“Cielito Lindo” isn’t exactly about social unrest. The lyrics vary from singer to singer, but the song is ostensibly about a pretty girl with dark eyes. When it’s performed for someone who hates Latinos, however, the song has power.
“It was so beautiful,” Garcia says. “And it was so profound, because ‘Cielito Lindo’ is one of the most benign songs there is, but when they all sang it in that context, it had power, and power to make a point in a very non-violent and very profound way.”
With that spirit in mind, the United States’ third-longest running Chicano theater company is putting on a virtual Resistance Jam on Inauguration Day, January 20. Musicians of all stripes are invited to perform in a round robin-style show that will be broadcast over the Internet. Garcia says the Resistance Jam events started in 2017 and has taken place live in less plague-ridden years.