Luzmila carpio biography of william

With Latin America's history of European colonization, it comes as no surprise that the mainstream musical traditions of the continent are written and performed in Spanish and Portuguese.

Luzmila carpio biography of william: Indigenous Bolivian singer Luzmila Carpio was

But many indigenous populations, along with their languages, still exist to this day. Although their cultures have suffered centuries of oppression and erasure, indigenous artists continue to create music in their mother tongues. Carpio writes and performs in Quechua, a language spoken by indigenous populations inhabiting the highlands of Bolivia.

Like many indigenous Bolivians living in the cities, Carpio is also fluent in Spanish, and she began her career as the vocalist of a band performing popular music in Spanish. In the s, Carpio began to look towards her Northern Potosi roots for inspiration, composing original songs in Quechua while accompanying herself on an indigenous stringed instrument, the charango.

Her lyrics promote awareness of issues faced by native peoples of the Andes, by women, and by the working class. The region where Luzmila Carpio grew up, Northern Potosi, is among the most economically disadvantaged in Bolivia. Quechua is widely spoken in this rural community, but historially there has been no written tradition. The goal of Yuyay Jap'ina, therefore, was to combat poverty and social inequality through mother tongue literacy rather than assimilation through literacy in Spanish.

In terms of education, the women of Northern Potosi have far less opportunity than the men. This became clear during the process of employing teachers, an endeavor to recruit qualified individuals from within the local native population instead of "outsiders to the communities — culturally and linguistically foreigners[