Profile: Lobby Day Musician Promotes Social Justice through Music
For over thirty-five years, Francisco Herrera has used music to promote social justice. Viewing music as a public art, his original compositions and translations of traditional songs echo off walls of churches, schools, plazas and buildings flanked by picket lines. The music provides empowering hope for California's migrant community and a message of solidarity.
From his youth in the border town of Calexico, Francisco's early musical expressions incorporated traditional rancheras and mariachi, with the electric vibes of a garage rock band. He was drawn to use music as a voice for social justice and traveled extensively in Latin America to work with community organizers. His life's work has been devoted to the community as a cultural worker, community organizer, singer and song writer proclaiming the principles of Catholic social teaching in word and deed.
From his work in Latin America, Francisco saw the challenges faced by those seeking systemic change. The civil conflicts in El Salvador and Guatemala brought refugees to the Bay Area fleeing war and human rights violations. In 1987, he helped found the Oakland Catholic Worker to offer respect and dignity to this immigrant population. Guest would stay one to six months, as they reestablished their lives and sought documentation. Today, this program still offers hospitality and solidarity for immigrants in the spirit of the program Francisco help found.
In 1990, Francisco Herrera founded Caminante Cultural Work or Trabajo Cultural Caminante in San Francisco. Today, as the center's director, he is dedicated to strengthening working people by upholding their rights and dignity through retreats, workshops, conferences and concerts at the local community level.
His work in Bay Area parishes and communities included Strength of the Roots a program that incorporates Mexican songs and popular sayings with people's life experiences. Participants could see how their cultural experiences weave into the fabric of society. The program stressed that society's strength was the cultural root of all people and that their values worked to enhance self-esteem among the migrant community that might otherwise feel marginalized in society. Francisco molded music and drama for the immigrant community to illustrate their positive contributions to society.
He has carried these themes into parent leadership conferences at schools in the Bay Area. Culture is not viewed as a devise factor, but helps create strong bonds. Participants are asked to reflect on their strong roots, share their experiences, listen to the experiences of others and realize the common values all share. By listening, building trust and sharing common experiences, communities can build relationships that are the key to citizen participation and organizing for the common good.
On the parish level, he brought the synergy of faith and social justice to small Christian communities thru the RENEW program in East Oakland and Contra Costa County. According to Michael Ramos, former director of the Hispanic Ministries for the Oakland Diocese: "Francisco, working with mainly first generation immigrants, helped them feel empowered, even though they may have lacked resources, felt discriminated against or experienced obstacles, such as the language barrier or lack of education," said Ramos.
While the focus of Francisco's community work has been in the Bay Area, he has shared his ministry of music and vision in Sacramento, Fresno and Los Angeles. Lucy Boutte, Community Organizer for the National Farm Workers Ministry in Los Angeles, recalls a seminar Francisco facilitated for the Los Angeles Archdiocese Hispanic Ministry. With a pastoral attitude that inspired and motivated participants to stand in solidarity with the marginalized, he had everyone take a cross. Each white cross had a name of someone that died in a work related incident, such as heat exhaustion in the agricultural fields. The group's participants processed thru the neighborhood where the seminar was held.
"It was a sense of identity," said Boutee, "with the marginalized - how anyone in the group could have been one of the forgotten workers and as the body of Christ we are all connected."
To make this message available to parishes, Francisco created Caminante Productions as a portable package of music and message to enliven passion for the themes of empowerment and solidarity across the fabrics of various cultures that might be present in a neighborhood.
The medium of Francisco Herrera's advocacy for human rights is his musical artistry. He has written and performed numerous songs telling the story of the proud immigrant community that is rarely publicly heard.
Louie Velaquez, former Director of Hispanic Ministries for the Los Angeles Archdiocese and now working in the Office of the Vicar for Clergy, says, " Francisco expresses the need for society to embrace the richness of the variety of cultures - and by so doing see the goodness of humanity to live in peace."
While Francisco's youth ministry has focused on Latinos, his message is articulated across cultures, such as the Afro-American and Asian communities. In the era of global homogenization, Francisco asks the listener to remember their indigenous and historical past for the strength to identify who they are and their gifts, while absorbing the shared cultures in the communities where they live.
Francisco Herrera's latest collection of songs, Honor Migrante, speaks to the focus of his collective ministries. His original composition is a fusion of Latin sounds, rock and reggae to educate the listeners about the struggles of migrant communities and the need to uphold fundamental human rights. They bring to life the story of deep spiritual faith, hard work, separation from family, yet survival under harsh economic and political conditions.
Songs from Honor Migrante will be performed by Francisco on May 22, 2010 during Premio Mujer 2010, at St Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. The event will honor important women in the community with a dinner, concert and dance.
Francisco Herrera's vision statement strives to live : "That a spirit of love us to a life of solidarity and motivates us to work in the defense of people's dignity, especially the poorest in all social dimensions of life --- in search of truth, justice, fraternity, freedom and peace." He expresses this vision in his music ministry and invites all to join in the song of faith to live our lives remembering the poor and vulnerable as we work for the common good.
For more information about Francisco Herrera visit his website.