How Two Musicians from Rural California Helped Spark a National Movement

Includus Admin
Oct 21, 2025
3 min read

What Los Malandrines taught us about trust, culture, and civic power

By Bacilia Angel | Founder, IncludUs Fund

In 2024, Grita Canta Vota (GCV) set out to do something different: not just register voters, but ignite a cultural movement that placed joy, identity, and community pride at the center of civic engagement.

One of our most impactful partnerships didn’t come from a national artist or a citywide coalition. It came from two musicians from rural California who approached us with this simple, radical idea:

“We want to use our music and access to festivals for good — to help our gente vote.” - Euler Torres

That duo was Los Malandrines (Esau Torres and Euler Torres) — independent artists raised in the immigrant working-class towns of California’s Central Valley. With corridos and community wisdom as their tools, they didn’t wait for an invitation. They stepped in as civic co-creators.

Together, We Engineered a Model That Worked

Los Malandrines brought authenticity, trust, and cultural fluency. We brought infrastructure, tools, and a national platform. What we built together became a blueprint for civic power.

Here’s what it looked like on the ground:

What We Did Together

1. Music for Mobilization.

We activated over 40 artists to integrate voter messages into their setlists — speaking onstage about civic pride, immigrant dignity, and the power of using your voice.

2. Festival-Based Outreach

They opened the door to GCV activations at regional Spanish-language festivals and hometown concerts, where community already gathers.

3. Peer-to-Peer Engagement

At events, we trained over 200 volunteers (many from their own community) to register voters, collect pledge cards, and engage attendees through real conversation and connection.

4. Trusted Messenger Media

Los Malandrines became public faces of the campaign nationally — featured in videos, digital content, and local Spanish-language radio.

5. Artist-to-Artist Engagement

They introduced us to other musicians who shared their commitment — helping us grow a network of artist-activists across the country.

6. Community Partnerships

Through this collaboration, over 45 local community organizations received tools, artist content, and voter engagement data to continue organizing beyond the concerts.

The Impact (in real numbers)

231 million impressions across media, digital, and press
10.7 million people reached, with 1.1 million engaged
54,600 voters activated
284,000 attendees across 38 activations in key states (AZ, CA, NV, TX, NC, GA)
48 artists engaged, including Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Chiquis, Eslabon Armado, T3R Elemento, Grupo Control, and Lupita Infante

And perhaps most powerfully:

Community leaders began requesting GCV at fairs, car shows, and community events — because they saw themselves reflected in the movement.

Why It Matters

Los Malandrines didn’t just perform — they transformed. Their leadership showed what happens when we build with artists, not around them. When we treat culture not as a tool, but as infrastructure. And when we engineer trust through shared vision, not one-off appearances.

A Personal Note

This is the kind of collaboration that reminds me why we do this work. It’s not just about voter turnout. It’s about building systems that recognize the power already living in our communities.

GCV isn’t about parachuting in. It’s about rooting down and rising up — together.

Engineering for a Better Tomorrow is written by Bacilia Angel, founder of IncludUs — a national nonprofit building the systems equity needs by supporting bold, community-led ideas.

We turn vision into action across health, education, economy, environment, civic life, and leadership — because inclusion shouldn’t be a trend. It should be the infrastructure.

Want to partner, collaborate, or support the work? Reach out: bacilia@includusfund.org Follow: @includusfund | LinkedIn