songs for the baby roquer@s

i like having political discussions with amado, who is 4. sometimes they are tricky. we've talked about the police, for example, a zillion times. he knows they hurt & kill people. but he also really likes vehicles & uniforms & sirens, which complicates things. in general, though, he really impresses me with his political analysis. a few months ago i was talking to him on the phone, telling him about my day and that i had been at this mission anti-displacement coalition event. land use issues are pretty easy to talk about with kids. i told him, we want them to make this parking lot into housing for poor families and a community center. i asked him what he thought, and he said he thought it was a good idea.

then there was a pause in the conversation and then he added:

y tambien queremos que cierren todas las cárceles
and also we want them to close all the jails ...

y tambien queremos que todos los policias se vayan muy muy lejos
and also we want all the police to go far away ...

y tambien queremos libertad
and also we want freedom ...

verdad, nina?
right, nina?

umm... sí! that about sums it up.

it's a delicate operation, raising leftist children. you want to encourage their critical thinking skills, and at the same time you want them to develop a deep sense of what we believe and why. but you can't tell them what to believe, unless you want to see them end up like one of those ex-red diaper babies who is now an adult reactionary or self-indulgent pain in the ass.

cultivating little roquer@s, and proper appreciation of good music in general, is kind of similar i think. just enough, not too much. they'll come along :) i remember when amado was a baby, we were in the car and fabulosos cadillacs revolution rock was playing. i turned around to say something to him and found him with his arms in the air dancing around in the back seat. no encouragement needed. eso!





foto: the other day amado came downstairs to ask for help with his hair, out of the blue, to make it "parado". oh man, i love this kind of tia responsibility!

ok, so here are a few songs for nayahuari, la baby cumbiambera, & mayari, amado's new little sister (born november 18th!), the two littlest roqueras (and future izquierdistas) de la familia rsf... to get them off to a good start!

amado likes these, as well as classical music (??!) and the star wars soundtrack.


que calor : pibes chorros



ooh child : nina simone (original the 5 stairsteps)



trenes camiones y tractores : árbol



luna negra : los cojolites