Diandra Reviews It All

Lila Downs is not only a legendary songstress from Mexico, but an avid social activist for Latin American rights and equal treatment. Hence, it is no surprise that themes of our culture’s public humiliation and historical achievements were rampant throughout her show. From “Envidia” to Cucurucu Paloma”, Lila’s came with a purpose; to prove and thus further Latinx capacity to love in the face of its many reasons to cry.
Lila Downs – Peligrosa (Lyric Video)

I am not going to sugarcoat that hate crimes are going up, and anti-immigrant rhetoric is furthering fear mongering towards Latinx. Now, historically, hatred against our community and immigrants is not new, and, unfortunately, for every rising tide of immigrants, hate crimes becomes a sick, twisted rite of passage. Italians, Irish, and now Latinos are going through the effects of an age-old, but disproven belief that immigrants are “lazy and unskilled” but manage to “steal money and jobs”. (Note the illogical hypocrisy). Hence, Lila Downs dedicated her show as a celebration of Latin American culture, strength, and faith. Tequila and The Blessed Virgin Mary were prevalent on the stage and screen, which, in perspective, is a humorous back-splash. I am pretty sure the Virgin Mary was not taking body-shots of tequila in her life, but that is besides the point. Faith and fun dominate our roots, and Lila Downs showed that to the Brooklyn crowd who, once again, came in droves and diversity. It was my own false assumption, that the crowd would be solely Latinos coming to honor a music queen, but, although, we mostly made up the demographic. Everybody was there, and BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn became a real-world symbol of how diverse America, or at least, Brooklyn, America is an should be.
Lila Downs – Salón Lágrimas y Deseo (EPK) ft. Banda Tierra Mojada, Carla Morrison

The Brooklyn community holds every race, gender, religion, and class, and we all have, consistently, shown up to both be and learn from each other at BRIC! Celebrate Brooklyn. This festival series has managed to truly bring acts from all over the world to help you rediscover other cultures and new interests for yourself. For example, I did not how much I love jazz until I saw Kris Bowers , and that gift is worth the show…. which again IS FREE. For More Information On BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Click Here.