Poder Latinx, Human Rights Campaign, and Las Cafeteras Release "La Sirena"
In honor of Pride Month and Immigrant Heritage Month, Poder Latinx has teamed up with Human Rights Campaign and East LA-based Chicano music group Las Cafeteras to release a music video focusing on the cross-section of art, identity, and collective power of the LGBTQIA+ movement with the song “La Sirena.” The project aims to empower queer voices of color and immigrants during Pride Month and doing so through the Latinx cultural lens to encourage queer folks of color to register to vote and participate in municipal, state, and federal elections. The song is a celebration of the art, identity, and collective power of the LGBTQIA+ movement.
“La Sirena” is the third music video collaboration between Las Cafeteras and Poder Latinx, and the first they have partnered on with HRC. Part of Poder’s mission as an organization is to use different methods and communication platforms to organize and educate the Latinx community on civic issues and this project does exactly that. The idea for ‘La Sirena’ began during the elections last year when Poder Latinx launched a project called ‘Drag Voter Squad’ in Arizona which focused on getting LGBTQ Latinxs involved in the elections by using their art to mobilize. This project captured the attention of Las Cafeteras and the collaboration began. ‘La Sirena’ is about the love and acceptance that Pride Month represents within our community and highlights the beauty and diversity of the Latinx culture and use of drag.
“La Sirena'' is an original song written by Hector Flores of Las Cafeteras, who was sparked by the activism in events hosted by drag queen Sicarya Seville during the 2020 elections and inspired by the sounds of the beaches of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. Sicarya has been named Miss Gay Copper City America 2021 and is portrayed by Poder Latinx National Organizing Director Adonias Arevalo.
Drag was born in the fight for LGBTQ equality and today, we continue using drag to reach our community and get them involved. Drag is an artistic method used for many years and was born in the fight for LGBTQ equality. In Spanish, there isn’t a word for ‘drag’ so we use ‘transformismo’ since it's the art of creating and transforming into what you want to be. Today drag is found in various avenues and has become more common as youth learn about the topic. This artform has a powerful ability to uplift and empower the LGBTQ community and is a powerful tool to educate the next generation.
“After performing for a Drag Show and rally hosted by Drag Queen Sicarya in Phoenix during the elections, I instinctively knew that I wanted to do a project to highlight the humor, grandeur, and activism that I had just witnessed,” said Hector Flores, singer/songwriter for Las Cafeteras.
“The Human Rights Campaign is proud to partner with Poder Latinx to put a spotlight on Las Cafeteras and the new music video to their song “La Sirena,” said Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David. “These types of cross-movement collaborations are an essential strategy to achieve liberation for all marginalized communities. When we unite across our respective battles, and use an intersectional lens to develop the strategies that we use to achieve our missions, we become smarter and more powerful than our common threats. We need more artists like Las Cafeteras to create the anthems that will increase visibility of marginalized voices, and inspire us to unite and take action to make a better, more inclusive nation,” David added.
“The drag community is full of diversity and activism, and we want to uplift the activist nature of the drag community by displaying the beauty of this artform. Presenting our queer community with this video release is what Pride is about - uplifting the voices of the queer community through activism and the arts,” said Yadira Sanchez, co-executive director of Poder Latinx.
The full music video for ‘La Sirena’ can be found at PoderLatinx.org/pride2021. Poder Latinx’s mission is to build a political wave where Latinx communities, immigrants, and people of color are decision-makers in this country’s democracy, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook for more information.