Latinx in the U.S.A.: Music as a Cultural History

Speaker: 
Catalina Maria Johnson
 
27 Sep 2021
 
7:30 PM
 
Campanile Room, Memorial Union
Co-sponsors: 
  • World Languages and Cultures
  • U.S. Latino/a Studies
  • Department of History
  • Department of Music and Theatre
  • Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)

Music can be viewed and “read” as a tool that shares the cultural values, roots, and history of peoples. Over the years, Latinx musical genres share the concerns of Latin@s throughout the years--songs about immigrant woes tell tales from the early 20th century to today, but recent tunes have been created to add Latinx voices to Black Lives Matter protests. Through specific songs, this program shares a broad and non-chronological overview of milestone events in the Latino U.S. as a way of understanding our identity and roots.

Catalina Maria Johnson, Ph.D. is a Chicago-based journalist. She hosts and produces her own radio show, Beat Latino, which airs in Chicago on Vocalo (Chicago Public Media). Catalina is also a regular contributor to NPR, Bandcamp, Downbeat and other outlets and a member of the editorial board of Revista Contratiempo.