"THE HERMIT'S TALE"

PAUL BAKER HERNANDEZ

Carthusian Hermit turned Revolutionary Troubadour

 
'Cultural Guerrillero' Paul Baker Hernández coordinates Echoes of Silence, an international network dedicated to peace, justice and beauty. Inspired by the great Chilean singer/martyr Víctor Jara's words: 'We're workers, not Stars', he made his guitar while a silent monk from an old table/toilet seat, and left the monastery to invade Queen Elizabeth's private castle protesting nuclear weapons; to sing 'We Shall Overcome' for 300,001 (the Pope!); to serve as bodyguard for Salvadoran exiles attacked by death squads even in Los Angeles, USA; to help Joan Jara reclaim the stadium where Víctor, her husband, was tortured and executed by Russian roulette during the Nixon/Kissinger/Pinochet coup of 911 One, September 11th 1973. To honour Joan, Víctor and all the unsung victims of that horrific act of terrorism, he co-founded and coordinates the 'Víctor Jara Siempre Canta' movement in Nicaragua.
           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul has shared platforms with Inti Illimani, Rita Moreno, Martin Sheen, Jackson Browne, Dar Williams, Luis Enrique and Carlos Mejia Godoy; has written singing English versions of Victor's best-loved songs ('Te recuerdo Amanda', 'Ni Chicha Ni Limona''); while his own songs include 'Frrappucino, Crrappucino (Anyone for Starbucks?)', 'The T. Donald Rrrump Song', and, 'I Thought I Heard Sweet Víctor Singing in the Night', - this last written in the Jaras' garden in Chile. He has shared the music with groups as small as one and as large as 300,000.
            When not on tour, Paul digs eco-drains to heal his barrio's water and children, co-ordinates local and global projects, organizes delegations, encourages creative recycling, assists his wife Fátima in her pro bono health and education work, writes news articles and songs to challenge Starbux, Big Oil and other dictators.
  

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"I wish that history                              had allowed Víctor and Paul to meet. They                               would have been friends."

                Joan Jara. Foreword "Song In HIgh Summer" 

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