The Return of El Cafetero
I will begin by reiterating an announcement I had made on this page: ” In this space, we believe survivors. We love you and support you.”
This past Sunday, May 8, Las Cafeteras was featured on W. Kamau Bell’s “United Shades of America” on CNN. What was notable about this appearance was the fact that a single band member, Héctor Flores, was the only one speaking throughout their entire interview. Aside from the general contradiction of a group with the feminine pronoun allowing a male to take up all the space and speak for the entire group, there is another pesky issue:
Back in December of 2015, Héctor Flores, was accused of misogynist behavior and abuse by a former band member, Annette Torres. Lots of people flat out refused to believe that a band that had built up an image as being champions of social justice and feminism would be a mess internally. As is typical in these cases, lots of people rallied to defend the accused male. However, what was extraordinary was the large number of people who believed Ms. Torres and affirmed her courage for coming forward. Her courage allowed other womxn to come forward with their own experiences with the men in Las Cafeteras.
I am not posting this cartoon to be sensationalist. I am posting this it because WE as a community allow men like Héctor Flores to experience ZERO consequences for their patriarchal behavior. We collectively choose to remember and uphold the “bad” things said about womxn, but choose to forget the wrongdoings of men.
Let’s not do that. Let’s not forget and sweep it under the rug.
Link to Annette Torres’ story:
https://beautyenyou.wordpress.com/…/las-cafeteras-kicked-o…/