Music is one of the many tools Karin Stein, Iowa Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force and EcoMadres, relies on to educate families about climate disruption, air pollution, and toxic chemicals.
As a member and manager of SonTierra, a multi-ethnic ensemble of Latino musicians whose name means “we are the Earth,” Karin performs tunes, frequently at EcoMadres events, that encourage listeners to reach out to legislators and leaders. The songs incorporate a number of Latin music styles: cumbia, banda, bolero, merengue, balada, and Andean folk. They caught the ear of Billboard, which recently wrote an exclusive article featuring Karin, EcoMusica, and SonTierra.
Karin tells Billboard, “The Latino community, whether they still speak Spanish at home or not, or Portuguese… Whatever region or country—you know how diverse Latin America is, it’s incredibly diverse… But regardless of where we’re from, there’s one thing that we respond to, and that is music. In a visceral way.”
EcoMusica’s use of live performance at community outreach events has grown into “a tool to build trust in the Latino community,” explains Karin. EcoMusica grew out of a desire to make EcoMadres’ efforts relevant to, Karin says, “Latino and Latina communities who are disproportionately affected by these things that we’re working on, the air pollution and climate effects.”
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She says that gaining trust with Latino communities can’t involve us coming in and singing at them. “We have to sing with them. Including people of various generations and of various ethnicities, it is important to make Latino communities feel like, ‘Oh, we could be [a part of this].’ They can identify with someone on stage,” says Karin, who also writes some of the songs, all of which address climate change, air pollution, ecosystem destruction, justice, taking action, and finding hope.
The multi-generational band has an age range of about 11 to 64 years old and includes Edgar East (Panamanian), Edgar Solís (Mexican), Gabriela Valdivia (U.S.-born; Brazilian mother, Mexican father), Karin Stein (Colombian), Leo Roldán (Argentinean), Marián Vivas (Venezuelan), Stephanie Rivera (Cuban), Valentina Weihe (U.S.-born; Mexican mother, Puerto Rican father), Valery Figueroa (Venezuelan), and Víctor Lara (Mexican).
Come hear SonTierra performing live at the annual EcoMadres Summit in Las Vegas on September 12! EcoMadres, a 12-track, mostly Spanish-language album of originals and covers, can also be streamed on Soundcloud.
Read the full story in Billboard.
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