January 2026

Popular Music and Revolution: Latin American Protest Music from the 1950s to Today

By Jim Hendrick
Posted: 12/18/2025

Dr. Mario Ortiz’s recent lecture in the Community Room at the Pasadena Village office, Popular Music and Revolution: Latin American Protest Music from the 1950s to Today, offered a sweeping and deeply engaging exploration of how music has functioned as both witness and catalyst across decades of political struggle in Latin America. Moving fluidly between history, sound, and social context, Ortiz demonstrated that protest music is not confined to a single era but remains an evolving language of resistance.

Beginning in the postwar 1950s, Ortiz traced the emergence of socially conscious folk traditions that gave voice to rural laborers and marginalized communities. He then examined the rise of Nueva Canción (literally “new song”) in the 1960s and 70s, showing how artists transformed traditional melodies into powerful vehicles for dissent during periods of dictatorship and repression. Carefully chosen audio and video excerpts allowed the audience to hear—and see—how lyrical directness, poetic metaphor, and collective singing became tools for survival and solidarity.

Ortiz emphasized that protest music did not fade with the return of democratic governments. Instead, it adapted. Rock, hip-hop, and contemporary pop, he explained, continue to carry urgent themes of inequality, state violence, migration, and identity, speaking to new generations in new musical languages.

Audience members responded strongly to the presentation. “I didn’t realize the extent to which political movements were promoted by popular music styles,” said Villager Doreen Allen. “I know that protest music was very popular in the United States in the 1960s, but this opened my eyes.” Mike Weiss highlighted the impact of the multimedia approach, noting, “The video clips really brought out the importance of protest music. It’s like a soundtrack of our lives.”

The lecture was made possible through the efforts of Pablo Ortiz-Morales, Program Manager for Pasadena Village, who brought his father to share this rich and timely perspective. We look forward to bringing Dr. Ortiz back for another interactive experience the next time he’s in town to visit our hero, Pablo.