Fuentes, Rumel – “Corridos of The Chicano Movement” – [Arhoolie Productions]

Thanks to Arhoolie, some voices will not be silenced. Rumel Fuentes wrote these ballads (corridos) to raise awareness of the Chicano Movement. The upbeat melodies executed by Fuentes on guitar and vocalized by him and his wife at the time (c. 1975), Jo Zettler, are heartbreaking when you read the notes on each song. Treating subjects such as Cesar Chavez, Jorge I. Sanchez, Joaquin Murrieta, police brutality, unfair political and social conditions, Fuentes??? music underscores the importance of Mexican-American liberation and empowerment.