{"id":22595,"date":"2022-04-28T17:10:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T15:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.auxsons.com\/?post_type=focus&p=22595"},"modified":"2022-05-09T10:27:01","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T08:27:01","slug":"music-and-resistance-to-state-violence-the-soundscape-of-colombias-2021-national-strike","status":"publish","type":"focus","link":"https:\/\/www.auxsons.com\/en\/focus\/music-and-resistance-to-state-violence-the-soundscape-of-colombias-2021-national-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"Music and resistance: the soundscape of Colombia\u2019s 2021 national strike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wooden spoons clanking against metal casseroles. Drums and voices singing Bullerengue among protestors in the streets. Rappers denouncing state violence on social media. Vogue artists dancing in front of heavily armed riot control units. Tanks and projectiles firing into a multitude of voices chanting in unison: Resistance, resistance.<\/em> For a few months during 2021, the Colombia National Strike of 2021 took on an unstoppable force, invigorated by the music that is so inextricable from the country\u2019s culture. In the face of violence and injustice, artists took to the streets and took their art with them: to heal, to unite, to resist, to denounce.<\/p>\n

The 2021 Colombia National Strike erupted on April 28, following the proposition for a new tax reform bill - protest that continued and blossomed into a widespread mobilization against Ivan Duque\u2019s government, state violence, poverty, corruption, and inequality. These protests saw the deaths of 80 civilian victims in the hands of police, more than 800 disappeared protesters and countless human rights violations, especially against students and young people. The strike achieved the destitution of the finance minister Alberto Carrasquilla as well as the withdrawal of the tax reform bill, but similar to strikes in previous years there was no real response to historic claims of continued state violence. Colombian artists were able to show these claims to the world through music - using art as a medium to unite the people and convey a stronger message. The protests saw the rise of many new artists across genres that released songs denouncing inequality and state violence. These artists, many coming from the most marginalized and violence-ridden places of Colombia, were able to use art to convey complex collective feelings, ranging from unconformity and anger to sadness and despair, to hope and unity.<\/p>\n

Jhon Jota - Resistencia<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n