Feministing Jamz: Julieta Venegas one year after Ayotzinapa

The one year anniversary of the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa is coming up this weekend. Julieta Venegas faces the issue of this violence, and the ongoing murders of women in Mexico, in the excellent Explosión, off her latest album Algo Sucede. 

Explosión is a classic protest song in that it asks important questions of its listeners and their place in the world, but it does so while maintaining an unusually poppy and upbeat feel. As Venegas tells the story of “a Flor or a María,” another nameless woman, another lifeless body, she gives us a set of imperatives: that the earth tremble, that everything explode, that we all wake up.

Venegas laments here what we see happening around the world with everyday tragedies: how very complacent we all become in the face of structural and systemic violence as it becomes a regular occurrence. She not only seeks to remind the listener of the nature of the status quo, but goes on further ask us: will you allow this to happen before you?

The very asking of the question implies that it is within our power — the power of the people — to put a stop to systemic violence. It is a call to action. Its poppy beat lends it an effect of hope and possibility, as if to imply with its melody that systemic violence is, in fact, human-made, and can be unmade by us as well. When I listen to this song, I believe that more than ever.

Venegas released this track in late July, but it feels more relevant than ever on the upcoming anniversary of the Ayotzinapa students’ disappearances. Listen to her newest album, released in August of this year and which includes Explosión, below.

¡Que todo despierte!