Lila Downs: Quotes about people

“The sin is about our notion of what is right and what is wrong, and how we bend the truth based on we want and I think. In Catholicism, we tend to do this a lot, and I think it’s very interesting and very beautiful yet very disturbing at the same time. A miracle is about believing and having faith. I think that it these times, and in Mexico, we have been to the point where we have been loosing [sic] faith. It’s really important for me to remind myself that I must continue on having faith, in my people, in my nation, in the woman, and in all the beautiful things that my country represents.”

Lila Downs

On the notion of faith and how it might apply to Mexico and its peoples in “Q&A: Lila Downs, A Sin and A Miracle” https://remezcla.com/music/lila-downs-sin-miracle-pecados-milagros-interview/ in Remezcla (c. 2011)
Heritage and indigenous peoples

Faith , Time , Country , Beauty

“I thought it was a very important to remind us that we have all been migrants and to give credit to the people who are putting the oranges in our orange juice and the strawberries in our cakes.”

Lila Downs

On her inclusion of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” in a musical set to reflect the migrant experience in “Mex factor” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/feb/10/artsfeatures.popandrock in The Guardian (2003 Feb 10)
Music and culture

People

“I consider myself a border person, even though I grew up in the south of Mexico and very north of the U.S., in Minneapolis. I hold many of the same realities with the people who have grown up around these borders. We share the languages, they have a very kind of open identity of who we are, they are constantly growing and learning from different cultures, and also absorb what comes from other cultures to make it our own…”

Lila Downs

On her affinity with those who were raised or reside on the U.S.-Mexico border in “Q&A: Lila Downs, A Sin and A Miracle” https://remezcla.com/music/lila-downs-sin-miracle-pecados-milagros-interview/ in Remezcla (c. 2011)
Heritage and indigenous peoples

Personality , People , Learning , Reality

“The border still doesn't make much sense in my mind. It's a place that has so many things going on, a lot of sad stories, a lot of positive ones, a lot of people who are looking to break the rules and I identify a lot with that. I like to break the rules.”

Lila Downs

On how the border between the U.S. and Mexico influenced her work in “Mex factor” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/feb/10/artsfeatures.popandrock in The Guardian (2003 Feb 10)
Heritage and indigenous peoples

Sense , Sadness , Making love , People

“We [as Latinxs] got to be there representing, explaining, and translating…It’s the only way we are going to have people come together.”

Lila Downs

Heritage and indigenous peoples

Way , People