The melting pot analogy for America cannot hide the racial trauma of its non-white citizens. The racial discrimination of Indigenous, African Americans, and essentially every non-white citizen has painted a dark past of the American land. This is why the US history is filled with various Civil Rights movements.
Similarly, Latinos have been an ethnic group that was devoid of its basic civil rights for a long time. This fueled the fight for Latino civil rights, which is an ongoing struggle. Latinos are the largest minority group in the US. However, they still have to face issues of inequality in immigration, equal pay, education, and healthcare.
The need for Latino activism has compelled Latin American celebrities to raise their voices for the social injustices faced by Latin Americans. Lin-Manuel Miranda is one such Latin American artist who has used his art form to shed light on bitter realities like racism.
Why is Latino Activism Important?
Latino activism started as political but transformed into various shapes and sizes. Its influences can also be seen in the arts and entertainment circles. For instance, the Chicano movement was merged with the Chicano cinema which resulted in some of the century’s best Latin American movies.
Latin American artists-turned-activists weaved their art with political commentary. This resulted in unheard Latino voices being amplified. Stories were told from the Latin American perspective for the first time in history. This made space for Latin American individuals to be perceived as humans whose needs were similar to the rest of the American citizens.
The result of the collective efforts of Latin American political and media personalities allowed the various Latin American civil rights movements to win many reforms. Southwest experienced the creation of bilinguals programs, Chicano teachers being hired, and more Latin Americans running for office. The Latin Americans experienced their identity shifting from mere second-class citizens to self-determined individuals.
Despite being an ongoing struggle, Latino activism is also credited with enabling Hispanics to be recognized as the largest minority consumer-base in the US. Many companies provide bilingual, English and Spanish, customer support because of that. One such company is Cox, a telecommunications company that provides high-quality, dependable internet, TV, and phone services. Cox’s bilingual customer support is a major incentive for its Hispanic customer base. Cox customer support or servicio al cliente, even enables its subscribers to pagar Cox en español por teléfono which makes the Hispanic consumers’ life so much easier.
Now let us get into how Lin-Manuel Miranda has used his art as a tool for Latin Activism.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Miranda is a Latin American songwriter, actor, singer, and all-rounder in the world of US entertainment. With a Puerto Rican background, Lin-Manuel Miranda is also a Broadway star.
He is known to win several awards including a Pulitzer Prize, Emmy, Grammy, etc. His Broadway debut, In the Heights, also won him multiple awards, including the Grammy’s. Miranda is also a frequent contributor to Disney movies. His songs for Moana and Encanto have also garnered critical acclaim.
He made Hamilton for Broadway in 2015, which broke the entire Broadway landscape with its immediate popularity. Hamilton became a global phenomenon and is one of the major contributing factors to Miranda’s success. It is a biographical musical that follows the sung-and-rapped-through format. It features the life and adventures of one of the Founding Fathers of America, Alexander Hamilton. The musical is also famous for beginning a debate about representation, race, and history.
More than Just an Artist
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s fame has made him a popular celebrity. He has a huge fan following and his political activism has further increased his popularity. Miranda is exceptional at weaving political and socio-cultural commentary in his songs.
He has also launched several campaigns for Latin American minorities and raised funds to help them. His socio-political activism includes raising funds for the hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico. He partnered with the Flamboyan Foundation to form a fund that collected funds for the misery-stricken Puerto Rico. He also shares the Miranda Family Fund, where Miranda and his family raise nonprofit funds for their own causes. As his father fights for Latin American representation in politics, Miranda focuses on promoting arts in Puerto Rico.
Furthermore, he also released a song for the hurricane crisis that would raise funds for his Puerto Rican community. Miranda has also worked to launch ‘Raise Up’ to support immigrant communities during the pandemic. He also likes to take up individual cases, for which he uses his Twitter account, to raise funds. One such instance is him raising funds for a person whose mother needed dialysis.
Hamilton’s Importance for the Latin Community
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is ground-breaking for the Latin community. To produce a musical that casts only minorities, and turning it into a cultural phenomenon is not an easy feat. Hamilton’s main characters are specifically Latin American and African American. He empowered two communities by portraying them in the roles of Founding Fathers and their aides, beyond slaves and low-wage workers.
There is also a focus on immigrants and their struggles. This is representative of the Latino immigrants’ dilemma and their need to be taken seriously in a predominantly white society. Lastly, by casting only black or biracial people, Miranda also highlighted the racial dynamics in the world of theatre.
Wrapping Up
Latin activism plays an integral role in Latino empowerment. By immersing strains of Latino activism in art and story-telling, artists like Link-Manuel Miranda have contributed so much for the Latino community.