This weekend, Ozomatli performs corridos submitted by students across Los Angeles. The event is the culmination of The Corrido of LA: in celebration of the centennial of the Mexican revolution, we invited students in grades 7 to 12 to compose a ballad song about the city they call home.
Corridos are storytelling ballads, often about heroism and struggle. They became popular during the Mexican Revolution and, later in the 20th century, as a way to raise social consciousness about civil rights and political justice.
Here are just a few selections from the entries we received.
Yo Soy un Ilegal, by Veronica Zelaya, 11th grade, Roosevelt High School, begins:
Yo soy un ilegal
Que he venido a luchar
Para a mis padres ayudar
Un trabajo de verdad
Y que tengo miedo de enfrentar…
Lyla Matar, an 8th grader at Highland Hall in Northridge submitted this video of her corrido, titled “Dreaming of a City”:
Erendira Hernandez, a 12th grader at LA Leadership Academy, submitted this audio recording of her corrido:
“We are a different city, we love, we hate, we play, we fight as well…”
You can view all of the submissions here.
Ozomatli's performance--free, by the way--starts at 2 pm on Saturday in the Bing Theater at LACMA. Ozomatli will be performing later that evening at Club Nokia.
Amy Heibel