San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Amid the unrest, grrrl band finds voice in protest
The past school year taught American students some serious lessons about resistance.
We learned that our willingness to look out for one another at our own inconvenience could either curb or fuel a pandemic. We saw how political rhetoric can divide or unite communities and classrooms. The nation struggled with protecting our school-age sons and daughters from a contagion by keeping them at home or watching them grapple with the toll of isolation and distance learning.
But last week, four girls made the internet stop for just a little bit with a raucous song of protest that could be just what the country needs as we head into the summer. It was the perfect way to wrap up the 2020-21 academic year.
On May 4, the Los Angeles Public Library kicked off Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a mini concert of a local band, The Linda Lindas, as part of its TEENtastic Tuesday program. The Lindas are two sisters, Mila and Lucia — 10 and 14 — along with their cousin Eloise, 13, and friend Bela, 16. The girls are Asian American and Latinx, and the band rocks a riot grrrl style with songs about friends, cats and the pandemic. A couple of librarians interviewed the girls, who have been playing together since 2018.
During the set, Mila introduced a song she wrote about an incident at her school right before lockdown. Drumsticks in hand, she spoke into a microphone behind her drum set about how a boy said his dad told him to stay away from Chinese people, and how he backed away when she told him she is Chinese. Then the band launched into the song “Racist Sexist Boy,” a jam that has Eloise screaming lyrics about this little kid who was just repeating what he was told: “You say mean stuff and you close your mind to who you don’t like / You turn away from what you don’t want to hear.”
The library streamed the show, and it went viral. Big names in the music industry posted their song. News outlets picked up their story. And by the beginning of last week, they had a record deal. None of that mattered, however, compared to the love they got from millions of people liking, sharing, reposting and applauding “Racist Sexist Boy” on social media. That incident at Mila’s school seems to have resonated with a lot of people still struggling with getting back to normal after having been socially distant for more than a year.
The riot grrrl genre is all about protest. With their guitar power and cutting lyrics, The Linda Lindas are true to form. “Missing You” is about how much the singer wants to get back to normal, see her friends and eat dinner at her grandma’s place. In “No Clue,” the singer tells the world she doesn’t know what’s going to happen, why she feels the way she does or who she is meant to be — all sentiments common when girls are discovering the complex burdens of young adulthood. But they’re not whining about it — they’re pushing back.
They are young, but these musicians have been playing their instruments for years. They’ve had help shaping their craft, considering Mila and Lucia’s dad is a Grammy-winning producer, and they’ve opened shows for other bands who offered support and mentorship. They performed a song for a movie about Claudia Kishi, a character from “The Baby-Sitters Club” books, and were also featured in the Amy Poehler Netflix project “Moxie.” Their skill carries their message and will undoubtedly take them far.
All of which is good for the rest of us. The Linda Lindas happened at a time when their brand of resistance makes a lot of sense; they bring with them the hope that the next generation of Americans is up for the considerable task of becoming the best version of America yet.
And they are symbolic of the fresh air needed by a nation heading back out with bated breath.