Blending music with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

 

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2025

 

The 4-H Mariachi STEAM Summer Camp blends Mariachi music with the world of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics(STEAM).

This is all made possible by sponsors such as the Washington County 4-H and OSU Extension Open Campus Juntos, Intel Latinx Network, SHPE Oregon, Linfield University, Camp Spark, and the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber and volunteer staff.

This year’s camp will run for a week in the middle of July.

During Black History Month 2025, Sones de Mexico, a leading Mexican folk music organization and performing ensemble, shared a podcast that was first published in the summer of 2024.

Alejandro Luis Madrid-González, a Harvard professor who focuses on Latino and Latin American music and sound practices, and Ben Vinson III, president of Howard University, appeared as guests on the Afropop Worldwide podcast titled “La Bamba: The Afro-Mexican Story.”

In the “Hip Deep” episode, Afropop Worldwide used music to explore the history of Afro-Mexico through a road trip across the country, with the help of Afro-Mexican music stars ranging from Los Cojolites to Las Cafeteras.

The episode uncovers Mexico’s “Third Root,” highlighting the Africans who arrived in the country with the Spanish as soldiers and enslaved people.

The guests on the podcast noted that by 1810, the Black population in Mexico had reached parity with that in the United States.

The program explored Mexico’s rich blend of Spanish and indigenous heritage, while also examining the enduring African heritage that continues to thrive throughout the country.

However, due to various factors, Black history in Mexico has long been silenced.

The hosts visited Veracruz to learn about the history of the Afro-Mexican sound, which gained widespread fame through Ritchie Valens’ hit cover of “La Bamba” in 1958, a traditional jarocho tune.

They also traveled to the Costa Chica region of Guerrero, where Afro-Mexican communities are fighting for recognition to help preserve their vulnerable musical traditions.

Additionally, they explored the grand ballrooms of Mexico City, where the Afro-Cuban danzón continues to thrive, far from its ancestral home in Havana.