The Chicano Movement Analysis

The Civil Rights movement of the late 1950’s gave voice to many minorities in the United States, upon these events came about the creation of the Chicano movement, the term Chicana/o makes reference to the self identified, political identity, of someone living in the U.S. and has Mexican descent. This social movement not only instilled political activism and change, it transformed traditions, survival, and impacted the musical life of the Mexican people of Los Angeles. East LA, to be specific, is where a large majority of Chicana/o musical bands have began their earliest of memories, amongst them is La Santa Cecilia, a Mexican-American band who identify themselves as a sextet group that distributes love and music from Los Angeles to the entire
Cecilia. Cecilia is considered a martyr as she surrendered her heart and soul to Jesus Christ before marriage, once she was executed, her home was turned into a church as they realized that she had performed several miracles. A few years after her death, several artist began replicating art paintings of her, amongst these paintings are the multiple inclusions of broken instruments. It is said that the multiple images of her holding instruments are a representation of her love for music. In the iconography of the cathedral, St. Cecilia is officially represented as the icon of music. The cathedral states that Cecilia sang to God “only with her heart,” through the beauty of her voice, she influenced many who saw her as a goddess of music. St. Cecilia is one of the first female figures who sang amongst males and was recorded through art and paintings, therefore breaking the stereotypes of women in music (Lucket 1972: 21-25). In regards to La Santa Cecilia, many similarities can be drawn from the previous example. The band is lead by a female singer and defies multiple stereotypes while addressing current issues in the community. La Santa Cecilia brings consciousness of community issues through music, and does so by relying in their cultural traditions, in this case, regarding the aspect of the traditional catholic church as they rely on St. Cecilia to guide them through their musical
When translated to English, “El Hielo” makes reference to frozen water or ice, throughout this song, it makes literal reference to ICE or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement team. ICE is responsible for the safety of U.S. borders and generally known for targeting undocumented immigrants in this country in order to have them deported. The chorus of the song reads, “El hielo anda suelto por esas calles,” which essentially translates to the ICE is loose on the streets looking for people to detain, the chorus is specifically seeking to raise awareness and inform the undocumented communities of what is happening in the streets. The chorus continues with, “nunca se sabe cuando nos va a tocar,” or “you never know when they are going to come and get