Embera Warra (2018 - )
Embera Warra, meaning ‘Sons of the People’, is an indigenous rap group started by Walter and Gonzalo Queragama. Their music aims to raise awareness of the injustices suffered by indigenous groups even after the signing of the Peace Accord in 2016. Thousands have continued to suffer from a lack of job opportunities, food and housing insecurity, and there have also been casualties from the ongoing violence between the state and paramilitary groups.
The Queragama brothers are inspired by Linaje Originarios, one of the first indigenous rap groups, hailing from Valparaíso, Chile. Their 2016 single Condor Pasa received thousands of views on YouTube.
The Queragama brothers released the song Displaced while sleeping rough in Bogotá in solidarity with hundreds of families, who had to sleep outdoors for months whilst waiting for government benefits. Gonzalo said:
“We rap so that Colombians, our country, can get to know our experiences, how we live, so that they can support us and help us improve our conditions.”
ACTIVITY
In groups or individually, write a song about what it might be like being homeless in a city.