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English 101

30 October 2019

Maná

In 1980 a rock en Espanol band named Sombrero Verde (green hat) was formed with

original band members Fher Olvera, Juan Diego Calleros, Ulises Calleros, and Alex Gonzalez,

they were influenced by Guadalajara's underground movement of rock music. Later in 1985, they

renamed their band to Maná, which means “positive energy” and signed with Warner Music,

which allowed them to release their first album. In 1987 only two years later one of their band

members left the group to dedicate his time to become their manager and they brought in Sergio

Vallín as the new guitarist of the group. They were one of the first bands to come out of Mexico

to compose all original songs, which were also performed in Spanish. They have been known to

spread awareness of social and political issues going on around the world through their music,

one major issue being the environment. In April 1995 Maná debuted their third major album

“Cuando Los Ángeles Lloran” consisting of twelve songs, dedicated to Chico Mendes as a

homage to his life. In 1995 The Selva Negra Foundation (The Black Forest) was founded by the

musical band Maná their main goal was to protect the environment and slow the process of

deforestation around the world most importantly in Brazil. The Amazon is home to almost 1

million indigenous people which is divided into 400-500 tribes throughout the forest, about 50 of

these tribes have been untouched from the outside world. These indigenous people have no legal

communal land ownership to the homes they have been living in for centuries. They are
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constantly witnessing the murder of their sacred land and the native animals around them unable

to fix the issues that man has brought upon them. Maná is able to expose the important

environmental issues of deforestation and its effects on the indigenous people with their album

“Cuando Los Ángeles Lloran”.

Throughout the bands’ thirty-four years of a musical career, they have been able to break

boundaries and records, as well as be recognized by major news articles for their global work.

Maná’s work as a musical rock and roll band is one of the most influential because of the way

they are able to blend various genres of music, The Washington Post states “Mana plays rock 'n'

roll that could be from anywhere”(RhondaShore). They are able to integrate reggae and pop style

beats into their music while still speaking on issues that affect the environment as a whole. Their

music has spread across all Latin America as well as parts of the U.S with important lyrics that

could influence the public's views towards the environment. Having a foundation (Selva Negra)

that has been active in the work towards reforestation in the Amazon and saving the turtle

population in Mexico, the ​Miami New Times “​The band is known for socially conscious lyrics

regarding the environment -- particularly the destruction of the Amazon rain forest”(Georgina

Cardenas). The fact that Maná is able to speak out about such an important global issue such as

the murder of the Amazon without fear of repercussion speaks to the public. This demonstrates

to their fans that they are willing to fight for mother nature and they should too. Various news

outlets recognize them as being political powerhouses of spreading important information that

advocates for the ecosystem. They have been able to dedicate an album to the deforestation of

the Amazon which mounted them on ​The Billboard​ list, which granted them and global issues

occurring an immense amount of publicity.

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In the album dedicated to Chico Mendes and the deforestation of the Amazon “Cuando

Los Ángeles Lloran”, there is a song with the exact same name of the album, which speaks about

his devastating death and his environmental activity. He was born on December 15 in 1944 was

raised as a rubber tapper, which is a process where latex is collected from a rubber tree. Being

able to easily navigate through the amazon, he was aware of the indigenous people living within

the forest and was a witness to the catastrophic treatment of the Amazon. Maná was able to

create a song that had a real effect on the public with the lyrics stating, “Chico Méndez was

killed He was a defender and an angel To all of the Amazon… An angel left And will not return

When the killer ran away Méndez was dying The jungle was drowning in tears”. This verse

reflects how all the indigenous people and the amazon felt about his death. They were all

mourning the life of a great man who fought hard for their rights and the forest’s life. He was a

target of many assassination attempts, a week after his 44th birthday he was murdered. Maná

brought attention to his life with an album because of his efforts in defending the amazon.

Chico Mendes was known as a leader to the amazon, the indigenous people and a

defender of the forest. His life was cut short due to his ideologies of change in the Amazon, his

achievements were monumental to the people who he worked so hard to protect. In the article

Remembering Chico Mendes ​by Andrew Revkin, he states that Mendes, in his efforts to protect

the amazon visited the United States many times his purpose was to “press international

development banks and lawmakers to halt loans for road-building projects in the Amazon until

they incorporated the goals... to sustain communities… indigenous peoples who knew how to

live in the forest without wrecking it”(Andrew Revkin). This represents how important the forest

really was to Mendes, he was able to go in front of people who had the power to destroy the
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amazon. He was able to gain publicity with various conservation groups that supported him in

his journey, even if he believed their ideas where more “in the cloud types” they were good allies

to have around him. He wanted the public to understand that one should never separate

themselves from nature, instead recognize it was an essential component in our lives.

Throughout his time many saw him as a leader the author Andrew Revkin states “He was a

pioneer in what is now called environmental and social justice”(Andrew Revkin). Mendes was

fighting to secure the destiny of the Amazon and the indigenous people, he wanted to encourage

the rest of the world to partake in these actions. He fought hard to protect the land around him

which ultimately lead to his death, yet it inspired various people around him. Marina Silva, the

daughter of a colleague who was also a rubber tapper became an environmental federal minister

and Jorge Viana who was a former political advisor for Mendes was made into Acre’s governor.

Stephan Schwartzman who was one of Mendes’s early contacts became an anthropologist for the

American nonprofit environmental defense. Chico’s political and environmentalist life was cut

short but his legacy lived on for many years after due to the inspiration he spued into his

community.

An important song that also came out in the album “Cuando Los Angeles Lloran” was

“Selva Negra” (black forest), it touches on the sensitive topic of, Indigenous communities losing

their sacred lands. Maná was fully aware of the crisis occurring in the Amazon so much that they

dedicated a song to the unseen and unthought of people who were affected by it daily. The

indigenous people are represented as ants in the song by stating “I was hiking, lost in the Black

Forest And in that, a distressed ant appeared to me She told me that someone wants to take her

land and she doesn't understand why, if she has always been there”. These tribes that belong to
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the Amazon have been faced with catastrophic events and treatment that made them feel weak

and defenseless like the small ants. These are tribes that are experiencing what the ant felt within

the song, they are unable to comprehend why all these things are happening. Indigenous people

have continuously been mistreated for years since the Spanish invaded Latin America. The

invaders stole their sacred land from them which gave them life, a place of shelter and was home

to their ancestral roots. The indigenous people are speaking out to defend their land, Maná states

“She will always defend, her home where she was born...You can no longer let yourself be

stepped on, you can no longer let yourself be defeated”. These indigenous people are full of

history and beauty they do not deserve to feel like they have no control over their homes. Many

of the tribes that are in the amazon are protected by other tribes from the outside world to

preserve their authentic culture. One of the many well-known tribes within the amazon is the

Ashaninka which has various members from the tribe participating in many environmental

events.

The indigenous people who live in the Amazon are witnessing the murder of their land

and destruction because of deforestation which is encouraging them to rally against the

government. In the article “​It Is Our Very Governments Who Are Killing the Earth. A Brazilian

Indigenous Leader Speaks Out On Deforestation in the Amazon​” by Benki Pyãnko he states

“​Deforesting was one of the greatest catastrophes that happened in our territory​”. This tribe

leader, Pyãnko, who was recognized by ​Time ​magazine wrote an article of him witnessing how

his land was being treated. He gained an immense amount of recognition during the fires that

scorched through the amazon in August of 2019. He had been advocating for the indigenous

tribes that died due to deforestation and exposer to the outside world in the Amazon forest in
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Brazil. They are not considered citizens in Brazil, they do not have any formal education nor do

they speak the same language so when exposed to a world unknown to them they are unable to

adjust or find jobs which leads to them having to live in extreme poverty. The article talks about

how the land provided them shelter and a stable source of food, it also hindered the animals of

that area creating fewer habitable homes for them stating “Our rivers cannot exist without the

forest, our animals cannot live without the forest, and we ourselves depend on these plants and

animals for our consumption, for our existence”(Benki Pyãnko). These people know when their

land is in danger they have known for many years and the fear of losing their sacred land is very

real in today’s world. They are advocating for their homes and for the sake of the world because

without the Amazon forest we lose a majority of our oxygen output.

Maná was capable of spreading so much awareness on the Amazon forest and the

amazing people inhabiting the land through their music. The rainforest creates more than 20% of

the world’s oxygen, holds more than 400 indigenous tribes and a variety of the world’s animal

species within it. Saving the Amazon from extinction as well as other places around the world

from destruction was Maná’s goal in spreading this knowledge. Their foundation Selva Negra

which has contributed to reforestation events in the Amazon, parts of Peru and around Mexico,

they have been doing their part and encourage others to do the same. As a whole there is only

one planet that is able to habitat many different species of life, they want people to fight harder

to preserve the beauty within this earth. Their land is their life, their soul they believe that

Mother nature is to be cherished and respected. These indigenous people have had a lifetime of

experience if the world only listened to what they had to say, the world’s forests would be saved,

their people would not have to die and humanity would be restored.
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Work Cited

Cardenas, Georgina. “Mana a Mano.” ​Miami New Times​, 4, 2 Apr. 2016,

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/mana-a-mano-6361353.

Ilich, Tijana. “Maná: Mexico's First Huge Latin Rock Band.” ​LiveAbout​, LiveAbout, 23 Feb.

2019, https://www.liveabout.com/mana-mexicos-super-rockers-2141126.

“Lyrics Translations.” ​Lyrics Translations​, https://lyricstranslate.com/en.

“Mana Lyrics.” ​Mana Lyrics: 45 Song Lyrics,​ https://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/manb.

Pyãnko, Benki. “‘It Is Our Very Governments Who Are Killing the Earth.’ A Brazilian

Indigenous Leader Speaks Out On Deforestation in the Amazon.” ​Time.Com​, Sept. 2019,

p. N.PAG. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=138651565&site=ehost-live.

Revkin, Andrew C. “Remembering Chico Mendes.” ​E: The Environmental Magazine​, vol. 16,

no. 2, Mar. 2005, pp. 23–25. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=8gh&AN=16142453&site=ehost-live.

Shore, Rhonda. “FILLING MANA: MESSAGE MUSIC.” ​The Washington Post​, WP

Company, 26 July 1996,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/07/26/filling-mana-message-musi

c/4584ddf7-ffc9-4670-9e05-f71a3187ed7a/.