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AN INTERVIEW WITH SUSANA BACA*

by Charles Henry Rowell and Marcus D. Joneswith Mnica Carrillo

ROWELL: How did you become a professional singer? What was the moment in whichyou made the distinction between the joy of wanting to sing and saying, Yes, from thismoment, I am a professional singer?

BACA: From seeing that musicians in our country die starving or end up at the BravoChico hospital, the hospital for tuberculosis patients, my mother was terrorized by theafnity I had for music from the time I was young. So she said, She shall have anotherprofession and she can dedicate herself to music afterwards if she wants. That helped meget into the Enrique Guzman and Valle University, La Cantuta, and become a teacher. I was

working as a teacher in the Cerro del Agustino, with children who leave in an outlying,very poor and high-crime neighborhood. I worked there. Those were my rst steps as ateacher. And then I traveled across Peru to work in Tarma, in the mountainous regions ofPeru. There was a moment when I felt that my calling for music was much stronger thanmy calling to teach children.

ROWELL: Where were you born?

BACA: Here, in Chorrillos.

ROWELL: How did it affect you to go from the city all the way to the mountains?

BACA: It was incredibly important because to understand my country, to understandPeru, to understand the discrimination that exists in Peru was something very importantfor my career. I understood that Peru is a country that completely excludes indigenous,Afro-Peruvian and Amazonian peoples. All the political power is concentrated in Lima.Its to Lima that all the benets come, and Lima lives with its back turned away. To realize

that, that thats what my country is, was incredibly important for me, for my struggle, formy path as a singer, to say what I say in my songs and everything.

JONES: About how many Afro-Peruvians are in this country?

* This interview was conducted on June 18, 2007, in Lima, Peru.


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BACA: Thats a terrible question because its terrible for me to know the exact number. Thething is that we have inuenced a great deal, we have contributed a great deal to this country.

In fact, theres a record and a book that precede everything that were doing now. Theyre

called Fire and Water. My husband, Ricardo Pereira, and I conduct an investigation ofhow much Afro-Peruvians have contributed to Peruvian culture. And we realize that thecontribution is very large because its possible that the color disappears permanently.The color is diluted, but the culture is quite strong. The music that people hear, the musicthats being created for the future, its Afro-Peruvian music. Daily food has Afro-Peruvianorigins. Theres a great presence. I cant tell you the percentage because I dont have thatanswer. But at present, young people have worked on that and there are people who arereclaiming their Afro-Peruvian origins.

ROWELL: When I think of your music, I see a variety of traditional and new forms thatarent necessarily tied to the tradition or to folk. Could you talk a bit about what youwould most like to do as a singer, or what is it that as an artist you would like to have be ofmost impact for us as listeners? What is it that you want to have happen to your listeners?

BACA: In all sincerity that people react in the face of Afro-Peruvian rhythms, that they reactand feel this way of expressing ourselves that we Afro-Peruvians have. Its real. We mix folklorewith modern music. I feel that thats what lets people feel the connection between the old, the

folk and the Afro-Peruvian music and that they also feel that this music has a right to modernity.To be able to gather those things is to be able to have people feel our past and our present.

ROWELL: When listening to your music, I always feel as if I were hearing myself. WhenI hear your music, I think that you are reminding me of something that I had, of some-thing that my grandfather, my great-grandfather and I, all of us, had and that somehowwe have forgotten. And you return it to us. I hear the African continent in your music.Thats what Im trying to say.

BACA: Oh, how lovely. It gives you a sense of belonging. Of course. We felt the samething the rst time we sang in South Africa, in Johannesburg, at the Arts Alive festival. Weplayed two days at that festival, and one night a lady who was in the audience came anddance to the rhythm of our music. And when we offered a workshop for music students,the children started to play all of the instruments we had. They started to play, to sing theirmusic, accompanied by those instruments. And we danced with them. When the groupplayed in South Africa, we could dance with them, to their music. What you felt with ourmusic we felt as well there, and we transmitted it to the South Africans.

CARRILLO: How has the Peruvian public received your music that has more contempo-rary or modern elements? Have you found resistance to the acceptance of your musicalproposal, which includes fusion, which includes more thoughtful themes?

BACA: At rst there was resistance. What happens is that there are two moments for me,for the music I make. I always sang poetry with popular music. I made that mix in thetexts, in the lyrics. They were important, interesting contexts, and it was poetry that I sang.


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I had to things against me in having my work spread through mass media. First, whenI started to work Afro-Peruvian music wasnt taken into account. And they told me therewas no way poetry could be recorded because people would not understand it.

Because of the mass media situation, we would go to working-class eateries, to thepublic. We werent stuck saying, Well, they wont take us on television. What are wegoing to do? No. We would go to the neighborhoods, the working-class districts, theworking-class eateries, to places to sing our music live. It was so much so that the womenwho worked at the eateries would say, But how is it possible that we dont see you ontelevision? We dont like what we see on television. Why cant we see you on television?But we couldnt be on. We were going against the current, and it was our struggle.

CARRILLO: What years were these?

BACA: Those were from 1980 until almost 1990. But people appreciated a great deal whatwe did. We had that poem called Maria Lando, which is dedicated to the Afro-Peruvianwoman, the working woman. The women at the working-class eateries felt that it wastheir anthem, their song. We would sing it for them, and if we didnt sing it, they wouldask for it and they would dance. It was a marvelous thing.

That poem was heard by the Scottish musician David Byrne in 1995, and David Byrnelearned it and knows what the words say, and he says, Where is the woman who sings

that? And he looks for me and my work spreads. I had already been abroad, I had alreadydone things outside Peru, but they were very small. The worlds great big door opensthrough that poem, through that song and through the Afro-Peruvian music that I make.

ROWELL: Is there a tradition among Afro-Peruvians of singing poetry?

BACA: In Zaa in 1800 there was something called the cumanana, and it was sung poetry.Songs of history, songs of everyday life, of love, of everything were sung. In fact, thereare verses that I sing now, that are in the book and recording about the contributions of

Afro-Peruvians, that were taught to me by people from Zaa and that dont have a knownauthor. Its popular poetry of common use, of common knowledge, traditional. The cuma-nana is comprised of sung verses, like the decima.

Currently, theres a revival of the decima. In the past, there were poets who would say,Theres a cumanana poet here who invents decima, and poetry ows from him. So theychallenged each other and they did gatherings.

Wherever there have been Afro-Peruvians, there has been decima. For instance, theland division we have with Chile is arbitrary. And on the Chilean side, in Arica, an Afro-Peruvian community has been left. Now, theyre Afro-Chilean. Theyre families who sharelast names with Afro-Peruvians on the other side, in Tacna.

ROWELL: What else can you tell us about the poem Maria Lando? Who wrote it?

JONES: It was written by Cesar Calvo, a poet from the 1960s generation. Hes a poet whosdied, and the music was composed by Chabuca Grande.


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BACA: I forged work with that song and I spread it in the neighborhoods, with womenhere in Peru. Here in Peru, its always the women who head the household, the children,and all the weight of the home. There are many women who are separated from their

husbands, and the house is their responsibility. This poem speaks specically about thisworking woman, making sacrices, who doesnt see the sun come up, cant indulge in abeautiful afternoon. The only thing she does is work, and her work isnt her own.

ROWELL: How do you choose the music youre going to record?

BACA: I choose the words carefully, because I need to communicate at a deep level withthe spirits of people listening to my music. I want to get to their emotions, to their soul. I

dont sing trivial things. I sing fundamental things for the spirit.

CARRILLO: All of that dealing with the decima, with the cumanana is something that isonce again beginning to be valued, to be discovered. But even so, it seems that youngpeople, and not so young people, dont know them well. Its as if theres a great discon-nect, dont you think?

BACA: Yes, of course, because everything has been marginal. In order to be noticed in mycountry, my music has had to go outside of it and return when David Byrne put out my

rst album in the United States. The albums are edited there, and I come and I presentthem here in Peru. So then the people who had it in their power to record me never lifteda nger, and not because we didnt knock on doors. We knocked on the doors of manystudios and many places. They told us no, that they werent interested in my music orin either the poetry or what I sang. They even labeled me a communist in many places.

To have my music disseminated was done completely from the outside. When DavidByrne came and I signed a contract with Luaka Bop records, they came to ask me to signwith them, but I couldnt because Im with Luaka Bop.

That music was marginalized, and in order for them to talk about my work in Peru,

a lot of time has passed. People recognize me when they give me a Grammy. But beforethe Grammy, I have done twenty years of work. When they gave me the Order of GrandOfcial when I won the Grammy, my work is already recognized around the world. AndI spread Perus popular music.

Young people take from there, drink from there and they do their work again. Thatshow it is. Its as if hearing my music makes them return to the roots, look for folklore andmove forward. I know it, because there isnt a young musician here who doesnt havepirated copies of my music. They all have them, and I feel good to say they have them.

They award me the Order of Grand Ofcial at the State Department. And Perus presi-dent, Alejandro Toledo, has Juan Diego Flores and awards him the Order of the Sun. Doyou realize? Why? Because he is an opera singer and because opera singing is much moreappreciated in our country than popular music.

Another thing thats important and that I believe I must say is that I was discriminatedin my country. And now, Im known for having done this work abroad. But I was discrimi-nated in my country for being black and for thinking.


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JONES: Can you tell us a bit about the discriminatory experiences you have had?

BACA: I feel that I was discriminated since I was a child. I have the experience of having

won a scholarship to study music at the conservatory. And the scholarship wasnt given tome despite having won it. I was the scholarship winner, but the school gave it to a white girl.

The rst instance of discrimination was at school, when I was very young and a teachercame to teach dance. I adored dance before singing. Before I walked, I danced. And to mygreat disappointment, they only chose white girls to form the schools dance troupe. Theydid not choose the Indian and black girls.

The second instance was when I won the scholarship to study at the music conserva-tory. I won it because they gave me a test. They did tests to see if we had a gift for music,a music audition. And of course I won. But as time went by, I would say, Theyll notifyme. Theyll notify me. But the scholarship went to another girl.

Later, there were other incidents. On one occasion, I went to see a friend. I asked to seeher and their employee didnt want to open the door because Im black.

Later, I was in a car with a friend. We knocked on the door of the wife of an ambassa-dor, who was the minister of foreign affairs, and his son was leaving. They were notiedthrough the doors small window that we were there. They went to open the door and Iwas there to come in. The lady closed the door immediately, as if frightened.

And later, there were comments like, Youre an artist? You like music? Youre black? So

the conclusion is that youre an easy woman. There are journalists advances, to take yourphotos like so. Those types of things surface, and you feel that its a premeditated thing.I have reviewed my life and seen the vast number of times this has been repeated.And society demands a lot more. You have to be the best, the rst. That, too, is part of

discrimination. And I have had to do my whole career abroad so they will take me seriously.

JONES: What do you think of the many songs sung by whites, indigenous and blackpeople in which blacks are celebrated? They sing things like, lovely black woman, beau-tiful black woman.

BACA: Youre right. A lot of words are used to praise a bit the black persons grace. Itseems an attempt to highlight something at the same time that you point out the personsblack. Its as if theyre saying, Its black, but its beautiful. That, too, is discriminatoryfor me because its a human being. If the person is beautiful or funny or sweet or nice orlovely, it doesnt depend on the color. It doesnt have anything to do with color.

I think what youre saying is very subtle, that its like a way of distinguishing, of pointingout. But its not necessary. If we lived in a society totally free of prejudice, a human beingwould be a human being. We would have to advance the education of young people, of

children, in that direction, to not make distinctions and single out others.There are problems in Puerto Rico, for instance. They are extraordinary musicians, and

they always talk about what youre saying in their lyrics. And I know of Puerto Ricanmusicians of African descent whose virtues they dont want to recognize.

ROWELL: Instead of recognizing them, they co-op their music and they modify it to theirliking. But the people who benet from it arent blacks. They stay in poverty.


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BACA: Yes, its an appropriation.

ROWELL: In fact, what people always call the Latin American sound or Latin Ameri-

can music is African-derived music. Its not something that came from Spain, but rathersomething that came from the content of Africa.

BACA: Well, I feel that thats very mixed. But we must recognize the part that we havefrom Africa. And we have to recognize the Spanish inuence, too. Lets not forget that thediaspora traveled through Spain for a while and came to America.

I rememeber that after a concert in New York at Central Park, we had an incrediblediscussion with African-Americans about the roots of our music. They felt that it belonged

to them, too. They would say, Why? Because the African presence is in Latin America.I believe that our duty is to say it every time, to repeat it and demonstrate it. I feel thatin the music we make we demonstrate that because the presence is there. And the threecurrents, the Andean, the African and the Spanish, are connected.

CARRILLO: What do you think might be the obligation of an Afro-Peruvian artist in acontext as racist as Perus? Theres a serious discussion between art with a responsibil-ity and art for arts sake. What do you think about that? Because I believe theres a greattendency to disconnect or to be unaware of whats come before.

BACA: Mainly, its painful to know. In making this Fire and Water book, there weremoments in which I would leave everything strewn about, saying, I dont want to knowany more. I dont want to know anything.

Ricardo, my husband, says that the title has a second title, something like an exorcismof the memory. You have to perform an exorcism. For you who communicates, its almosta duty. You have to gather with people and talk about that, breach the subject. Older peopletell you, Im black, but Im not from there because those people were too savage. Thereis a series of stereotypes that theyve put in our heads and weve drifted and drifted. To

manage to have members of the Afro-Peruvian community think and say, Enough. Weregoing to get into the thing of saying where we come from is very painful. People dontwant to suffer. I understand them, but we have to achieve it somehow.

The cultural center in Caete is a project of Ricardos, and it has had as a central ideasomething of this. They are very poor communities of farmers, of country people. Theyrenot paid attention. Theyre not a population from which a lot of votes can be counted on.So politicians dont care. And now, they have a childrens cafeteria that weve managedto build. The paved road is about to be over 656 feet. All of those things are the labor ofve years that weve been doing in that area. And what we want there is a festival of ourroots, because its necessary that people participate in these things somehow.

translated by Ana Martinez


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UNA ENTREVISTA CON SUSANA BACA*

por Charles Henry Rowell y Marcus D. Jonescon Mnica Carrillo

ROWELL: Cmo lleg a ser una cantante profesional? Cul fue el momento en el cualhizo el corte entre el gusto de querer cantar y decir: S, desde ese momento voy a ser unaprofesional en el canto?

BACA: De ver que los msicos en nuestro pas se mueren de hambre o terminan en elhospital de Bravo Chico, en el hospital de los enfermos de tuberculosis. Mi madre tenaterror de verme la inclinacin que yo tena desde nia por la msica. Entonces ella dijo,Que tenga una profesin ms, y que se dedique a la msica si quiere despus. Eso meayud a que yo ingresara a la Universidad Enrique Guzmn y Valle, La Cantuta y formar-

me como maestra. Estaba trabajando como maestra en el Cerro del Agustino, con niosque viven en un barrio muy marginal, muy pobres, de mucha delincuencia. Ah trabaj,fueron mis primeros pasos como maestra, y despus fui por el Per a trabajar en Tarma,en las alturas de la sierra del Per. Hubo un momento en que sent que la vocacin por lamsica era mucho ms fuerte que mi vocacin por ensear a nios.

ROWELL: Dnde naci?

BACA: Aqu, en Chorrillos.

ROWELL: De qu manera le afect ir desde la capital hasta la sierra?

BACA: Fue importantsimo porque pude comprender mi pas, comprender el Per,comprender la discriminacin que existe en el Per. Fue algo muy importante para micarrera. Comprend que el Per es un pas que excluye completamente a los indgenas y alos afroperuanos y a los amaznicos. Se concentra todo el poder poltico en Lima, a Limavienen todos los benecios y Lima vive de espaldas. Darme cuenta de eso, que eso es mi

pas, fue importantsimo para m, para mi lucha, para mi proyeccin como cantante, paradecir lo que digo en mis canciones y todo.

JONES: Como cuntos afroperuanos hay en este pas?

* Esta entrevista fue realizada el 18 de junio del 2007 en Lima, Per.


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BACA: Esa es una pregunta terrible, porque es muy terrible para m no saber qu cantidadexactamente. Lo que pasa es que nosotros hemos inuido muchsimo, hemos aportadomuchsimo en este pas.

Justamente hay un disco y un libro antecesor a todo lo que estamos haciendo ahora.Se llaman Fuego y Agua. Mi esposo Ricardo Pereira y yo hacemos una investigacin decunto es el aporte de los afroperuanos a la cultura peruana. Y nos damos cuenta que elaporte es muy grande porque puede ser que el color no aparezca permanentemente. Sediluye el color, pero la cultura es bien fuerte. La msica que se escucha, la msica que seest haciendo para el futuro es la msica afroperuana. La comida diaria tiene orgenesafroperuanos. Hay una gran presencia. No te puedo decir el porcentaje porque no tengoesa respuesta. Pero ahora los jvenes han trabajado sobre eso y hay gente que se reclamade origen afroperuano.

ROWELL:Cuando pienso en su msica, veo una variedad de estilos tradicionales y nuevosque no necesariamente estn ligados a la tradicin o alfolklore. Podra hablar un pocode lo que ms le gustara hacer como cantante, o qu es lo que como artista le gustaraque fuera de ms impacto para nosotros como acionados? Qu es lo que quiere que lespase a sus oyentes?

BACA:Yo con toda sinceridad quiero que la gente reaccione frente a los ritmos afroperuanos,

que reaccione y sienta esta manera de expresarse que tenemos nosotros los afroperuanos.Es real: nosotros mezclamos elfolklore con la msica moderna. Yo siento que eso hace que lagente sienta la conexin de lo antiguo, de lofolklrico, de la msica afroperuana y tambinsienta que esa msica tiene un derecho a la modernidad. Juntar esas cosas es lograr quela gente sienta nuestro pasado y nuestro presente.

ROWELL: Al escuchar su msica siempre siento como si me escuchara a m mismo.Cuando escucho su msica, pienso que usted me est recordando de algo que yo tuve, dealgo que mi abuelo, mi tatarabuelo y yo, todos nosotros, tuvimos y que de alguna manera

hemos olvidado. Y usted nos lo regresa. Oigo al continente africano en su msica. Eso eslo que trato de decir.

BACA:Ah, qu lindo. Le da un sentido de pertenencia. Claro. Eso mismo sentimos cuandopor primera vez cantbamos en Sudfrica, en Johannesburgo, en el festival de Arts Alive.Tocamos dos das en ese festival, y una noche una seora que estaba entre el pblico vinoy bail al comps de nuestra msica. Y cuando hicimos una clase maestra de msica paralos jvenes de la escuela de msica, los nios empezaron a tocar todos los instrumentos quetenemos. Empezaron a tocar, a cantar su msica, acompaados por esos instrumentos. Ynosotros bailamos con ellos. Cuando toc el grupo de Sudfrica, nosotros podamos bailarcon ellos, con su msica. Eso que usted sinti con nuestra msica tambin lo sentimos ahy lo trasmitimos a los sudafricanos.

CARRILLO: Cmo ha percibido el pblico peruano su msica que tiene elementos mscontemporneos o modernos? Ha encontrado resistencia a la aceptacin de su propuestamusical, que implica fusin, que implica temas ms reexivos?


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BACA: En un principio s hubo resistencia. Lo que pasa es que hay dos momentos param, para la msica que hago. Siempre cant poesa con msica popular, hice esa mezcla enlos textos, las lricas. Eran contextos importantes, interesantes, y fue poesa lo que cant.

Para ser difundido mi trabajo por los medios masivos de comunicacin tena dos cosasen contra. Primero que la msica afroperuana en la poca que yo empec a trabajar no setomaba en cuenta. Y la poesa, me decan que de ninguna manera poda grabarse porquela gente no iba a entenderla.

Por lo de los medios masivos de comunicacin, nosotros bamos hacia los comedorespopulares, hacia el pblico. No nos quedamos en la casa a decir: Bueno, no nos reciben enla televisin. Qu vamos a hacer? No. Nos bamos a los barrios, a los distritos populares,a los comedores populares, a lugares a cantar nuestra msica, en directo. Tanto que lasseoras de los comedores decan: Pero cmo es posible que a usted no la veamos en latelevisin? Lo que vemos en la televisin no nos gusta. Por qu no le podemos ver en latelevisin? Pero nosotros no podamos ir, bamos contra la corriente y era nuestra lucha.

CARRILLO: Qu aos eran esos?

BACA: Esos han sido desde 1980 hasta casi el 90. Pero la gente apreciaba muchsimo loque hacamos. Tenamos ese poema que se llamaMara Lando, que es dedicado a una mujerafroperuana, la mujer trabajadora. Las seoras de los comedores populares sentan que

era su himno, su cancin. Nosotros les cantbamos eso, y si no la cantbamos la pedan yellas bailaban. Era una cosa maravillosa.Ese poema fue escuchado por el msico escocs David Byrne en 1995, y David Byrne

lo aprendi y supo lo que dicen las letras y dijo: Dnde est esa mujer que canta eso?Y l me busc y mi trabajo sali. Ya haba salido yo al exterior, ya haba hecho cosas fuera,pero muy pequeas. La gran puerta del mundo se abre a travs de este poema, de estacancin y de la msica afroperuana que yo hago.

ROWELL: Hay una tradicin entre los afroperuanos de cantar poesa?

BACA: En Zaa en el 1800 haba una cosa que se llamaba La cumanana, y se trataba depoesa cantada. Se cantaban temas de historia, temas de la vida comn, de amor, de todo.Inclusive hay versos que yo canto ahora, que estn en el libro y este disco de exposicindel aporte de los afroperuanos, que me han enseado gente de Zaa y que no tienen autorregistrado. Es poesa popular de uso comn, de conocimiento popular, tradicional. Lacumanana es de versos cantados, al igual que la dcima.

Actualmente, estn reviviendo la dcima. Antiguamente haba poetas que decan: Hayun cumananero aqu que inventa la dcima y le brota la poesa. Entonces se desaabanunos a otros y hacan encuentros.

Donde han habido afroperuanos ha habido dcima. Por ejemplo, la divisin del terri-torio que tenemos con Chile es arbitraria, y ha quedado al lado de Chile, en Arica, unacomunidad afroperuana. Ahora son afrochilenos. Son familias que comparten los apellidoscon los afroperuanos al otro lado, en Tacna.


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ROWELL: Qu ms nos puede decir del poemaMara Lando? Quin lo escribi?

JONES: Fue escrito por Csar Calvo, un poeta de la generacin del sesenta. Es un poeta

que ya muri, y la msica la pone Chabuca Grande.

BACA: Yo labr un trabajo sobre ese tema y lo difund en los barrios, con mujeres aqu enel Per. Aqu en el Per son siempre las mujeres las que llevan la casa, los hijos, y todo elpeso del hogar. Hay muchas mujeres separadas de sus maridos y la casa es su responsa-bilidad. Este poema habla justamente de esa mujer trabajadora, sacricada, que no ve elamanecer, no puede complacerse con un atardecer bello. Lo nico que hace es trabajar, ysu trabajo es ajeno.

ROWELL: Cmo selecciona la msica que va a grabar?

BACA: Escojo mucho las palabras, porque necesito comunicarme profundamente con elespritu de las personas que estn oyendo mi msica. Yo quiero llegar a su sentimiento, asu alma. No canto cosas triviales. Canto cosas fundamentales para el espritu.

CARRILLO: Todo eso de la dcima, de La cumanana, es algo que se est tratando otra vezde valorar, de descubrir. Pero an as, parece que la gente joven, o no tan joven, no le

conoce bien. Hay como una gran desconexin, No?

BACA: S, claro, porque todo ha sido marginal. Para que me hagan caso en mi pas mimsica ha tenido que salir fuera y regresar cuando David Byrne sac el primer disco moen los Estados Unidos. Son editados los discos all y vengo y los presento aqu en el Per.Entonces la gente que tena en sus manos haberme grabado antes nunca movieron un dedo,y no porque nosotros no tocramos las puertas. Nosotros tocamos las puertas de muchasgrabadoras y de muchos sitios. Nos dijeron que no, que no les interesaba mi msica ni lapoesa ni lo que cantaba. Adems me tintaron de comunista en muchos lugares.

El lograr que se difunda mi msica fue por fuera completamente. Cuando David Byrnevino e hice un contrato con el sello disquero Luaka Bop, vienen a pedirme que yo rme conellos un contrato, pero ya no puedo porque estoy con Luaka Bop.

Esa msica era marginada y para que hablen de mi trabajo en el Per ha pasado much-simo tiempo. La gente me reconoce cuando me dan un Grammy. Pero antes del Grammy yohe hecho un trabajo de veinte aos. Cuando me entregan la Orden de Gran Ocial cuandome gano el Grammy, mi trabajo es reconocido en el mundo entero. Y difundo la msicapopular del Per.

Los jvenes toman de ah, beben de ah y hacen su trabajo nuevamente. Es as. Comoque el punto de or mi msica hace que regresen a la raz, que vayan a buscar el folklorey que vayan hacia adelante. Yo lo s, porque no hay un joven msico aqu que no tengamis discos piratas. Todos los tienen, y yo siento muy bien contar que los tengan.

A m me entregan la Orden de Gran Ocial en la Cancillera. Y el presidente del Per,Alejandro Toledo, tiene a Juan Diego Flores y le entrega la Orden del Sol. Te das cuenta?


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Por qu? Porque l es cantante lrico y porque el canto lrico es mucho ms apreciado ennuestro pas que el canto popular.

Otra cosa que es importante y que creo que tengo que decir es que en mi pas fui

discriminada y tengo esta fama ahora por haber hecho este trabajo por fuera. Pero yo fuidiscriminada en mi pas por ser negra y por pensar.

JONES: Puede platicarnos un poco acerca de las experiencias discriminatorias que havivido?

BACA: Yo siento que fui discriminada desde nia. Tengo la experiencia de haber ganadouna beca para poder estudiar msica en el conservatorio y la beca no me fue dada a pesar

de que gan. Fui la ganadora de la beca pero el colegio se la dio a una nia blanca.La primera experiencia de discriminacin es en el colegio, cuando era muy pequeay viene una maestra a ensear danza. Yo adoro la danza desde antes de cantar. Antes decaminar he bailado. Y a mi gran decepcin escogieron slo a las nias blancas para hacerel grupo de danza del colegio. A las nias indias y negras no nos escogieron.

La segunda experiencia fue cuando gan la beca para estudiar en el conservatoriode msica. La gan porque me hicieron una prueba, nos hacan unas pruebas sobre sitenamos condiciones para la msica, audicin para la msica. Y por supuesto que yogan. Entonces al pasar un tiempo yo deca: Ya me avisarn, ya me avisarn. Pero de

otra nia fue la beca.Despus hubo otros incidentes. En una ocasin fui a ver una amiga. Ped entrar y laempleada no me quera abrir la puerta porque soy negra.

Despus voy con una amiga en carro. Tocamos la puerta de la esposa de un embajador,quien era ministro de relaciones exteriores y su hijo se iba. Avisaron por la ventanita de lapuerta que estbamos ah. Fueron a abrir la puerta y yo estaba ah para entrar. La seoracerr la puerta inmediatamente, como asustada.

Y despus comentarios como: Eres artista? Te gusta la msica? Eres negra?. En-tonces la conclusin es que eres una mujer fcil. Hay propuestas de los periodistas, de

tomarte fotos as. Cosas de ese tipo se van dando y t sientes que es una cosa premeditada.Yo he revisado mi vida y visto la cantidad de veces que esto se ha repetido.Y la sociedad exige mucho ms. T tienes que ser la mejor, la primera. Eso tambin

es parte de la discriminacin. Y he tenido que hacer toda mi carrera fuera para que metomen en cuenta.

JONES: Qu piensa usted de las tantas canciones cantadas por blancos, indgenas y ne-gros en las cuales se celebra al negro? Cantan cosas como: negra hermosa, negra bella.

BACA: Tienes razn, se usan muchas palabras alabando un poco la gracia del negro. Escomo querer hacer destacar esto a la misma vez que se indica que es negro. Como queestn diciendo: Es negro, pero es lindo. Eso tambin es discriminatorio para m porquees un ser humano. Si es bonito o es gracioso o es agradable o es simptico, no es diferenteal color. No tiene nada que ver con el color.


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Creo que es bien sutil lo que t dices, que es una manera como de distinguir, de sealar.Pero no es necesario. Si viviramos en una sociedad totalmente liberada de prejuicios, elser humano es un ser humano. Tendramos que encaminar la educacin de los jvenes,

de los nios por ese lado, no hacer distinciones y sealamientos.Hay problemas en Puerto Rico, por ejemplo. Son msicos extraordinarios y siempre

hablan en los versos eso que t dices y s de msicos afropuertorriqueos que no lesquieren reconocer las virtudes que tienen.

ROWELL: En lugar de reconocerlos, se aduean de su msica y la modican a su gusto.Pero la gente que se benecia de ella no son los negros. Ellos siguen en la pobreza.

BACA:S, es una apropiacin.

ROWELL: Es ms, lo que la gente siempre llama sonido latinoamericano o msica latinoa-mericana es msica derivada del afro. No es algo que vino de Espaa, sino algo que vinodel continente africano.

BACA: Bueno, yo siento que eso est tan mezclado. Pero hay que reconocer la parte quetenemos de frica. Y hay que reconocer la inuencia espaola tambin. No olvidemosque la dispora pas por un momento por Espaa y vino a Amrica.

Recuerdo que despus de un concierto en Nueva York en el Central Park tuvimos unadiscusin increble con afroamericanos sobre las races de nuestra msica. Ellos sentanque eso tambin les perteneca. Decan: Por qu? Porque hay la presencia africana enLatinoamrica.

Creo que el deber nuestro es cada vez decirlo, repetirlo y demostrarlo. Yo siento queen la msica que hacemos demostramos eso porque est ah la presencia. Y estn ligadaslas tres corrientes: la andina, la africana y la espaola.

CARRILLO: Cul cree que sea el compromiso de un artista afroperuano en un contextotan racista como el peruano? Hay una seria discusin entre el arte comprometido o el artepor arte de s mismo. Qu piensa usted de esto? porque creo que hay una gran tendenciaa desconectarse o a desconocer el precedente.

BACA: Principalmente es doloroso darte cuenta. Al hacer este libro de Fuego y Agua, ha-ba momentos en que yo dejaba todo tirado, diciendo: No quiero saber ms. No quierosaber nada.

Ricardo, mi esposo, dice que el libro tiene un segundo ttulo, algo as como un exorcismo

de la memoria. T tienes que hacer un exorcismo. Para ti que comunicas es casi un deber.Tienes que juntarte con la gente y hablar de eso, tocar el tema. La gente mayor te dice: Yosoy negra pero no soy de ese origen de ah porque esos son unos salvajes. Hay una seriede estereotipos que nos han metido en la cabeza y nos hemos separado y separado. Lograrque la gente del pueblo afroperuano piense y diga: Ya. Vamos a meternos en la cosa dedecir de dnde venimos. Es muy doloroso. La gente no quiere sufrir. Yo los entiendo,pero hay que lograrlo de alguna forma.


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El centro cultural en Caete es proyecto de Ricardo y ha tenido como idea central algode esto. Son unos pueblos muy pobres, de campesinos. No les hacan caso. No son unapoblacin de donde se pueden contar muchos votos. Entonces a los polticos no les im-

porta. Y ahora tienen un comedor infantil que hemos logrado. La carretera ya va a pasar a200 metros. Todas esas cosas son un trabajo de cinco aos que venimos haciendo para esazona. Y lo que queremos ah es un festival de las races porque es necesario que la genteparticipe en estas cosas de alguna forma.

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