Yo Soy 132 was born of necessity. During an appearance at Ibero-American University on May 11, now President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto infuriated a crowd of students already opposed to his candidacy. Responding to student concerns, Peña Nieto addressed the Atenco incident, a violent clash between state police (called in by Peña Nieto, governor of the State of Mexico at the time) and local flower vendors at the Texcoco market outside of Mexico City.
Human rights groups have condemned the action that resulted in two deaths and a host of sexual assaults by police. But Peña Nieto defended his decision to call in police, igniting the crowd's fury. He fled the scene to take refuge in a bathroom as the sea of Ibero students shouted "Atenco no se olvida" after him.
The appearance was a disaster for Peña Nieto and it was quickly sanitized for the public. The then-presidential candidate's PRI and the mainstream Mexican media accused the opposition of packing the audience with their supporters, but their campaign to assuage Mr. Peña Nieto's embarrassment backfired when rally attendees took to Youtube to dispute the claims.
131 students answered the call, simultaneously challenging Mexico's ruling party and mainstream media with 11 minutes of pieced-together footage. Each student states their name and matriculation number, waving ID cards in front of their webcams as defiant proof the audience wasn't paid for by opposition PAN or PRD. A 21st century masterpiece of new media emerged; a social movement took root. Mexicans country-wide took to the streets with gritas of "Yo Soy 132" - I'm 132.
The Left has drawn comparisons between #YoSoy132 and #Occupy - maybe it's the hashtag? But the two are vastly different. For me, there's one key difference - no one can take credit for #YoSoy132. Like the Arab Spring, the "Mexican Occupy" as it's sometimes called, responded to a concrete event. It was organic. The concept of #OWS emerged from an Adbusters' editorial meeting.
A Song for the Streets
Another thing #YoSoy132 has that #Occupy doesn't? An anthem.
Written by singer/songwriter Natalia Lafourcade for and inspired by #YoSoy132, "Un Derecho de Nacimiento" has become something of a theme song for the movement. Lafourcade brought some of the biggest names in Mexican indie pop together for the official version of the song, which she originally performed solo in Mexico City's Zócalo.
Lafourcade's version is eerie, painful and unsettling even. Unlike other protest music, it's not matter-of-fact, not a simple chant-along. It's complexity captures the inherent tragedy of #YoSoy132 and the suffocation of Mexican civil society.
As moving as Lafourcade is solo, the ensemble version takes on a different character that doesn't disappoint. Performed under the name Músicos con Yo Soy 132, is less "We Are the World", more a singalong you'd have with friends at a rooftop party. Your über talented friends. But the video, recorded in the Zócalo on June 26th, is what gives the song a bigger voice and larger audience.
Reminiscent of the original "Yo Soy 131" Youtube spot the Ibero students created, the video employs closeups of individual musicians only to zoom out and pan around the circle of artists - a literal visual representation of the role of the individual in a popular social movement.
"Un Derecho de Nacimiento" has a deeper significance for Mexican culture as one of a handful of Spanish-language songs to cross the border without being of a specific (traditional) genre. Sung by young, hip, beautiful people, the song and video lend legitimacy to a movement on the international stage, crashing through stereotypes of what Latin American "rebels" and "trouble makers" look and sound like. Lafourcade and crew force English-speaking audiences especially to challenge their preconceived notions of what "the Mexicans" are like (i.e. with the same concerns as gringos) and perhaps reevaluate the attitude toward immigrants in this country. One can hope.
But that's not to say everyone is thrilled with the song or the artists featured on the track. Some bloggers and other artists have mocked Musicos con Yo Soy 132's contribution to the movement, calling it opportunism and a marketing ploy from musicians who benefit from Televisa exposure. In fact, some of the artists have recently been featured on the company's musical variety show, Mexico Suena. The roots of the conflict between authentic and inauthentic art stretch far back into Mexico's history.
Translator Natasha Wimmer recounts in her introduction to the English version of Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives the author's founding infrarealism as a reaction to state-sanctioned literature.
She remembers:
"[Bolaño and friends] disrupted the readings of poets whom they held in contempt, shouting out their own poems. The poets they chose to torment usually had one thing in common: they accepted money from Mexico's PRI government, which made a policy of supporting (some might say paying off) Mexico's top writers and thinkers" (xiv).
So, the visceral reaction some artists have had to the song is understandable. Musicos con Yo Soy 132 may not have accepted money from the government, but some have accepted publicity and tacit endorsements from the movement's other archenemy by performing on Televisa's Mexico Suena. Of course, this doesn't mean the artists approve of the channel or its control over the Mexican media. Only time will tell if the performers support for the goals of Yo Soy 132 will change as the movement loses steam.
And if not, at least they've repented.
(Inexpert) Translation of "Un Derecho de Nacimiento" or "A Birthright"/ "A Right of Birth"
Lafourcade's version is eerie, painful and unsettling even. Unlike other protest music, it's not matter-of-fact, not a simple chant-along. It's complexity captures the inherent tragedy of #YoSoy132 and the suffocation of Mexican civil society.
As moving as Lafourcade is solo, the ensemble version takes on a different character that doesn't disappoint. Performed under the name Músicos con Yo Soy 132, is less "We Are the World", more a singalong you'd have with friends at a rooftop party. Your über talented friends. But the video, recorded in the Zócalo on June 26th, is what gives the song a bigger voice and larger audience.
Reminiscent of the original "Yo Soy 131" Youtube spot the Ibero students created, the video employs closeups of individual musicians only to zoom out and pan around the circle of artists - a literal visual representation of the role of the individual in a popular social movement.
"Un Derecho de Nacimiento" has a deeper significance for Mexican culture as one of a handful of Spanish-language songs to cross the border without being of a specific (traditional) genre. Sung by young, hip, beautiful people, the song and video lend legitimacy to a movement on the international stage, crashing through stereotypes of what Latin American "rebels" and "trouble makers" look and sound like. Lafourcade and crew force English-speaking audiences especially to challenge their preconceived notions of what "the Mexicans" are like (i.e. with the same concerns as gringos) and perhaps reevaluate the attitude toward immigrants in this country. One can hope.
But that's not to say everyone is thrilled with the song or the artists featured on the track. Some bloggers and other artists have mocked Musicos con Yo Soy 132's contribution to the movement, calling it opportunism and a marketing ploy from musicians who benefit from Televisa exposure. In fact, some of the artists have recently been featured on the company's musical variety show, Mexico Suena. The roots of the conflict between authentic and inauthentic art stretch far back into Mexico's history.
Translator Natasha Wimmer recounts in her introduction to the English version of Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives the author's founding infrarealism as a reaction to state-sanctioned literature.
She remembers:
"[Bolaño and friends] disrupted the readings of poets whom they held in contempt, shouting out their own poems. The poets they chose to torment usually had one thing in common: they accepted money from Mexico's PRI government, which made a policy of supporting (some might say paying off) Mexico's top writers and thinkers" (xiv).
So, the visceral reaction some artists have had to the song is understandable. Musicos con Yo Soy 132 may not have accepted money from the government, but some have accepted publicity and tacit endorsements from the movement's other archenemy by performing on Televisa's Mexico Suena. Of course, this doesn't mean the artists approve of the channel or its control over the Mexican media. Only time will tell if the performers support for the goals of Yo Soy 132 will change as the movement loses steam.
And if not, at least they've repented.
(Inexpert) Translation of "Un Derecho de Nacimiento" or "A Birthright"/ "A Right of Birth"
I will create a song to be able to exist
To move the earth, men and survive
To heal my heart and mind and let it flow
To lift the spirit and let it reach the end
To move the earth, men and survive
To heal my heart and mind and let it flow
To lift the spirit and let it reach the end
I wasn’t born without cause
I wasn’t born without faith
My heart beats hard to scream at those who don’t feel
And chase happiness
I wasn’t born without faith
My heart beats hard to scream at those who don’t feel
And chase happiness
I will create a song to respect the sky
To move the roots of this land and make it rise up
To cleanse the water of the green venoms it holds
To lift the spirit and let it live in peace
I wasn’t born without cause
I wasn’t born without faith
My heart beats hard to scream at those who lie to us
And chase happiness, and chase happiness
To move the roots of this land and make it rise up
To cleanse the water of the green venoms it holds
To lift the spirit and let it live in peace
I wasn’t born without cause
I wasn’t born without faith
My heart beats hard to scream at those who lie to us
And chase happiness, and chase happiness
It’s a birthright
It’s the driving force of our movement
Because I demand freedom of thought
If I don’t ask for it, it’s because I’m dying
It’s the driving force of our movement
Because I demand freedom of thought
If I don’t ask for it, it’s because I’m dying
It’s a birthright
To see the fruits of our dreams realized
It’s one voice, one feeling
And so that this scream cleanses our wind
I will create a song to be able to demand
That they don’t take from the poor that’s cost them so much to get
So that stolen gold doesn’t crush our future
To see the fruits of our dreams realized
It’s one voice, one feeling
And so that this scream cleanses our wind
I will create a song to be able to demand
That they don’t take from the poor that’s cost them so much to get
So that stolen gold doesn’t crush our future
And so that those who have plenty don't find it so hard to share
I will raise my song to be able to wake
Those who go through life asleep without wanting to look
So that the river doesn’t carry blood but carries flowers and the sea heals
Those who go through life asleep without wanting to look
So that the river doesn’t carry blood but carries flowers and the sea heals
To lift the spirit and let it live in peace
It’s a birthright
It’s the driving force of our movement
Because I demand freedom of thought
If I don’t ask for it, it’s because I’m dying
It’s the driving force of our movement
Because I demand freedom of thought
If I don’t ask for it, it’s because I’m dying
It’s a birthright
To see the fruits of our dreams realized
It’s one voice, one feeling
And so that this scream cleanses our wind
I wasn’t born without cause
I wasn’t born without faith
My heart beats hard to scream at those who don’t feel
And chase happiness
Que es un derecho de Nacimiento...
To see the fruits of our dreams realized
It’s one voice, one feeling
And so that this scream cleanses our wind
I wasn’t born without cause
I wasn’t born without faith
My heart beats hard to scream at those who don’t feel
And chase happiness
Que es un derecho de Nacimiento...
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