Guest Blog: “How We Can Make a Difference with Our Music” by Portes

Born in Guatemala and raised in Colorado, Denver-based singer and songwriter Portes is a passionate activist, and she’s using music as her biggest weapon to inspire change in critical areas such as human rights and global warming.

Released in the fall of 2019, Portes’ single “Human” is a powerful track through which she was able to pour her frustration around topics such as the opioid epidemic and bee decline. She shared her thoughts about “Human,” the power of music, and the ability of mankind to make a better world in her guest blog for Musical Notes Global. Check it out below.

“How We Can Make a Difference with Our Music”

By Portes

One of the best things about having the opportunity to live in Haiti, often considered the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is the music. It’s omnipresent. I remember drums playing and school children singing daily. You just don’t get that experience in America. You don’t get that from urban cities or suburban cookie-cutter neighborhoods. That was one of my toughest adjustments after I returned from a three-month graduate school internship living there in the Spring of 2007. I hated the sound of silence upon my return. We pull into our garages and there is silence. No joyful drumming; no soulful voices singing from open-air schools; and no dancing on rooftop patios. The other thing I recall is the abject poverty and lack of sanitation and infrastructure. I had originally gone to Haiti with my church as a one-week cultural immersion trip and coordinated a three-month internship studying genetic disorders, disabilities, and social inclusion of people with disabilities.

We traveled to one of the poorest slums in Haiti called Cité Soleil. Situated on the coast, after a rain, the cities’ refuse would flow down into this area of extreme poverty. Canals of plastic, sewage, and trash line the area where people live and scavenge. A poor family living in a single room home permitted us to peek inside. The house was built out of metal siding and had a barren, dirt floor. It was smaller than a typical walk-in closet. I also met a young girl who let me take a picture of her. I remember her precious face after 12 years.

People deserve respect, honor, and integrity. All people deserve to live in clean areas free from disease and to have clean water. It’s a necessity of life. I think about my time in Haiti and how it transformed my life. It was an intense period that completely changed the way I lived when I returned to Colorado. I immediately changed my electricity and water consumption. I got into the habit of unplugging everything that was unnecessary. I used less water brushing my teeth, for instance just wetting the toothpaste on my brush and shutting off the water rather than uselessly letting the water flow while I brushed. I recycled more. Those were some of the immediate actions I took. My life is in stark comparison to what I observed and witnessed in Haiti. We are privileged to live in a society where most of our needs are met through organized infrastructure.

Now it’s reaching a boiling point. We are at this critical impasse where the science squarely looks us in the face with truth and facts, but people ignore and deny it. It’s unbelievable. Everyone needs food and clean water. One day at The Spot Studios, I saw on the TV news that bees were in peril. That’s when Glenn Sawyer, my record producer, and I started working on “Human.”

I was born in Guatemala and started my life in an orphanage, I was very blessed to be adopted. I’ve known love, comfort, and to be honest, privilege. I went to a private daycare with a swimming pool, had many opportunities to travel the world, and attended a private university. My paternal grandparents came from multi-generational farming families. They helped my parents build our home and planted a very diverse garden for us with fruit trees and grapevines. My maternal grandparents came from Appalachia and taught me to love the outdoors and all creatures. My father took us camping and we were able to hike, fish, and enjoy the quiet mountain forests. My mother was an organic gardener who cultivated beehives with the help of my grandfathers. I was taught to value the world we live in and to take care of it.

Music is an integral part of my life. I’ve been songwriting since high school. I’ve sung in choirs, led worship bands, and played piano. Creating music like this has always been a dream of mine. The response to “Human” has been positive with many people saying it is beautiful, inspirational, and has a powerful message. It’s the culmination of my own human experience, education, passion, and artistic endeavor.

On President’s Day, Portes released her new album National Anthems, a politically-driven collection inspired by the distrust and disappointment she’s felt towards the Trump administration. She even explores the Me Too movement. Stream the album below.

For all of Portes’ latest news and updates, follow her on social media:

Instagram: @portesmusic

Website: portesmusic.com

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