Downtown Boys just released a video for the song Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas) from the band’s excellent new album, Cost of Living.
The video juxtaposes live performance footage of the band with a kid’s birthday party.
In a statement, the band — always out front with thoughtful political commentary — explains inspiration for the video:
“We hope you enjoy this video. Chulas are people who believe in the mergence of our past experiences and what we want the future to be. This mergence becomes our reality, and right now that includes a lot of pain and healing in our community at so many levels. We feel that the recent decision made by the white supremacist faction of our Federal government around DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was not a decision based on economic justice for the USA nor based on advancing real immigration reform. It was based on racism against immigrants.
“We know a lot of people who like Downtown Boys, come to our shows, or listen to our music are affected by this. We also want to acknowledge the millions of immigrants that were never even eligible for DACA and face criminalization, deportation, and racism daily. We must continue to fight against all borders. Demonizing people of color and immigrants is not a solution. We know we can’t do much, but we can try to get as much information on this out there as possible. We urge anyone who is affected by the DACA decision or knows someone who is affected to look into United We Dream and the National Immigration Law Center. People have until October 5 to renew their DACA paperwork. Read more and find out how to get involved here.”
All the Young Punks 