Josiah Flores - "La Lucha"

Following in the footsteps of artists like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger is the latest from Josiah Flores. "La Lucha" tells the story of Flores' family history of living as migrant workers in the United States. It's an incredibly powerful stripped down song that doesn't need volume or yelling to make a true impact. I can't remember the last time I heard a folk song hit so hard emotionally and politically, but this one feels like the "This Land is Your Land" for a new generation. Let's just hope our schools don't eventually start teaching it without a verse to pretend it's a rah rah USA! USA! song. Do us all a favor and share this one far and wide. It's that important of a song.

Josiah Flores says of his new single:

“I wanted to make an anti-manifest destiny song, one that addresses the idea that land may be bought, but the ones who build are the real stewards. Our families and communities have worked hard to be here. They’ve changed their names, forgotten their languages…a lot of them have never even left, were here before the country was formed. Generations upon generations of people resilient to those who try to tear down or disparage them.”

You can watch the video for "La Lucha" below. It was created using Flores' family's home movies shot in Watsonville, CA in the 1960's. Doin' Fine is due out May 30 on Speakeasy Studios SF, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Josiah Flores, check out the artist on Instagram.