Unheard Voices and the Music of Resistance:

If you have had access to world news in the past few months, you may have seen news about protests and social unrest in Colombia.

As a citizen and a music therapist, I feel compelled to comment on the current situation, the role of music in it, music therapists’ actions, and reflections for our field.

We Colombians are living times of turmoil. The COVID crisis has taken a toll on our economy. In 2021, the National Department of Statistics (DANE) revealed that the percentage of people living in “monetary poverty” had increased to 42.5% (21 million people in Colombia are living in poverty), and our unemployment rate reached 15.1% in April (with women and youth being the most affected segments of the population). The quality of life and mental health of many people has been affected tremendously in the past 18 months.

A tax reform was presented by the government to congress, causing major distress for people who felt that the reform would further hurt their quality of life, which prompted protests. However, what started as protests against such reform (later withdrawn by the government), kept growing. It soon became evident that this was not just about tax reform. The protests unveiled a much deeper societal problem, one that for years we, as a society, had refuse to really acknowledge! The discomfort was so vast that concerns over COVID moved down in priorities for the people who were taking the streets. Thousands mobilized in protests that have continued for over a month.

As a country, we are now looking directly at the consequences of silencing of voices. The young, who have been historically the hardest hit segment of the population in terms of opportunities, access to education, etc., are the main voices of the protests. Their voices have gone unheard for decades. Their need to express themselves is evident in the streets. The demand of the protesters to be heard is legitimate. As is their right to raise their voices in the streets! And, their demand to be heard!

In Colombia, to engage in protest is a right protected by the constitution, Supreme Court of Justice rulings, and documents by the Comisión Interamericana de Derechos humanos (Interamerican Comissión for Human rights). However, accounts from journalists, participants in the protests, and videos available in social media, speak of an unacceptable excess use of force from the government, counter to national and international commitments.

Adding to the complexity of the situation, at some points during this month-long protest, some people have used blockages as a mechanism of pressure, causing difficulties securing oxygen supply to hospitals (crucial in the COVID crisis), transportation of patients in ambulances, and food and medication supplies in some regions.

There has been an escalation of violence. Lives have been lost. Life, and its protection, should be our common ground!

At the time of writing this commentary, we are currently in a moment of tense calm. Violence has been slowly de-escalating, but there have not been successful dialogues between protesters and the government.

I would like to highlight how important music has been during these moments of crisis, and how music becomes a mechanism for unheard voices to claim, to denounce, to demand to be heard. Music is definitely part of the social protest movement. This is not a new phenomenon. It has been part of our history as a Latinamerican country. In the 1960-1970’s, when some Latinamerican countries were living under dictatorial governments, artists used their voices and platforms to denounce injustice. Many of them were threatened and even had to seek refuge in other countries. Their music was censored. But instead of diminishing the popularity of protest music, the continent saw a strengthening of the Música protesta genre (Protest music or social song). To this day, some of the songs from those years continue to accompany protests and social causes. Throughout the years, music kept its role as a denouncement mechanism, and artists still use their platforms to denounce social injustice. As Robayo (2015) mentioned, the themes in Latinamerican protest music include: representation and social critique, denouncement, complaints, self-recognition of power structures (dominant and dominee), conflict, rebellion, freedom, social injustice, displacement, authority abuse, and courage. I would add that recently, themes like racism and feminism have been included in songs within the genre.

Mark Mattern (1998) described the connection between politics and music through the community lens. Music, in this context, is conceived as having a communicative role. He included in his book three forms of what he calls “Concert in action”: confrontational, deliberative and pragmatic (pp. 25). The rise of protest music within the Latinamerican context aligns with the confrontational form, communicating resistance and opposition.

During the recent Colombian protests, this role of music has been clear. People have chanted using everyday objects as if they were as drums and shakers, and they have marched while chanting and moving together. A massive expression through music. You can find many videos on social media of this type of expression.

Also, more often now, musicians trained in the classical tradition have been taking part in the protests. And their platforms and the platforms of the orchestras have been used to impact social causes. They are raising their voices against violence and injustice. I want to highlight this type of manifestation, because previously music in the protests had been considered more an issue of “popular musicians” (meaning: musicians self-made, or trained within the popular music traditions). I would like to present some examples of this in the current protests.

This performance took place in Medellin, where many instrumental musicians played together the song “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido” (United people will never been defeated), a 1975 song that is heard in protests around the continent. In the video, you can see the moment where the crowd shouts the chorus of the song, while the musicians play the rest of it.

Another example is the performance of the Himno de la guardia indígena (Hymn of the indigenous guard) played by the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá (Bogotá’s Philharmonic Orchestra) as a tribute to the Indigenous guard.

Here you can find the original version (at least one that can be found on YouTube):

A final example of such involvement by classical musicians involves Medellin’s Philharmonic orchestra. A couple of years ago, the orchestra created the Coro Reconciliación. A choir was formed that included former members of guerilla and paramilitary groups, as well as victims. This was a space to sing together. Here I share their version of Para la Guerra nada (Nothing for war) a song by Marta Gomez. In this version, they also sing with the choir A la Escucha. A choir of Colombian refugees living in Canada.

The community of Colombian music therapists are not unaware of our reality. In light of the social turmoil, the Colombian Music therapy Association released the following communication:

Through a public call in their social media, the ACM has invited music therapists to join a day of musicking and reflection named: Colombia in the Key of Peace (Colombia en clave de paz). All professionals can join this meeting to join our voices to protest violence and call for the respect of life.

It is my hope that reading this commentary will prompt a reflection on social injustice, inequality and the consequences of silencing voices. Diversity is rich, and presents alternatives for dialogue and growth. Hopefully, as a global community of music therapists, we embrace diversity, are aware of privileged positions, and strive for the right of every voice to be heard!

As a complement to my commentary, I wanted to include a list of songs from the protest music genre from different countries of the region (see Table 1). This is not a complete list. I’m sure there are songs that were left out. I’m aware of the importance of each song because, as mentioned above, each song gave voice to someone! I don’t include links to each song, as there are many versions to each of them, and the reader may prefer a version with a translation in their language (if it’s available). I would recommend searching in YouTube using the name of the song and the author. Also look for translations of the lyrics in the reader’s native language.

Music therapists from the ethics committee of the ACM collaborated in building this list. My acknowledgement and appreciation to: Juan A. Ortiz, Claudia Forero, Jose Urrea, Amanda Rubiano, and Verónica Restrepo. Also, thanks to Nicolás Soto for our dialogues regarding protests and music in Chile and Colombia.