Support Spirit Through Bomba and Philantropy
Originally published in: GIA Reader, Vol 21, No 2 (Summer 2010)
Vanessa Camarena-Arredondo
I was making my way home from the Financial District to the Mission on the train after work, feet pinched by the not-so-comfortable shoes I wore as part of my daytime drag, nose buried in some reading about cultural participation in the region while texting Ilia, one of the dancers in the group I sing with, about picking her up for rehearsal.
On the ride to Ilia’s, my personal, work, and creative “to do” lists duke it out for top billing. Sometimes all three fall to the floor in exhaustion, and at other times there are glorious triumphs among them that spark a call to Mom, excitement about an organization we’re funding at work, or a breakthrough on a melodic conundrum for Bomba practice.
Ilia and I arrive for rehearsal in West Oakland at the house of Denise, our lead drummer. She’s prepared a roast with salad and freshly brewed iced tea, and there’s beer and wine for those who need a little something extra. Eight hungry women push open Denise’s door sometime between a seven o’clock call time and when they can make it. Amidst sharp elbows (my own included) and stories about dreams, family, and lovers, I serve my plate. It occurs to me that the women, Las Bomberas de la Bahia, have made it to the center of my heart, with the rewards outweighing the challenges, of which there are many! Dinner begins.
At the table the conversation asserts its place between stabbing hands constantly swooping at the roast. The conversation centers on how we will pay for skirts, instruments, and teachers to come from Puerto Rico, Chicago, and New York, where there are many more practitioners and teachers of Bomba, an Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition established by the slaves who worked the sugarcane plantations on the island.
I view Las Bomberas as a microcosm of the larger community in many ways. Although there never seem to be enough funds, a deep purpose and need call us to this work and motivate a do-it-yourself spirit among us. At the risk of romanticizing struggle, there is a fierceness and a freedom in the DIY spirit that permeate the nonprofit cultural sector.
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