Liberation Theologian Francisco Herrera Uses Songs to Promote Social Justice

New album Honor Migrante crosses physical and musical borders




Growing up in the border town of Calexico, Francisco Herrera always straddled two worlds. “My siblings and cousins and I used to sing rancheras and some mariachi at family parties, and when we got a little older we started some garage rock bands,” he recalls of his early musical exploits. But as he became more involved in the church and in particular with the Latin American school of Liberation Theology, Herrera began exploring ways to use music to further his goals of social justice.

Herrera traveled extensively throughout Latin America working with community organizations even as he finished his four years at seminary school, all the while toting his guitar and whipping it out for events, actions, and church meetings. “Reflection, meditation, prayer, all those things are important. But they’re important so you can play a role here to make social change. De ahí nacen all those misas that have a social message.” He deftly weaves between English and Spanish as he explains the philosophy of Liberation Theology as he sits under portraits of his two heroes, Che Guevara and Monseñor Oscar Romero, the Salvadoran archbishop who was assassinated in 1980.

Francisco Herrera’s new album, Honor Migrante, is full of songs that reflect his passion for social justice. The themes range from immigrant rights to globalization, and the music itself crosses genre borders from traditional-sounding norteño and corrido tunes to post-modern electro-cumbia and Latin Rock wet with soulful vocals, wailing electric guitars, and a ripping Fender-Rhodes solo. All these sounds are melded smoothly together by veteran super-producer Greg Landau (Maldita Vecindad, Susana Baca) who met Herrera in the late 1980s on the Nueva Cancion circuit.

Francisco Herrera will be presenting the songs from Honor Migrante with an all-star band at an annual event called Premio Mujer 2010, an award ceremony to honor notable women in the community. Premio Mujer 2010 will be presented at the Events Center at Saint Mary’s Cathedral, 1111 Gough Street in San Francisco on May 22nd at 6pm. More information at: http://www.franciscoherreramusic.com

Review: Africa by Philip Montalban

Philip Montalban continues in the tradition Afro-Nicaraguan music with this cool album of Soca, Palo de Mayo, and Reggae from the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Singing in Spanish, English, and Misquito (a semi-indiginous language from the Misquito coast of Central America) Philip sings his songs of life from a struggling region of the world.

Originally from Bilwí (Puerto Cabesas in Spanish) on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, Philip Montalban is half Misquito indian and half Afro-Nicaraguan. In the semi-autonomous Atlantic Coast Region of Nicaragua live a people whose heritage is mixed, stemming from the co-mingling of escaped African slaves, black caribbean immigrants, Moravian missionaries, Native Americans, Victorian British traders, Garifunas, Dutch, English and Spanish pirates, and of course the dominant culture of the politically defined nation of Nicaragua. In Bluefields and the rest of la costa region, Nicaraguans from Managua and beyond are known as "paniaman" (translation: Spanish [speaking] men) in the very caribbean-sounding dialect of English that is commonly spoken, and since the official language is Spanish the costeños live an existence increasingly influenced by the dominant hegemonic culture of Nicaragua.

Coming this rich and diverse cultural background it makes sense how Montalban here explores the musics of his region and beyond. Having got his start in the 1980's revolutionary Afro-Nicaraguan reggae band "Soul Vibrations," who rose to the position of Official Band of the First Lady under the Sandinista government, Montalban is aware and proud of his African yet uniquely Nicaraguan heritage. Here in "Africa" he delves deeper into the true position he holds as a cultural liaison between Latin and caribbean music. Fluent in English, Spanish, and Misquito, he let's them all loose here among the various rhythms deployed. Palo de Mayo, a style specific to the Bluefields region of Nicaragua, gets it's roots from the Maypole dance brought over by the British who set up trade posts along the Atlantic coast. The soca that is so popular in Nicaragua and throughout the Caribbean is well represented here, as is Montalban's own favorite, Afro-Nicaraguan reggae as only he can play it. In fact, no International Reggae enthusiast can have a complete collection without this shining example of authentic Nicaraguan Reggae performed by one of the genre's groundbreaking founders Philip Montalban.