On Sunday, May 21, 2023, Beacon Business Alliance (BBA) and Movimiento Afrolatino Seattle (MÁS) presented Beacon Hill Small Business Pregones, an open-air performance celebrating Latin American and Caribbean oral street traditions. During that afternoon we recreated the atmosphere of a Latin American street market at Plaza Roberto Maestas. Five local artists teamed up with five Beacon Hill small business owners to create pregones/songs, presenting them publicly for the first time during the event.
Plaza Roberto Maestas was filled with colors
Part of the street of the plaza was filled with life as Super Familia, a collective founded by and for young migrants from Central America, created a chalk mural while nearby Kelly Sommerfeld, a MÁS volunteer, created beautiful face paintings for the children present. Further in the plaza, you could find screen printing of MÁS t-shirts, an informational video of the history of pregones, a slideshow presentation to accessibly introduce the performing artists and MÁS, and collective ofrenda members created for street vendors, past, present, and future created by students of Michelle Habell-Pallan, professor at the University of Washington’s Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies Department. To complete the scene, the music took place at the entrance of El Centro de la Raza, where attendees had the opportunity to dance to Afro-diasporic rhythms from hip-hop to cumbia guided by co-MCs Hever Bustos (writer and urban musician from Super Familia) and Milvia Pacheco Salvatierra (MÁS ED).
Five Pregones
Pregones are the rhythmic or musical cries of street vendors to promote their sales. We want to keep bringing them to life from a new perspective, using them to support and promote the small business of Beacon Hill, businesses founded with values of respect and inclusion, that want to take their products directly into our communities’ hands, just like our street vendors (pregoneros) in other latitudes of Abya Yala. In this event, we paired 5 artists or groups of artists with 5 small businesses.
Fandango traditions of Veracruz, Mexico use music, singing, and dancing to generate a spirit of convivencia—of living and being in a community. The Seattle Fandango Project, operating as a collective since 2008, brings this movement to Seattle through workshops, concerts, and public discussions with guest artists.
Antojitos Lita Rosita
Rosa, originally from San Pedro Tututepec in Oaxaca, Mexico brings the best of Oaxacan cuisine made with care and love to our community. Her business serves great dishes like tlayudas, tamales, sopes, and tostadas.
Alfredo is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer. His repertoire spans from bolero to merengue and calypso, as well as popular ballads. An educator and cultural ambassador, Chávez was previously Folk Troubadour and Professor at the National University of Panama.
The Station is a representation of the commitment of their owners, staff and customers to continue having a visible stronghold in Beacon Hill in a vast city that is rapidly changing. They have always been more than just a coffee house and wine bar They are, in many ways, the heart of Beacon Hill for our communities.
Directed by Otoqui Reyes, Hijos de Agüeybaná is made up of eight artists committed to preserving their Afro-Caribbean roots. The group has more than ten years of experience conducting and offering workshops and courses on the historical and cultural importance of the bomba genre.
Cafetal Quilombo
A cozy restaurant focused on serving up authentic Mexican food for the Beacon Hill neighborhood. Another staple in beacon hill, and can order freshly made tamales, chilaquiles, pozole, tacos, quesadillas, and more.
Abel Rocha, from Mexico City, is a vocalist, string instrumentalist of various forms of folk guitars (Quinta Huapanguera, Jaranas, Cuatro Venezolano, Guitar), and harpist. Since 2001 he chose Seattle as a place to live and has been part of different artistic groups and educational and cultural projects, most recently Trio Guadalevin. Madeleine Sosin, the other half of Correo Aéreo, sings and plays violin, jarana, mandolin, maracas, bombo, quijada.
A place where people gather together to talk about health and nutrition … A place where the Beacon Hill community can connect with fitness classes and order delicious smoothies, protein-rich waffles, and specialty coffees.
Based in Seattle, DE CAJóN Project is a community arts organization dedicated to highlighting the cultural contributions of people of African descent in Peru since 2009. As a movement, they facilitate music and dance workshops, offer lectures and residencies, perform throughout the Pacific Northwest, and build intercultural and intergenerational communities through art.
Recetas de Abuelita serves up delicious food with authentic homemade flavor. Located in the Roberto Maestas Plaza – stop by to try their tacos, quesadillas, and tamales.
*We have created a compilation of pregones for the community of MÁS.
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