This Saturday, Por la Libre, the traveling community radio station of Peninsula 360 Press, broadcast from East Palo Alto, a city in San Mateo County, where the Cinco de Mayo Latino Festival will be held this Sunday, seeking to exalt the culture of Mexico and other Latin American countries.
Manuel Ortiz spoke with Hector Calvario from the group Los de Cali.
At just 16 years old, Hector says the group started in Redwood City at Sequoia High School, where they got together to listen to music. What started out as a fun thing has now become a small band that plays at public and private events.
Hector was born in Palo Alto, but his parents are from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and although he has not yet visited the land where his parents were born, he plans to visit it soon.
The group plays rock music in Spanish and English, from classics from the 50s to current ones.
Tomorrow, Sunday, May 5, Los de Cali will play at the Latin Festival in East Palo Alto, a celebration that, with music, colors and lots of food, seeks to celebrate Mexicanness, as well as Latin culture.
For Hector, the celebration of May 5 represents “the nation of Mexico, something very important for culture, music and everything.”
Edie Insunsa, also from Los de Cali, said he is from Baja California, but his parents are from Sinaloa, Mexico. He came to the United States when he was 11 years old and, for him, May 5 is a day to unite cultures, both Mexican and American, as it celebrates roots through music, food and dance.
But why is May 5th celebrated in the United States?
According to American historian John Mraz, although May 5 refers to the Battle of Puebla, fought between the French and Mexican armies in 1862, where Mexico emerged victorious, it was American beer companies that took advantage of the date in the 1980s to sell their product, especially to the Latino community.
Ruben Abrica, a councilman for East Palo Alto and former mayor of the same city, who has been involved for many years in community activities, said that, in particular, in East Palo Alto, it will be 40 years since the celebration of Cinco de Mayo, coinciding with the time when the community sought to be autonomous and independent from San Mateo County.
Abrica pointed out that, in those years, the Latino community, especially the Mexican one, represented 15 percent of the population, and there were conflicts, because being a minority there were complaints that Spanish was not spoken, and they felt bad about it. “We were a minority.”
From there arose the Latin Committee and the Bilingual Parents Committee, who were very active in the schools.
In 1985, the first Latin Festival was held in a big way, with the aim of uniting the community. This was achieved.
And, although many companies tried to sponsor the event, it remained a community-owned event.
Listen to all the information in For the Free.
#PorLaLibre from East Palo Alto https://t.co/GVBs082fsn
- Peninsula 360 Press (@Peninsula360P) May 4, 2024
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