World History of Revolutionary Music - Part 3: Lalo Guerrero & The Chicano Movement

This is usually the part where I say so-and-so artist is the Bob Dylan of his genre, but that'd be doing a disservice to the Father of Chicano music. Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero was a Mexican-American guitarist, singer, and farm labor activist born in Tuscan, Arizona on December 24, 1916. Best known for his strong influence on today's Latin musical scene, Guerrero credits most of his talent to his mother, who was a skilled guitar player and taught him at a young age and how to embrace their Chicano heritage. Lalo Guerrero soon began writing his own songs and left his hometown to pursue his dream in music. In time Lalo exceeded beyond his wildest dreams as a musician, writer, and performer.

One of Guerrero's defining traits as a singer-songwriter was his ability to sneak in social commentary through comedic lyrics. The 1st song I was introduced to him by was the *90's single, "No Chicanos On TV", where he sings about the lack of representation of Latinx people within the media and how we still buy into many brands despite this:

Huggies have their babies:

black and white and Japanese.

Chicano babies also pee, 

but you don’t see them on TV

Lalo also brings up a very relevant point about how the Latinx stereotypes we do see in the media don't reflect the reality of the community and perpetuate a damaging image:

There are Chicanos in real life
doctors, lawyers, husbands, wives
but all they show us on TV
are ‘illegal aliens’ as they flee…

While Guerrerro has definitely made a name for himself as a comedic musician, he was also famous for his extensive chronicle of the Chicano civil rights movement. Through corridos, he documented the triumphs and struggles of Mexican-American heroes like Civil Rights Leaders Cesar Chavez & Dolores Huerta. Other singers have definitely sung their own protest songs, however for Lalo it was personal as he steadily became an integral part of the movement himself. Cesar Chavez happened to be a regular at Lalo's nightclub before his fame as an activist, and even afterward he began touring along farmworker routes, performing at protests and union fundraisers.

 His most famous out of these songs was known as "La Tragedia del 29 de Agosto", a powerful account of the 1970 Chicano Moratorium March incident in East L.A. Chicano activists organized anti-Vietnam War demonstrations and speaking out against the disproportionate casualties among Mexican American soldiers, which as Lalo states in the song, was around 23%. These marches were held throughout  Latinx communities in East LA,  The march described within Guerrero's song took place at the largest of these marches in Laguna Park. Suddenly police began attacking what began as a peaceful protest, based off of a false accusation of a robbery in the nearby area. This led to widespread rioting across the area, in which hundreds of people were arrested, and four people were killed. 

Cuando vino la policía

La violencia se desató.
El coraje de mi raza, luego se desenlazó.
Por los años de injusticia,
El odio se derramó.
Y como huracán furioso,
Su barrio lo destrozó.

The most famous of the casualties was pioneering Mexican-American journalist Ruben Salazar, who was struck and killed by a tear-gas canister fired by an L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy, in an incident that remains controversial to this day. Ruben Salazar was the journalist from mainstream media to cover issues the Latinx Community in East Los Angeles during the '60s. Lalo even pays homage to Salazar at the end of the song, as the music comes to a halt and he recites a eulogy while a trumpet plays Taps in the background.

Unfortunately, Lalo Guerrero passed away on March 17, 2005, but his legacy of shaping Chicano culture through entertainment is carried on by his sons, Chicano musician Mark Guerrero, and network producer Dan Guerrero.

**Just a quick note that unfortunately information on Lalo's music isn't very well documented, so if anyone can provide concrete dates for these songs, I'd greatly appreciate it.