Project CommUNITY is an ongoing initiative across Hearst Television to put a spotlight on diverse voices in our communities. The initiative is built around regular coverage of people who are working to make a difference and stories detailing the history of the battle for civil rights, inclusion and social change across America.On May 24, 2022, 19 children and two teachers were shot and killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. In just one day, an entire community was left devastated. In the days following the mass shooting, memorials were set up at the school and the town square. People from near and far traveled to the sites to mourn. Some wrote cards, some lit candles, and others — brought music. Anthony Medrano, a professional mariachi musician with Mariachi Campanas de America, organized a bus full of musicians from San Antonio, Texas, to play songs for the grieving community. “Many of us are educators,” Medrano, who’s been playing mariachi music for close to 40 years, said. “We teach the children that look like the ones that were killed, and speak like the ones that were killed, and whose parents talk like the ones that were killed.” Performing in UvaldeMedrano said his friend, artist Cruz Ortiz, went to Uvalde shortly after the shooting to process the tragedy. On his way back, Ortiz called Medrano asking if they could play mariachi music – anything to help comfort the heartbroken community. With the help of a friend, Medrano secured a charter bus fit for 50 people. The bus was filled within hours. Medrano instantly felt the weight of the devastation once he arrived at the town square’s memorial site.He saw 21 crosses, each etched with the names of the victims. The crosses were piled high with flowers, cards and toys.”I have a five-year-old goddaughter that I spend a lot of time with,” Medrano said. “And the toys that I saw at these memorials of these murdered children were the same toys that she has in her toy box.” Medrano said he broke down in front of a cross. “I cried, I prayed, and I apologized,” Medrano said. “I apologized to that soul for not being the answer to this problem. The problem of someone getting an assault weapon and going into the school and murdering children.” Medrano and the group of mariachi musicians played a few songs to the community, such as “Amore Eterno,” which talks about love and loss, and “Las Golondrinas,” a traditional song of farewell. “These songs aren’t your everything’s gonna be okay songs,” Medrano said. “The lyrics to the songs express the true tragedy. I mean, they don’t put a bandaid on it, they kind of rip the scab off so you can get that emotion, so you can expose it.” Seven-year-old Mariachi performer Matteo Lopez also sang a song called “México Lindo y Querido,” which Medrano said was appropriate because the community in Uvalde predominantly has roots in Mexico. “This was a time to play the music that our culture and our community can relate to,” Medrano said. In mariachi culture, musicians yell out “gritos,” which is a scream or yell during a song. It can be used in celebration but also can express a guttural cry out loud during songs of grief and loss. “That’s the way we process, we have to cry out loud,” Medrano said. At the end of the performance, Medrano said the community thanked the group of musicians and understood why they performed. “There was very much a healing session right there in front of the memorials,” Medrano said. ‘The Song of the People’: The history of mariachi music Mariachi music has deep roots in Mexican history. According to the Smithsonian Institute, the music’s oldest rhythms date back to Mexico’s colonial times (around 1519-1810) when people from Spain and African slaves and their descendants mixed with hundreds of American Indian cultures to create a new Mexican culture that varied depending on the vast region. The music was referred to as “mariachi” around the 1850s. The bands consist of trumpets,…
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