Flores Is Telling Her Ancestors’ Tales By means of Her Music

The US is undeniably in a state of disaster. A lot has occurred previously few months alone from the devastating bloodbath at an elementary faculty in Uvalde, TX, that killed 19 youngsters and two lecturers in one of many deadliest faculty shootings our nation has seen in a decade, to the latest overturning of Roe vs Wade and the 36 migrants that were found dead in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio, TX. The immigration dialog, particularly, has seen little to no progress. It is a subject R&B singer Flores is aware of all too nicely. The Mexican American who grew up within the border city of El Paso, TX, has been utilizing her music and platform to deliver consciousness to the injustices immigrants expertise the second they cross the US-Mexico border. And it is one thing she addresses in her debut EP, “The Lives They Left.”

“Lots of people do not know what it is wish to develop up on a border, and other people take without any consideration their expertise in the event that they did not develop up south of the border or towards the south, and the American southwest may be very unstable with regards to it is politics,” Flores tells hollywoodnewsflash.us. “I did not actually realize it was such a political factor rising up. I simply knew as a toddler that the individuals throughout the border seem like us however there is a large border that divides us.”

Flores’s album serves as a homage to El Paso, to Mexican People, and Indigenous communities. Nevertheless it additionally highlights the injustices that occur on the border. The tracks deal with her upbringing in El Paso and confront the cruelties immigrants expertise. On tracks like “Sangre” and “American Grime,” listeners can hear every part from CBP apprehensions to songs about discrimination.

“I feel by means of the years, I realized whether or not it was Obama, whether or not it was Bush, whether or not it was Trump — all of them had the identical border insurance policies. And over time, it wears on you,” she says. “CBP and ICE have an actual presence in our communities, and lots of people do not know the sensation of militarization alongside the border, and my mother lives proper on the border. You stroll proper down the road, and you’ll see it from the highest of her home. So, it is essential to us. “

Flores’s mother labored as a social employee and was an activist that led the Ni Una Más motion. The marketing campaign addressed and fought in opposition to the femicide killings that proceed to happen in Ciudad Juárez. Seeing her mom dedicate her life to social causes and to serving to others deeply impacted Flores even when she did not actually perceive it. It additionally served because the inspiration behind the album.

Femicides, in any other case often called the intentional killing of girls or women, have been happening in the US-Mexico border cities of Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez since 1993. In 2020, 64 femicide homicides were counted with nearly 1,500 in 2019. In 2021, femicides in Chihuahua increased by 34.7 percent and by 39.13 percent in Ciudad Juárez.

“My mother was a single mother, so she simply introduced us alongside along with her at any time when. Perhaps a few of the issues we noticed weren’t essentially age-appropriate, however I do bear in mind being on the college with lots of completely different individuals becoming a member of forces to assist the senator cross the border,” she says. “This was earlier than the drug warfare, in order that they had been in a position to cross — in all probability round 2004. It was a extremely very long time in the past, and lots of the pictures that had been proven had been of girls’s our bodies that had been thrown within the desert with no effort to cowl up what they’ve finished. This has endured for a few years and nonetheless goes on at present. There have been a number of ladies that had been killed just lately this yr which can be from El Paso. After the drug warfare, individuals stopped speaking about it but it surely’s nonetheless fairly pervasive.”

Flores realized at a really younger age that simply because she’s a Mexican American with citizenship doesn’t suggest what occurs to undocumented Mexicans that cross the border is not one thing she ought to be involved about. “Simply because we’re People doesn’t suggest it is not our battle,” she provides. “We’re nonetheless not even seen as People. Once we see youngsters in cages and we speak about femicides, we’ve to suppose how does that affect us? In the event that they’re dying from an American gun, is it not our accountability to observe weapons? It is fairly a political situation. However my mother has been a part of that for a few years. It has been an honor, but it surely’s been quite a bit for her I feel. She took in quite a bit.”

“Brown” is without doubt one of the strongest tracks on “The Lives They Left” album. “So once they ask you the place your individuals come from/once they ask you the place your individuals come from 16,000 years we right here/valleys stained of blood and tears/Mexica allow them to know/that is the land we sewn/laid the seeds that develop,” is the hook proper earlier than the refrain which matches: “Brown pores and skin/Brown Love/we Brown individuals/With Brown Points/Brown Pores and skin/Brown Love/we proud individuals with Brown points.”

Flores, who proudly identifies as an Indigenous Mexican American, grew up on the Tigua Indian Reservation in Texas with primarily the border wall in her yard. She needed to create a track that celebrates the facility, the sweetness, and likewise the battle that comes with being a brown individual on this world — however significantly a brown individual residing within the states. “‘Brown’ undoubtedly pays homage to the truth that many people do not get the white move. We’re not even recognized that method. We’re thought-about ugly if we’re dark-skinned or our proximity to it,” she says. “And I feel it is the closest track that I’ve to discussing our points and inside us and Afro-Latinxs, and Black People. We’re brother and sisters on this battle, although I really feel typically our communities will be divided however we can be a really highly effective group if we got here collectively.”

The Indigeneity dialog is one which has actually taken off lately, however Flores feels it is nonetheless nowhere close to the place it ought to be. We barely see Indigenous illustration anyplace, whether or not it is in Hollywood or in political roles. “I typically fear concerning the fascination of Indigenous individuals on social media as extra of a fetish,” she says whereas noting what number of Latinxs of Indigenous descent typically expertise gatekeeping from figuring out that method until they’ve documentation to show their tribe. “After which I take into consideration how my mother would say, ‘nobody would imagine you are Indigenous or that you just’re of Indigenous ancestry until you will have a feather in your head,'” she says. “There are two-thirds of Indigenous people who belong to tribes that do not dwell on their tribal lands, and that does not make them any much less Indigenous.”

Flores believes that the gatekeeping surrounding claiming Indigenous id, whether or not it is from Native People or Indigenous individuals of Latin American descent, not solely harms Indigenous communities however perpetuates colonized theologies. “I feel it must be aired out as a result of lots of people I do know that speak about this do not suppose there ought to be gatekeepers with regards to how individuals select to determine. Your id may be very private to you,” she says. “And any time there is a gatekeeper, it is at all times with the guides of colonialism. They do not need individuals to say Indigenous as a result of claiming the land would imply you will have possession of it indirectly. I feel you’d respect your land. You’d need extra out of your authorities if you happen to knew you had an inheritance to it . . . There is a colonial profit to not claiming your Indigenous heritage.”

Flores finds the dearth of illustration of Indigenous people throughout the board disheartening particularly in regard to public workplace and leisure. As a lot as she beloved seeing Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma,” she felt bittersweet concerning the position. “I get into this dialog typically with associates as a result of once I noticed “Roma,” I beloved it, however what I feared for Yalitiza probably the most is how she was pigeon-holed enjoying a maid. And it is a type of colonialism that was pushed on our households,” she says. “Will she get to play a CEO of an organization? Will they ever reimagine who she may very well be as an Indigenous lady — particularly as a really brown-skinned Indigenous lady? You need the illustration however you do not need to be a cliché. We do not get lots of reimagined roles for ourselves and that will get me.”

Flores discusses how colonized phrases like “mestiza” do not simply stop Latinxs of Indigenous ancestry to say their indigeneity, but additionally perpetuate colonialism. “Simply traditionally it is a time period from the caste system,” she says. “If we take a look at it objectively it is a time period rooted in hatred. It is a time period pushed on us to imagine that as a result of we’re so blended now we’re this superior race. We’re breeding the Indigenous out,” she provides. “I feel for me, as a result of my mother and my household nonetheless embrace it, it has to evolve. Folks must evolve out of this. I feel it is a privilege to query your id. I feel it is a privilege that we’re not all out right here questioning how we will get meals for tomorrow. I do not suppose my ancestors had the chance to query that as a result of they had been surviving.”

Preserve studying to see what else Flores has to say about placing out music for her group and the deep want for extra optimistic Indigenous illustration.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: How has music healed you?

Flores: Music has been a present. I really feel that as a result of I do suppose that I am gifted at storytelling. I’ve to make use of my means to make use of this language that I have been given, one which my grandparents could not converse, and use it to weaponize in opposition to the people who pressured it on us. That is what I really feel my voice is made for. It is a highly effective factor to have the ability to converse English like an American. It is a privileged place to be. So, I am utilizing that, and my voice and music has helped me discover my id greater than I imagined it might. It is a part of who I’m. I feel I am an oral storyteller. It is in all probability some reward some ancestor had lengthy down the street. It is a vessel.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: When it comes to Latinidad, how do you determine?

Flores: I do not actually know. With regards to Latinidad, I do not know if I really feel absolutely Latina as a result of I do not converse Spanish that nicely, and I really feel Americanized in a method. I determine that method as a result of I really feel like that is the field that I have been put in. I really feel like I do not also have a selection typically as a result of I inform individuals I am Mexican American they usually’re like, ‘so that you’re Latina.’ So, it is simply form of a byproduct, however I do not know if I essentially really feel Latina. To be politically appropriate, it might in all probability be Mexican-American of Indigenous descent. That might in all probability be the very best factor for me.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: Is there an Indigenous celeb that you just love that you just really feel does not get sufficient shine and respect?

Flores: All of them . . . However I used to be occupied with Selena Quintanilla as a result of she was one of the crucial Indigenous-looking ladies that was in mainstream music at the moment, and she or he was by no means allowed to sing on the Grammys in Spanish. And the primary lady to sing on the Grammys in Spanish was Rosalia. I cried as a result of I used to be like, ‘Selena offered out on the astrodome twice however she wasn’t allowed to sing in Spanish on the Grammys.’

hollywoodnewsflash.us: What do you’re keen on probably the most about being from El Paso?

Flores: I suppose I like the truth that El Paso has been in a position to retain lots of its tradition. Quite a lot of migrant individuals have needed to depart lots of issues from their homelands. And yearly that I come again, there’s an increasing number of Indigenous roots that come from south of Mexico to El Paso, and I see an increasing number of Indigenous individuals, and it makes me so completely happy as a result of I see how we’ve persevered by means of oppression. We’re nonetheless right here. We nonetheless eat our meals. We nonetheless converse Spanish. Nonetheless, you need to take a look at that. I feel there’s quite a bit to be stated about individuals who can trip by means of a lot and nonetheless be humble and powerful and never hateful or resentful. I am very fortunate to be from there in some respects.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: What is the final film you noticed?

Flores: “The Final Black Man in San Francisco.” It is magical. It is a almost all African American forged. And it’s advised from a really African American standpoint. And the white individuals nearly do not actually exist, and in the event that they do, they’re type of an afterthought, the best way individuals of coloration are sometimes depicted in movie.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: What is the final e book you learn?

Flores: Really, the final e book I learn was “You Sound Like a White Woman: The Case For Rejecting Assimilation” by Julissa Arce. I used to be excited to learn it. I am a privileged Mexican American, so I did not see the angle of what it’s to dwell the American dream after we’re nearly the identical background. It gave me the lens of what she and her household went by means of, and it was one thing that we as privileged Mexican People do not get to see if it is not in your loved ones — being undocumented.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: What is the final present you binged?

Flores: “Stranger Issues.” It was so good, however I’ll say it lacked variety. I’ll say that.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: What was the final track that you just listened to?

Flores: I take heed to soundtracks quite a bit. I used to be listening to “Jacob and the Stone” from the film “Minari.” I like soundtracks.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: What is the final piece of recommendation you acquired that modified your life?

Flores: My mother and I had been discussing the variations between empathy and sympathy. She was telling me empathy is whenever you join with individuals and sympathy causes extra disconnection as a result of it is like pity and it may be hurtful to a different individual. I feel studying the distinction teaches you how one can love individuals higher.

hollywoodnewsflash.us: What do you suppose your objective is — your sacred contract?

Flores: I’ve by no means been requested this query. It is in all probability the largest query I’ve ever been requested in life. I hear lots of people say they had been born to do music. I feel I am right here to assist facilitate or be a vessel of a message from my individuals, of my ancestors and our struggles. I really feel like I am telling the tales they had been by no means in a position to inform, and I’ve so many to speak about. My great-grandfather was murdered and lynched by a Texas ranger, and it is a story that we’ve discovered with paperwork now. Nevertheless it was a rumor with misinformation for years all through our households. And discovering his grave — nicely, actually a pile of graves — and occurring that journey. Studying who his assassin was. And we’re hoping to place that story on the market sooner or later but additionally the misplaced historical past of Mexican People who’re a part of this historical past. I really feel like I am right here to inform their story, who had been buried beneath a pile of rocks with no names on it and did not get to dwell the life that I get to dwell. I simply really feel like a vessel for that.

Picture Supply: Tim Worthington