Marina Bravo
Arts Editor
Hardcore is loud and free. It is hard to miss as it comes booming through with its crash of a cymbal and loud chants. It is often the voice of the misunderstood and the cry of the revolution. It is often spotted in patched clothes and a nonconformist look. The feeling of a DIY venue or a backyard show is so liberating, you tend to forget everything else and just let the music overpower your spirit.
This community has been everything to me growing up and has only taken care of me during my college experience. During a time where everything is so uncertain, I can count on hardcore and punk to be there for me like no other. From the biggest bands like Turnstile or the local legends like ZOMBIELOAF or the upcoming ones like Paleshifter.
The special thing is, I am not the only one that feels this way and like every community, you find people that are able to connect with you.
On Nov. 4, 2024, Donald Trump was elected again to be the 47th President of the United States and that day felt so hopeless. I turned to my nearby community to find peace of mind. Upon all of the tragedies that followed, I was able to find a community in Pomona.
The Haven, a DIY venue in downtown Pomona on West Second Street, became a second home for me. Bands from all over came together and chanted their message of protest about the world around them.
During a time where my identity was challenged, the Hardcore and Punk community became a place where I could be free to feel my frustrations and fears.
Hardcore and punk has opened the door for many individuals to find community. To find people that will listen to the cause and stand up for it. People from anywhere could come together and embrace who they were without prejudice.
I learned that during a time where being a Hispanic was almost deemed as a crime, there was a place that reminded me of the beauty of being a Latina.
Nicole Martinez is a punk rocker from the Inland Empire. She said that her identity of being a Latina and a punk is something that she prides herself in. Her identity was something that was molded from her dad. Growing up with her single-parent molded her in ways and has created the person she is now.
“The identity I always knew I had really comes from the strong connection with my dad, who is an immigrant in America,” Martinez said. “The Latino culture is something on a spectrum of being a black sheep and gossip, and loathing of kids from a parental perspective. Especially in the U.S. where you want your kids to just be like everyone else. On the other side of that, is the support and love for a child no matter what and my dad was my biggest fan even when he didn’t understand the constant screamo and two-step I would do in his living room. He cared so much to let me be myself and that broke a barrier within Latino family lifestyle.”
Latino punks have been pioneers to the hardcore scene since the beginning in the 1970s. They have brought their culture influence, sounds and experiences and have added color to the movement.
Chicano punk rock was the heartbeat of East Los Angeles in the 1970s. It was during a time where Mexican-Americans were challenging systemic racism and discrimination in the states.
Chicano is a term coined by the individuals of Mexican descent that were born in the United States. This term was used to embrace their intersectionality.
Los Lobos, a pioneering band to the Chicano punk movement, validated this identity, which gave power to the Chicano Movement.
In their own ways, Latinos in the United States have always been punk and hardcore. As they would go against the grain and go above what is expected of them.
Martinez connected the privilege with being able to be authentically herself, was gifted to her by her dad and was only strengthened by the community of punk and hardcore.
“Hardcore for me is something I hold so dear to my heart,” Martinez said. “It sounds so corny sometimes because it’s just a style of music, but it really is something that makes you feel like you belong.
“As a Mexican-American girl who is very independent because of the hand dealt to her, the perspective hardcore gives to me is to be so full of life,” Martinez said. “These bands and people from all around the world remind me to always stick with the people who are real and to never give up on the life I want to live because even the smallest bands are doing things they never thought they could; do but they do it.”
Many individuals grew up in the Hardcore culture through their parents. They choose to express themselves because of their parents struggles and sacrifices, and they understand what it took for them to get where they are now.
They also recognize that their parents broke the mold and the stereotype of a traditional Hispanic lifestyle and they feel the need to carry the torch with their presence.
Paloma Lara, a punk rocker or “rockero foo” from East Los Angeles, said that her mom is where she got her love for hardcore from. She mentioned how her mom was the one to break through those traditional boundaries made by her parents, which inspired Lara to do the same.
Lara identifies as a queer Latino and the way she carries herself has everything to do with her cultural background. Her expression is entwined with her roots and her love for the scene.
Although it is seen as untraditional, Lara could care less about what society or even her own family thinks about it.
“The way I navigate the reaction or response that I get about my identity is simply, loving the haters,” Lara said. “I love the haters because it gives me an ego boost. It is funny to think like, damn you really do care that much.”
Lara expressed how punk did that for her. It created a space where she could find herself and be that without judgement. She found community through the music and is able to foster that through its culture.
“I find community through music and I connect with people through music,” Lara said. “I always try to find people at shows and really anywhere to create that community to remind myself that I am not alone. I try to remind myself that amongst all of the differences, there are like-minded individuals that want the same things that I do.”
Lara expressed that Latino punks and in general people of color, allow her to create that kind of community.
“The underground scene really supports and becomes a voice for the marginalized,” Damian Torres, lead singer of Zombieloaf, said. “Once you hit the mainstream, it kind of blurs reality, but the underground scene is definitely present with what is going on.”
Torres is constantly giving back to his community through his art. He said that his introduction to Punk was from his mom. She raised him with it and so his love only grew as he got older as he realized that it was so much more than the music.
Punk is a movement of activism. Although it does get lost in the mainstream, it was born from being a voice to the marginalized. Latinos and people of color are constantly faced with being marginalized based solely on the fact that they are not white.
Punk and alternative culture offers an understanding even when they are being shut out of their own communities. It is something so much more than a music scene or a chance to rebel, which is something that gets lost when people first think of Hardcore/Punk.
Punk allows the freedom of expression without judgement. The expression itself is often one of the first protests.
“I have struggled through my life just as much as the next person and I never think of struggles as a competition,” Martinez said. “The scene is so beautiful in the sense of mental health awareness, to not be afraid to feel. I think it helps me more because as a Latina girl I think we are put on a pedestal of being dramatic crazy toxic and not being taken seriously when you feel so much emotion. It hurts you more to feel that but in this community I have never felt more accepted and understood.”
“Growing up you learn that a positive way you navigate your anger is through the arts,” Torres said. “I think hardcore definitely allows you to both emotionally and physically let out suppressed emotions. It creates a community and it becomes something that hits home. The older you get you’re able to see all this unjust bullshit going on in the world. Music and artistic expression can be really supportive and it builds community.”
Punk is a movement of activism. Although it does get lost in the mainstream, it was born from being a voice to the marginalized. Latinos and people of color are constantly faced with being marginalized based solely on the fact that they are not white.
“It just comes down to anti-conformity,” Lara said. “I am a proud masculine presenting Lesbian. I love taking elements of my culture with me in the way that I present myself. I love my Locs, I wear them all the time. I also love that I am able to mix in my own alternative style with that. I love wearing baggy clothing, nothing really form fitting. Not because I need to look a certain way but because I’m trying to appear more masculine. It all comes down to pushing what society would portray as the “Latina woman.”
These experiences of Latino punks and the need to make a presence often comes from the fact that they are underrepresented in other spaces in society. Often the first-generation experience of Latino immigrant children can be very isolating if one does not find a community that can relate or understand the struggle.
“If I were to go to a predominantly white area, it would be harder to connect just because there is a cultural connection that ties us together,” Lara said. “There is also a difference of experience because of the color of your skin. It is something that white spaces might not be able to understand when it comes from a person of color.”
“Being a Latino punk to me means to stand up for your Raza,” Lara said. “It’s not even about the shows or listening to the music, to be a Latino punk is to show up for your people and stand with your people. It means going out and organizing, protesting and educating your own people. The revolution is not going to happen if you just sit around and wait for it to happen.”
Hardcore and punk can be often seen as too loud or unsafe, but whenever someone falls in the pit there is someone somewhere that will lift you up. Being a first generation Latina, there have been so many spaces that I have had to prove myself to be able to enter.
One space that will always be there for me however is where I can find the nearest person with a cool alternative look and hear those cathartic vocals. Although not many people will understand it, I hope some can learn something new.
This is my thank you to hardcore and punk for making me fearless.
Marina Bravo can be reached at marina.bravo@laverne.edu.
Marina Bravo is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations. She is arts editor and a staff photographer for the Campus Times, and has previously served as a staff writer and photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine. She enjoys going to live shows and everything spooky.
