In times where many communities around the country feel threatened by the policies of the new administration, and where there is little space in the mainstream media for accurate representation of these communities, artists and independent platforms have taken over the reins to make sure these communities are represented touching at the same time the issues that are affecting them.
Enter “Brujos,” a new web series that talks about Latinos, gays, brujería (witchcraft), white men, relationships, sexuality, nightlife and other things that the LGBTQ community in the U.S goes through everyday.
This 12-episode series is made and directed by people of color. Its style is a combination of the Latin American novela and American sitcom. With funny dialogue but also very dark scenes that demonstrate the struggles of the Latino LGBTQ community, Ricardo Gamboa is sharing this web series for you to watch.
“It [Brujos] understands that we live in a world mired by inequalities and rationales that have a long history,” Gamboa writes in his statement about the series.
On the Lower West side area of Chicago, a group of four grad school students live together. They have something in common: They are Latino, gay and witches with their own unique stories except for one blanquito who seems to blend into the Latino lifestyle and loves learning about santería and brujería.
These four guys have different powers and magic. They use them to combat their enemies and negative forces that want to get rid of these Brujos: the New World colonizers.
These new colonizers are wealthy white men. They are descendants of an ancient society who have been leading the witch hunt to get rid of these queer Latinos. They are powerful and will do anything to kill them all.
However, the Brujos are not alone. A Puerto Rican santera will give them recipes to combat the new colonizers. She will share her wisdom and her experience as she was one of the survivors when the new colonizers killed many of the Brujos back in the island.
Just one day before Mr. Trump became president, the series released its first four episodes broadcasted by Open TV (Beta), an online platform “for queer and intersectional television” that develops projects that commercial and mainstream TV networks do not usually produce.
Each episode is named after the zodiac signs. “Brujos” will add more episodes this summer.
For now, take some time and watch the first four episodes. They are insanely good—weird, funny but very real.
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María Camila Montañez is a journalism student at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s Spanish-language program. She is originally from Colombia and tweets from @mariacmontanez.
