L.A.-based musician La Marisoul tells the story of Los Jornaleros del Norte, a band made up of former and working day laborers in Los Angeles, and its founder, Omar León. The band’s cumbias and norteñas have become a soundtrack for the labor and immigration movement, played at immigration marches, in front of detention centers, and at City Hall.
“The Serenade” was first performed live on the POP-UP MAGAZINE stage, and is presented here as part of Hispanic Heritage Month, with support from @Google.
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LA MARISOUL was born Eva Marisol Hernandez in DTLA (downtown L.A.), the diverse and vibrant heart of Los Angeles. Growing up in Mexico and the United States exposed her to American pop culture and the roots of traditional folkloric music, shaping her musical sensibility. Her musical group, @La Santa Cecilia, won the Grammy in 2014 for Best Latin Rock Album for Treinta Días.
LOS JORNALEROS DEL NORTE was created after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid that took place in the City of Industry in 1996 while a mobile health clinic of the Los Angeles County Health Department was providing HIV and other STD testing. Omar Sierra, a founding member of the band, was present during the raid and decided to write a corrido (ballad) about the incident. The band’s purpose is to inform, educate, organize, and mobilize day workers, sensitize the general community about day-labor-related issues, and denounce the abuses committed against them.
ARIANNA VAIRO specializes in illustration. She has created art for The New York Times, the Marina Abramovic Institute, and Bocconi University, Milan, among other clients. Her work has been exhibited and recognized in Italy and worldwide. She teaches printmaking at the European Institute of Design, Milan.
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STORY
Josh Kun
NARRATION
La Marisoul
ILLUSTRATIONS
Arianna Vairo
PHOTOGRAPHS
John Francis Peters
FOR POP-UP MAGAZINE
Cheche Alara, Music Director
Jacqueline Bates, Photography Director
Isabel Castro, Cinematography
Ora DeKornfeld, Cinematography
Derek Fagerstrom, Director of Special Projects
Annie Jen, Art Director
Charley Locke, Story Producer
Scott Polach, Producer, Video Editor
Albert Schatz, Production Manager
Andy Spillman, Music Recordist, Mixer
Maureen Towey, Performance Consultant
José Vadi, Contributing Producer
John Woo, Director of Video