Mother’s Day in San Diego: A very Mexican tradition

This May 10th, you can celebrate your mother while supporting a great cause in favor of Indigenous mothers who work in the fields of the San Quintin Valley, in Baja California.
The Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales presents Hijas de la Tierra y el Sol: Colectividad para la Mujer Indígena, a Mother’s Day celebration on Saturday, May 10th, at Centro Cultural de la Raza was created to raise funds to take food and basic items to about 400 Indigenous mothers in San Quintin.
“This Mother’s Day it would be to dedicate it to those mothers who no one listens to, who no one pay attention to, not even their bosses, nor government institutions,” said Rogelio Mendez, coordinator at Frente Indígena in San Diego.
“These are mothers who work 10 hours a day and earn so little. These are mothers who maybe not even celebrate Mother’s Day because they’re always working in the fields.”
The Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales is an organization composed of Indigenous people from both sides of the border. The majority of the members in California are people from Oaxaca who work in the fields, from Fresno to San Diego.
The event at the Centro Cultural de la Raza, in Balboa Park, features mole oaxaqueño, traditional Indigenous dance, including Danza de los Rubios, traditional Indigenous music, and a presentation about the current state of Indigenous women in San Quintin.
The raised funds from the sale of tickets, which cost $10 presale, and $15 at the door and will be used to buy these women beans, rice, flour, and other basic products.
“We want to take them something, not as politicians, not as public officials, not as a religion, but as a brotherhood, because we’re also Indigenous like them,” said Mendez, who is a Mixteco who came from Oaxaca to the fields of California 40 years ago. “Our brothers and sisters in San Quintin live in extreme poverty, very isolated, much marginalized.
Mendez invites people to support this event, while they celebrate their own mothers.
“I ask this humanitarian public to come, that if they’re going to a restaurant they will spend much more and only for the benefit of business owners,” he said. “Here you will learn more about Indigenous culture while benefiting mothers who don’t have the privilege to go out to have fun because they are Indigenous women who are always working.”
To learn more about the Frente Indigena de Organizaciones Binacionales, visit <a href="http://www.fiob.org" target="_blank">www.fiob.org</a>.
<figure id="attachment_26994" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26994" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/featured/mothers-day-in-san-diego-a-very-m…; rel="attachment wp-att-26994"><img loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-26994" alt="Mariachi Los Camperos, which will perform at Sycuan Casino on Mexican Mother’s Day, May 10th. " src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/MARIAC3-300x131…; width="300" height="131"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-26994" class="wp-caption-text">Mariachi Los Camperos, which will perform at Sycuan Casino on Mexican Mother’s Day, May 10th.</figcaption></figure>
Those who prefer to celebrate Mother’s Day with mariachi will have the opportunity to sing Las Mañanitas to their mothers in San Diego, when Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano perform on May 10th at Sycuan Casino, in El Cajon.
This is the third consecutive year that Los Camperos celebrate Mother’s Day at Sycuan, where San Diego mothers will get the serenade of their lives.
“We’re very happy to come back year after year to sing them beautiful songs,” said Jesus Chuy Guzman, musical director of Los Camperos, mariachi founded in Los Angeles 50 years ago. “I hope this becomes a tradition that can last for many years.”
During the concert, Los Camperos will perform Mother’s Day traditional songs, such as Madrecita querida and Amor de madre.
“We sing a beautiful serenade there in the theater,” said Guzman, who is a violinist for Los Camperos. “They’re like those serenades in the cities of Mexico, where they dedicate songs to their mothers on their day.”
To get ticket information on the Mariachi Los Camperos show, visit <a href="http://www.sycuan.com" target="_blank">www.sycuan.com</a>.