Mariachi Aztlan de Pueblo High School classs of 2016 with parents
OK, I’m going to come right out and say it.
I believe that in the not distant future the United States will have its first Latino president
And I further believe that the aforementioned president, male or female, will have been either a mariachi or folklorico dancer, if not both.
I have said it before but my research for The Mariachi Miracle leaves me even more convinced that it is the truth.
Why? Because young men and women coming up in these programs are developing all of the leadership skills to succeed in life, be it in politics, business, science and technology, engineering, medicine, law, social sciences and anything else they might take a crack at.
What are these skills? Teamwork, discipline, negotiating skills, critical thinking, public speaking skills, and on and on.
These young musicians and dancers are creating networks with others like themselves around the country, and becoming leaders in their own right in their schools and communities. Their involvement in making their communities better places to live is fundamental to what they do.
Former state senator Frank Felix had to wait a few months until he turned 21 after being elected to the Arizona senate in the 1970s.
The first youth mariachi in America – Los Changuitos Feos de Tucson, Arizona – produced among its very first crop of players Frank Felix – the youngest state senator in the history of the state of Arizona in the early 1970s.
That’s right. Arizona. The SB 1070 “show us your papers” state. The Joe Arpaio state. The “Let’s outlaw Mexican American Studies” state. The border fence state. The “Let’s remove every roadside shrine because they’re a little too Hispanic” ice cream man Doug Ducey state.
That state. The Barry Goldwater state. The Jan Brewer waving her finger at Barack Obama state. The John McCain “Build the dang fence” state.
Admittedly, the 1970s were a time when Latinos had a bit more currency in the state. Raul Castro was its first Mexican American governor from 1975-1977.
But this is just a decade removed from time when dark skinned Mexican kids had to sit upstairs at Tucson’s Fox Theatre with the black kids because we couldn’t have the races mixing in polite society. And when it was perfect fine for a shop owner to refuse service to a Mexican American shopper, or for a justice of the peace to refuse to marry a Mexican American and an Anglo.
That Arizona.
We are in a different time now. Hispanics are rapidly becoming 80 percent of the population of American public schools. And these kids are graduating in record numbers, going on to college, gaining economic and political clout unheard of just a generation or two back.
Los Changuitos Feos plays at the Nixon inaugural parade in 1969.
America is changing. The world is changing. The demographics of this country are changing.
That is what the Mariachi Miracle is all about. Showing that evolution from a small, culturally-driven program to keep Mexican American boys off the street into a revolutionary/evolutionary national movement that is keeping kids in school, connecting them with their culture and setting higher expectations that are being met. It’s making community service an automatic part of life with young people. It’s breaking down racial and economic barriers.
And it’s doing so without a shot fired, a protest rally tear gassed, and not a single explosive headline in newspapers, on CNN or Fox news.
How is it that this is not national news? How is it that 60 Minutes is not spending 59 minutes talking about this?
And that is what The Mariachi Miracle is all about. Bringing to the American people an American story of positive change taking place right under their noses all across the nation. A story of self reliance and cultural pride. A story of tolerance and acceptance. A story of achievement not by some quotas or affirmative action but from actual academic achievement in an unbiased system.
A story of parental involvement. A story over overcoming all obstacles.
This is the damnedest untold American story of out time. And we need your help to tell it.
It doesn’t take a billionaire to change the world. It takes a few dollars here and there from concerned people who want to see the “Hispanic bad” narrative challenged legitimately and once and for all. It takes people like you to change the world.
So let me ask you this. Do you want to change the world? Do you want to see a mammoth story ignored by the media brought to light? Do you want to see rational, clear thinking, racial and gender well adjusted leaders moving us forward as we move forward in this century?
Here’s the chance to put your money where your mouth is. Here’s the chance to create the future you desire. Not one driven by fear and hate but be a recognition of competence and a bigger picture of the American and global experience.
