The campaign kicks off with first “Conciencia Talk,” an online dialogue, featuring Goyo & Rafa Pabón.
Comprised of more than 35 executives from the Latin music industry — including artists, activists, artist managers, publicists, among others — Conciencia Collective spearheads a recently-announced initiative in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in an effort to create awareness about racial and social injustice.
Conciencia Collective was born amid national outrage over the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other black citizens who have died at the hands of police. The intention is to “educate our colleagues, artists and peers of influence in order to gain their advocacy. Our ongoing initiatives also focus on the many issues affecting our Latin community,” according to a press release.
A leading, Afro-Latinx voice, Choquibtown’s Gloria “Goyo” Martínez launches the initiative with a poignant statement.
“I’m talking to you as a Black woman, rapper, singer, born in South America. In an invisible region, a jewel in my country; a Black village,” writes Goyo. “The experiences that we Black women live change you from the moment you leave your home. Society reminds you that at home, you live in a protected space. At home, we are educated with tools to go out into a racist world. As Howard C. Stevenson said, ‘we [as Black people] are educated with a kind of a racial literacy.'”
Goyo will kick off “Conciencia Talk” alongside Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Rafa Pabón in partnership with Latinx-focused mecdia/news company MiTú. The “online dialogue” is set to take place today (June 26) at 7pm ET and will be moderated by Afro-Colombian Dr. Aurora Vergara Figueroa, director of the Afrodiasporic Studies Center at ICESI University.
Quotes on solidarity and racial inequality from more than 100 Latin artists, including Leslie Grace, Anuel, Jesse & Joy, Myke Towers, Carla Morrison, Zion & Lennox, and Farruko, among others, will be posted weekly on MiTú’s page.
“In order to consciously educate the Latinx community and change the derogatory narratives towards people of color within our community, we commit to leading with acknowledgement in solidarity with the Black community to enable the rise of leaders in our respective communities,” the statement continues.
“We want to extend our platforms to our brothers and sisters so that their voices and needs can be heard. We want our brothers and sisters across the U.S. and Latin America to know that we see them, we hear them and we will champion equality and justice on behalf of our industry.”
