Salsa Without Son Cuba Essay

During the 1960s and 70s, a time of social and political revolution around the world, Latinos gave the world salsa. Salsa is so much more than a seductive song and dance, it was also a protest against prejudice and a passionate emancipation, a frontier in music and for the people.

Why not start a frontier with a song? You can't start a song without community. You can't start salsa without Son. Although the origins of salsa are debated, the general understanding is that it came from the Cuban genre “Son Cubano” or Son, which means the Cuban sound. However, the group that likely introduced salsa to the Spanish community was the Puerto Ricans living in the slums of New York. In 1917 Puerto Rico became a part of the United States, making its

When salsa emerged it wasn't its own genre, it was a mix of many Latin sounds. It was also not yet a frontier, it was just music speaking for the people. In fact, it really didn't become a frontier for many many years. Let's start at the beginning. The place that began to influence the sound that created Salsa. Welcome to Cuba. The Cuban revolution began in 1953, about a decade or two before Salsa reached its peak. The revolution itself did not result in a new frontier in music and politics, but the relations Cuba had with the United States as a result of this war. Welcome to the Cuban revolution. During the revolution, Cuba established an alliance with the soviet union, and America began to see them as a threat. When Cubans began to migrate to the states about a decade later, political relations were not well and they were underdogs. However some did long for a good relationship with the states, and this actually came to be during salsas years of fame. Now another series of events happened years later that contributed to our frontier, one very famous for the change it brought..welcome to the civil rights movement. The renowned movement that gave African Americans rights. As known, black people were battled against as they were lower class, and not as important as whites. It wasn't just African Americans. Puerto Ricans, Colombians, and Cubans, also experienced this hatred. Many Latinos were

Salsa itself didn't change the way blacks, afro Latinos, and others were viewed and treated. However it was an outlet, an outlet people used to gather. To protest and revolt and laugh and cry and love. To reclaim their status. Lower Bronx, East Harlem, The Barrio. Places claimed by musicians and Latinos when NYC was hitting bankruptcy. Everyone was impacted by this, not just lower-class citizens. People came together, of all races, ages, and classes. They came together to experience salsa. Salsa is a frontier because it encouraged change in a way that was so beautifully expressive, it could not be