Reality.

I grew up in East La and as i grew up i learned so many things. What always stuck to me was the music, my culture, and the struggle.I have learned a lot about myself my roots, my culture as well as others, and the struggle. I know what my mom went through to give me a better future. One she probably wanted and never had because of the civil war in El Salvador. She was part of la guerrilla. She was a rebel part of the F.M.L.N. She tells me stories. They are so brutal. She gives a lot of detail. It's so sad. So many innocent people dying,so many young boys getting recruited to be part of the army. So pure, so fragile, their minds so innocent with no bad thoughts. The army corrupted them and brainwashed them taking their purity their innocence and childhood. It makes me so sad to think about how the boys felt. Most of them most likely didn't even go through puberty yet. How frightened they must have been. Imagine the mothers pain? My mother went through a lot of hardships as well as others. There are many other places where stuff like that goes on. All around the word there's genocide, human trafficking, injustice, oppression, child labor, and many other horrible things that go on. Then there are those people who fight for change, who resist oppression who want to better their country. People all around the world like Rigoberta Menchu who fought for indigenous rights in Guatemala, Nelson Mandela who was the first black president in South Africa, Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez who fought for the farm worker rights in America, Mohandas Gandhi who would fast as means of both self-purification and social protest in India, or like Martin Luther King & Rosa Parks who fought for equal rights in America as well with many political groups. Music has a big part in all of this. There is a lot of good bands and people who spread the word of the suffrage and struggle through their lyrics. Many in so different genres like punk, oi!, crust, rap, reggae, ska, son garocho, and well many diffrent genres. My personal favorite is reggae and crust. The details in the lyrics are so unexplainable. They just hit you. Music can also be a weapon just like education. It can be used to change the world. People shouldn't be ignorant. They should open their minds up and realize that the world isn't perfect. Feed your mind with knowledge! Learn about what goes on around you and the world.