Sisters Celia and Laura García, who play music as Las Hermanas García, originally from Ometepec, Guerrero in Mexico, have been using their YouTube channel to globally showcase a moving selection of chilenas, boleros, and other Costa Chica/Mexican styles of folk music.
With views in the millions, despite the lack of access to any artistic platforms in their hometown, their resilient spirit has also led to performance opportunities on international stages.
Today, in honor of International Earth Day, Las Hermanas García decided to film a video for the song “Pobre Tierra Mia” in an illegal dump, as a symbolic gesture of ecological negligence, and to bring attention to the world’s overuse of plastic.
In their video description they explain that they care for the survival of their home, La Costa Chica, which runs from Acapulco to Oaxaca. They say, “Cantemos, gritemos y alcemos la voz porque los jóvenes somos capaces de provocar un cambio de consciencia. La Costa Chica es bella y queremos que lo siga siendo para nuestra generación y para las que vendrán después.” (“Let’s sing, shout and raise our voices because we young people are capable of provoking a change of consciousness. The Costa Chica is beautiful and we want it to remain so for our generation and for those who will come after us.”)
Chilenas, or La Chilena, is a music and dance style common to the south coast of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca known as La Costa Chica. This particular sound and movement derives from Chilean cueca music.
La Costa Chica itself is a beautiful, tropical area, home to indigenous groups like the Amuzgos, Tlapanecos and the area’s Mixtecs, as well as populated by a large Afro-Mexican community. Some communities in the area, though, especially those far away from the coast, are marginalized, affected by extreme poverty, and isolated due to communication issues.
In “Pobre Tierra Mia,” Las Hermanas García, who are 19 and 20 years old, voice their concern about the destruction of the planet. Their father, Mariano García, who is a poet and requinto virtuoso, wrote the lyrics and music for the song.
Website: LasHermanasGarcia.com
Instagram: instagram.com/hermanasgarciaoficial
Facebook: facebook.com/Lashermanasgarciaoficial
YouTube: youtube.com/LasHermanasGarcia
