Uvalde anniversary brings mariachis, mourners to pay respects
As the solemn first anniversary of the Uvalde shooting which claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers dawns, mariachis have answered a call sent out across Texas to come to the town and help bring comfort to grieving families.
Mariachi Anthony Medrano is meeting other musicians in San Antonio this morning and driving to the heartbroken town in a caravan.
“We are much like clergy in the sense that mariachis are invited to every major milestone of a person’s life — when you’re born…when you get married and all the parties in between,” Medrano said.
“The most significant thing that we’re asked to do is to give the goodbye at funerals.
“By playing, I’m able through this action to do two things — to comfort, some kind of process to heal. The other thing is to keep this story alive,” he explained.
The tragedy of the massacre at Robb Elementary School is made all the more heartbreaking by the fact 376 law enforcement officers responded to the scene, but waited 45 minutes before breaching the classroom and killing 18-year-old shooter Salvador Ramos.
“Usually when we do funerals, people will contact us and say, ‘My mother’s passing away. She’s in hospice.’ I’d like to have mariachis at her gravesite or at the rosary,’” said Medrano.
“This is a different situation. Families of the victims aren’t saying, ‘I need to get a hold of mariachis.’ They want answers. Their energy is trying to find out what happened. We’re just stepping in and giving them the comfort that we know we can give.”
The last 12 months have been marked by damning revelation after damning revelation about how children may have died as well as how they could have been saved if officials’ response had been different.
Adding to the families’ horror and grief has been a lack of transparency, with multiple law enforcement agencies, including the local district attorney, stonewalling the parents by refusing to even return phone calls.
“We failed, we failed those children,” San Antonio based Medrano added. “The responders who had no direction, who didn’t have any guts to just go in there.”
The mariachis traveling with Medrano plan to meet other performers at the main square in Uvalde to perform from noon.
Mariachis have played for the community before, gathering at the town square days after the May 24 shooting last year.
“Amor Enterno,” “Una Dia a la Vez” and “Las Golondrinas” will be among the songs they perform.
The lyrics to “Amor Eterno” are particularly poignant, featuring the lines “How I wished that you lived,” and “That your little eyes had never closed and that I could be looking at them.”
“Eternal love — unforgettable. Sooner or later, I’ll be with you to keep loving you,” the song continues.
Several other events will honor the Uvalde victims, including a public vigil and butterfly release at Uvalde Memorial Park at 7:30 p.m. hosted by Lives Robbed, a group formed by victim’s families.
A private, victim family-only event will take place Wednesday at the Uvalde Civic Center.
Then the families are expected to tour downtown buildings that don portraits of each person who died.
Neither the city or state are planning events, but Gov. Greg Abbott has called on Texans to take part in a moment of silence at 11:30 AM CT.
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