The Miners' Lament: A Story of Latina Activists in the Empire Zinc Mine Strike
I am america jolly fish press THE MINERS LAMENT A Story of Latina Activists in the Empire Zinc Mine Strike By Judy Dodge Cummings Illustrated by Eric Freeberg Consultant Zakery R Muñoz Syracuse University Mendota Heights Minnesota
A Note on Corridos Corridos are traditional Mexican ballads These songs tell stories often about historical events in which the heroes fight injustice The corrido as a musical form was developed developed in the 1800s and sung throughout Mexico However over time the corrido became known as la música de la frontera the music of the border because it was especially especially popular along both sides of the United States mexico mexico border on page 156 The corrido that appears in this story is in Spanish but readers can find an English version in the back of the book
Chapter 1 The church bell tolled four times Ana Maria felt the vibrations deep in the hollow space where her heart used to be She plucked at the strings of the vihuela cradled in her arms If she could make music again maybe she would not miss Mamá so much A gust of desert wind whooshed through the sagebrush sagebrush and prodded her The sun baked her black hair A fly buzzed around her head Ana Maria strummed a few chords on the vihuela and waited for words to come Any words Then the fly landed on Ana Maria’s chin She swatted it and cried out What if I never write another song No one answered because the dead cannot speak Ana Maria sat alone on the hill beside the wooden cross that marked Mamá’s grave in the cemetery Below her sprawled the small town of Alba New Mexico Alba means dawn 5
