Social Desolation and the End of the World
03/24/20
by Stephanie Manriquez
Today a playlist called "Social Desolation and the End of the World" was sent to me by a dear friend. The playlist includes Spanish and Latin-American pop etéreo, folk, post-punk, and electronic bands and projects, from Hidrogenesse, La Casa Azul, Chico y Chica, Matorralman, Triángulo Amor Bizarro, and Ultraplayback, to Javiera Mena and Las Bistec y Pelada. My friend and I have a rare but special emotional connection. We both know about introversion, solitude, changing moods, social distancing, and music as a healing process. Since our last trip to Ohio to catch Thom Yorke and his Modern Boxes, we haven’t had a single conversation about music, but still he managed to get to the bottom of my senses to cheer up my day.
The past week has been intense, not only for some, but for all. A changing shadow is above us, spreading fear and uncertainty, anxiety and anguish. To speak frankly, I have already had several breakdowns and panic attacks in my life, but through time, I have learned to embrace them. You need time to cry, to explode, to fear, to stop, but then you have to gather yourself and move on. So that is what I did. I'm approaching the Quarantine Times as a social experiment in which each of us have a human duty to look after one another. Mine is to open platforms for others to express themselves, and to connect communities. This is my duty to society.
I’m a producer and an educator, guiding youth and adults in both Spanish and English through diverse programs and content. Our medium is the radio. I always say I breathe radio as a joke, but really it's not. In radio waves I trust. I believe in crafting stories and information from the very core: the community, the local stories that are never highlighted and embraced, the stories of the youth, the undocumented people, and of the issues concerning Latino immigrant communities.
In this time of social distancing and desolation (as my friend ironically calls it), our communities will have to learn to live in a new era. But the harsh truth is that there’s no time for them to learn. Low-income immigrant communities are still on the very bottom of the pyramid. In most households, parents are not staying in their homes, but are instead finding ways to survive, not for weeks or months, but through day-to-day living as we already know it. Spanish-language media has been reduced in the past decade, and it is affecting the way families consume and receive the news. The silent virus of misinformation and lack of awareness is not new!
For the youth, our forthcoming creators, being enclosed in their rooms forces them to level up and mature under a before unknown circumstance. They have to face learning from home with basic tools, or maybe none, to redesign their energy, to build a new routine, and discipline themselves. But who is there for guidance? Do all young people have tools and a safe space to practice their daily learning? Are they dealing with toxic homes? How are they managing to take care of themselves, their siblings, their parents, and grandparents? How will this quarantine affect their future? Their lives? And we—educators, teaching artists, counselors—how can we have a presence in their lives, now more than ever?
How could we all make a difference to move forward in our communities?
After I had set aside my own rollercoaster of emotions, the next step was to check up on others. I am mobilizing and activating the digital tools of education along the analog and experimenting with the craft of making radio, of making youth radio and Spanish-language radio—we are radio nerds, embracing more radio nerds.
The youth decided to tingle, to make sparkles, speaking not with ambivalence, but with fierce conviction about our own concerns and those of others. Yep! I’m talking about the amazing inspiring youth from Yollocalli Arts Reach who produce Wattz Up! The youth interviewed Alderman Michael Rodriguez from the 22nd Ward, remotely and in their own language, to ask about measures that his ward is taking to support and inform the Little Village neighbors and businesses.
At the same time, Contratiempo Radio was gathering community members to give a glimpse into, and provide relief on, the current situation. Here, Spanish is key, as Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez from the 25th Ward, journalist Jacqueline Serrato, and bilingual consultant for after school programs Fausto Lopez agree. It’s time for us to step up, create a better sense of consciousness towards others, observe carefully all the current system deficiencies, learn, and rebuild a new society.
We won’t be the same when we return. I hope that staying in touch can become the new normal. I want to continue receiving phone calls and playlists to listen to during hardships and beautiful moments. I hope that the only thing left from the times before quarantine will be the reminder of “loneliness, and how you mourned over your memories,” as the wise young Emmanuel Ramirez said.
For now, I will keep listening to my "Social Desolation and the End of the World" playlist, sent with love.
Stephanie Manriquez is the Quarantine Times Tuesday editor. Each week, Stephanie selects a Chicagoan to share a commissioned creative response to the pandemic.
Stephanie Manriquez is a Chicago-based writer, radio producer, journalist and teaching artist. Her work sheds a light on social justice issues affecting Latino communities. Her extended collaboration with Contratiempo has allowed her to focus efforts on issues concerning Little Village and Pilsen’s immigrant community. She has been part of the Social Justice News Nexus Fellowship at Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism, as a reporter and as a youth mentor. For Lumpen Radio, she produces and creates content for multiple programs such as The Ponderers and Contratiempo Radio. She also leads WLPN’s new Communities Amplified multilingual initiative, for which she will train new Spanish speaking radio hosts this year. At Yollocalli Arts Reach, she leads the audio-radio journalism youth program and directs their weekly youth radio show, Wattz Up!
Jackie Serrato, journalist and editor-in-chief of the South Side Weekly; Byron Sigcho Lopez, Alderman from the 25th Ward; and Fausto Lopez., bilingual consultant for after school initiatives.
Yollocalli Arts Reach youth interviews Little Village youth and Alderman Michael Rodriguez from the 22nd Ward. Rona PSA, social consciousness around Covid-19.