We know La Bamba is a song that's over 400 years old. That song survived because people

sang that song. They didn't know how to read. They didn't know how to write, but they just passed it on.

How are people going to know our story as Chicanos, mestizos, brown kids, mixed kids,

if we don't tell our story, how are we going to survive for 400 years?

In every art form, there's people who hold on to what they believe is tradition, and then there's

people who are trying to, like, evolve with it. Don't let a conversation or those ideas of what tradition is keep you from telling who you are.

From Futuro Media and PRX, it's Latino USA. I'm Maria Inujosa.

Today, one of our How I Made It segments with East L.A. band,

Las Cafeteras.

Las Cafeteras made a name for themselves with their politically charged lyrics,

set to traditional Mexican and Afro-Mexican instrumentation.

The group from East L.A.

fused a bass of Son Harocho with rock, ska, spoken word, and hip-hop, telling the stories they grew up with, and the realities they still see every day in their communities.

In 1810, with a grand gritty passion black and brown

fighting together

on a day I'll always

singing in English,

Spanish and in Spanish

their message has reached

the ears of listeners

all over the world

from the stages

...