By: Fredwill Hernandez
In order to bring awareness, and address the need and importance of voting amongst [predominately] the Hispanic demographics, Unidos US, formerly known as NCLR [National Council of La Raza] partnered with [both Grammy and 6X Latin Grammy winners] Jesse & Joy, and Latin Alternative rock band Making Movies, to “Electrify the Vote,” with an electrifying and intimate acoustic show at the Glass House in Pomona, Ca., on Wed. – Oct. 24, 2018.
Kicking things off was Making Movies, who hail from Kansas City, Missouri, who have been known to address and back [through performances and donations] immigrant issues since their inception, who reiterated to the importance of registering and voting, and who [musically and vocally] displayed why they are quickly becoming “one of the most talked about” Latin Alternative rock bands due to their [unique] live performances of songs like “Amor de Mis Amores,” featuring [Latin Grammy winners] all female NYC mariachi outfit Flor De Toloache, “Cuna De Vida” and “Locura Colectiva.”
After their electrifying performance, [Making Movies] which definitely set the tone for what was to come, made themselves accessible, mingled and took photos with fans, as anticipation for Jesse & Joy grew.
“I know you’ll have been enjoying yourselves and will continue to do so since this is a party about to begin and will end late. We feel humbly blessed and fortunate to be be here with you all and to [sometimes] use our platform through our music to bring attention to bigger and great causes like this one tonight. We can collectively make great changes in this country for yourselves, for your friends, for your families, and more importantly for the next upcoming generations that are not here yet, so let’s have fun, enjoy, and let’s vote,” explained Joy, [on stage] before beginning to perform acoustic versions of their most popular songs like “¡Corre!,” “¿Con quién se queda el perro ?,” and “Un Besito Más.”
“Me and Joy are siblings, so unity and family is real important to us, “Un Besito Más,” [Spanish for “One More Kiss”] is a very special song we wrote after we lost our father, [“Un Besito Más”] was also the title of our last album and tour, some of our fans have taken and adopted the song as theirs, in their [own] personal way, we met and spoke to a fan who said she loves and dedicated the song to her mother but not because she passed, but because she had been deported,” explained Jesse, before performing the album title song [included in the album] which won a Grammy during the 59th Annual Grammy Awards under the Best Latin Pop Album category. “It tears us apart to know that there are little ones who have a mom and dad and are being torn apart [separated] who are becoming instant orphans, we hear about the statistics and numbers and [sometimes] forget that these are human beings were talking about. [So] in case you have someone [like us] you would like to give them one more kiss, not necessarily someone who has passed, whatever the case may be, the song goes like this.”
“Unidos US is partnering with Making Movies, and Jesse & Joy to “Electrify the Vote,” in November. We want to remind people to turn up their voice and to facilitate that we are passing out a voter’s need to know flyers, so that they could know and get the info they need. The voice of the community is a much needed force in our democracy, each one of us can be a change maker and one way to do this is to turn up our voice in the voting booth, [So] that’s why were here with Jesse & Joy, at a great event, a great concert, enjoying music but also reminding people how important it is to come out and vote,” eloquently explained Ana R. Salazar, California Senior Regional Coordinator Affiliate Engagement, Unidos US. “We have several locations [in three different states] where Jesse & Joy are coming. [So] we are on location at the concerts talking to people prior to the [voting] deadline, we are registering them to vote, and providing them all the information they need so we can get them out there [well informed] to vote on November 6.”