Puerto Rico.[2] Afro-Latin Americans from other countries also participated in the movement. Afro-Cubans wrote songs about historical injustices such as enslavement and government oppression in Cuba. for example, Celia Cruz’s song “AzĆŗcar Negra” (1993) referred to enslaved Africans on sugar plantations. Afro-Cuban Frankie Dante and Orquesta Flamboyan expressed their anti-war sentiments in “Presidente Dante” (1972). Afro-Colombian Joe Arroyo’s La RebeliĆ³n (1988) tells the story of an enslaved African couple captured by the Spanish in the 1600s.
Nuyorico pianist and salsa artist Eddie Palmieri was inspired by the civil rights and black power movements. Here, Palmieri created a new sound that spoke to Harlem’s young Nuyorican activists. Along with his brother Charlie Palmieri, he started a short-lived but revolutionary coalition of Latin, soul, and free jazz musicians called Harlem River Drive.[3] This musical group sonically unified both black and Spanish Harlem. Guajira also combined different styles, such as his funk and soul, to reflect the pressing social issues of the time.
Husband-and-wife folk duo Pepe y Flora have brought musica jibara (traditional music from Puerto Rico’s rural and mountainous regions) and Latin American protest songs to the Nuyorican political scene. Pepe y Flora used music to help Puerto Ricans “understand their history and feel Puerto Rican.”[4] They frequently performed at political rallies, introducing young aristocrats to the Puerto Rican song “Que Bonita Bandera” (“What a Beautiful Flag”), a national pride. The song later became the organization’s unofficial anthem.
Not all salsa artists wrote about the political situation. However, salsa songs inspired Afro-Latinx youth coming of age in the 1960s and his 1970s.
Young Lord and People’s Church Profession
One of the most iconic places where Pepe y Flora performed his salsa music was at the Young Lords’ occupation of the First Spanish United Methodist Church (FSUMC) in Spanish Harlem.
Young Lords is a youth-led Puerto Rican organization based in New York City. They were originally a branch of the Young Lords Organization, which started in Chicago. The NYC Young Lords was comprised of Nuyorican and Afro-Latino youth, including Felipe Luciano. They served the Nuyorican people and the neighborhood of El Barrio (Spanish Harlem, also known as East Harlem). They challenged discriminatory practices that deny Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship protections such as education, public health, safety, and housing. They also worked to promote the national liberation and self-determination movement of Puerto Rico, which became a U.S. territory in 1898.[5] Inspired by the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords organized free programs to empower communities.
The FSUMC pastor denied that the Young Lords would use church space to host social service or political education programs for Nuyorican neighborhoods. The Young Lords sought to present their case to the congregation and leaders of the church. However, they faced violent confrontations with secret police called in by opposing pastors.[6]
Undeterred, the young lords entered the FSUMC and nailed the church door shut with railroad spikes. They founded the People’s Church of La Iglesia del Pueblo, or FSUMC. From December 28, 1969 until January 7, 1970, Young Lord occupied his FSUMC for 11 days. During the occupation, they instituted free neighborhood programs, including a free breakfast program for neighborhood children, community health clinics, and a popular political education curriculum rooted in Afro-Latinx history.
Additionally, Young Lords brought salsa music to the cultural side of the organization.
El Barrio People’s Church as a cutting-edge art space
At the People’s Church, the sound of conga drums could be heard from a block away and the hall was filled with Bombai plena. Young Rose welcomed impromptu performances, spoken word poetry recitals, and film screenings. The People’s Church hosted concerts by salceros such as Pepe y Flora. Their high-energy open mics respond to the discrimination that many Afro-Latinx artists and cultural workers face within traditional arts institutions, and explore what art and culture will look like in a new society. It has set the stage for new imaginings of.
The occupation electrified the El Barrio area. It also inspired and mobilized activists, community leaders, and artists across the city. Approximately 1,000 people participated in the People’s Church’s activities, including neighborhood residents, invited speakers, and allies.[7] A broad coalition supported the Young Lords and the occupation. Coalition members included Puerto Rican leaders, anti-poverty organizations, community organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Black Panther Party, and leaders of other faith-based organizations and churches. Celebrities such as film director Elia Kazan, boxer Jose Torres, actor Jane Fonda, and salsa stars Joe Cuba, Joe Bataan, and Ray Barretto also expressed their support.
On January 7, 1970, the occupation of the People’s Church ended with a police raid. 155 Young Lords members and supporters were taken from the church and loaded into police vans. Some members came out of the church shouting “Power to the people,” while others left with their fists raised. Some walked out singing the Puerto Rican song “Que Bonita Bandera” (“What a Beautiful Flag”).[8]
Here, salsa filled the streets in the face of oppression. The Young Rose and People’s Church pioneered a space that historian Johanna Fernandez described as “the first public performance of the idea of āāNuyorican identity and a radical Puerto Rican art space.”[9]
Although the Young Lords declined in the 1970s, they left a legacy of experimental, collective art-making projects in the People’s Church. In addition, the Young Lords popularized salsa’s upbeat rhythms and tones of social protest and struggle for change.