AZUL BARRIENTOS

SAN ANTONIO, 2022 - 2023

Azul Barrientos (she/her/ella/la) is a musician dedicated to observing and preserving the cultural influences and interconnections between Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Mexico. Born in Mexico City, she moved to the United States as a young woman, developing a reputation for building bridges between Mexicana and Chicana cultures. Her career has focused on preserving traditional songs from Latin America and exploring their diverse musical histories. Root’s monthly concert, Noche Azul, features unique musical selections, cultural and historical research, set design, multimedia projection, and diverse guest musicians. The sounds and genres of Noche Azul have included boleros, rancheras, tangos, folk, jazz, Afro-Latino, corridos, and more. Barrientos is currently recording her upcoming album and pursuing a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Berklee College of Music.

Azul Barrientos is using music as a means of healing, self-expression, and storytelling in partnership with Domesticas Unidas (DU), a group of women working towards the empowerment of domestic workers in San Antonio and the surrounding areas.

Many of DU’s members are immigrants who have experienced low pay, long hours, sexual and psychological abuse in their workplace. An immigrant herself with a lineage of domestic labor and a powerful storytelling talent, Azul initially intended to work with DU to produce one corrido, a traditional Mexican piece of musical storytelling.Through regular meetings with DU, Azul has found that, due to the trauma they have experienced, many women struggle to express themselves creatively. The group is currently working together to write a song that collectivizes the struggle and incorporates healing rhythms into a chorus that can be sung by every woman.

CULTURE HUB

The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center is a 35-year-old multidisciplinary arts and cultural organization, built around a vision of social justice and cross-cultural understanding. We are committed to serving low-income and marginalized communities, preserving San Antonio’s unique cultural heritage, and nurturing local and emerging artists.

Esperanza produces and presents programs that provoke dialogue, honor traditional cultures, nurture new aesthetics, renew the soul, break stereotypes, build communities, emancipate people, and educate about the critical importance of art and expression. Esperanza preserves and promotes artistic/cultural expression of and among diverse communities. We believe that to create positive social change, individuals must be culturally grounded, confident in their voices, and certain of the value of their contributions. Art and culture connect us to our histories and plant the seeds for our self-worth. We seek to increase access of marginalized groups to artistic expression and bridge communities through accurate and respectful cultural understanding. From our MujerArtes Clay Cooperative to year-round exhibits, our annual Mercado de Paz and Paseo por El Westside festivals, to the gathering of oral histories of our elders, Esperanza celebrates the power of art to transform lives.

SOCIAL IMPACT INITIATIVE

Domesticas Unidas is an organization that, since its establishment on October 12, 2012, has worked towards the goal of empowering domestic workers in San Antonio, Texas and its surroundings. Our 168 members include women who clean houses, care for children, and provide for the sick and elderly in their homes.

Our organization's work began at the bus, while we were on our way to our jobs and we were hearing the painful stories of the abuses that domestic workers faced every day. We work to empower and organize domestic workers in San Antonio.