Francisco Gabilondo Soler, also known as Cri Cri, was considered the “Mr. Rogers of Mexico” during the golden age of radio. Soler grew up reading Aesop’s Fables, Hans Christian Anderson novels, and many other fable authors. From an early age he learned to play the violin and piano. He had a love of music and storytelling. Soler began his career in 1934 as a radio talk show host, telling comedic stories and critiques. During  talk shows Soler began to realize that he was gaining  popularity from his children’s folktales. So began the creation of his character Cri Cri, “el grillo cantador,” which translates to “the singing cricket”. Soler began a long career of presenting folktales using his character Cri Cri on radio, soon taking his act to TV shows.  One of Soler’s main goals in his song tales was to always have a moral to present to children. It is clear in his compositions that children’s education was important. Soler composed around 203 known songs and tales, only three of which we no longer have record.

Being of Mexican heritage myself, I remember hearing Soler’s songs on my visits to my family in Mexico. Cri Cri is played anywhere there are children present. If you talk to any Mexicans of the baby boomer generation about Cri Cri, you can see their faces light up as they recite or sing to you one of his songs. Cri Cri is a name that can be found anywhere around the Mexican people. Soler’s compositions are so popular that they are included in some primary schools’ curricula. An interesting story I found is that Walt Disney heard of the popularity of Cri Cri in Mexico. Disney contacted Soler to buy the rights to his Cri Cri stories to share to the American public. Soler denied Disney’s request because Soler believed the stories of Cri Cri were meant to be a legacy of the Mexican children and people. Soler later did collaborate with Walt Disney which inspired the character Jiminy Cricket and the Disney portrayal of The Three Little Pigs, but still held on to the rights to his work.

In my research I came across a concern about some of Soler’s song tales-that feature negative representations of black people. There are folk song tales that Soler wrote using imagery and language found elsewhere in Mexican society that has commonalities with racist tropes present in Blackface Minstrelsy and other U.S. media. In “Negrito Sandia,” which roughly translates to “little black watermelon boy,” Soler describes a boy who speaks using “groserias” which roughly translates to “rude language.” Soler gives a representation to the imagery of Blackface Minstrelsy by using watermelon to describe the boy in this song. Soler’s use of calling the boy watermelon shows that anti-blackness is present in Mexican society during his time, stemming from the country’s history of colonialism and slavery. “Negrito Sandia” parallels a common racist trope used in reference to African Americans as well- an affinity for watermelon. Soler sings that the negrito will be punished physically if he continues to use foul language. “Negrito Sandia” is controversial because it gives children the idea of physically abusing a black boy and draws humor from his abuse. 

In contrast to the negative imagery of “Negrito Sandia” is another folk song tale Soler wrote, “La Negrita Cucurumbré, ” which tells the story of a black girl who thinks she is ugly because of her blackness and wants to whiten herself with the ocean waters. The moral of the song comes from a fish swimming to the girl and telling her she is beautiful exactly the way she is. When looking up the word “Cucurumbré” it is thought to originate from a term used by enslaved Africans brought to Mexico by the Spanish when they invaded Mexico. The origin of the word “Cucurumbré” is thought to be derived from “gurumbe,” a term used by Africans in Spain to describe a black boy who plays a drum.“ According to Soler’s grandson Óscar Gabilondo Vizcaíno, songs like “La Negrita Cucurumbé” were an attempt to distance Soler from the prejudiced views so many in Mexico held at the time. “[Soler] loved Veracruz and these songs were a tribute to the port city and its children,” said Gabilondo Vizcaíno in an interview with El País in 2017.” (Cepeda) Soler writing “La Negrita Cucurumbré” shows there is still the struggle of following colonialistic views in Mexico. Cepeda states “... the conflicting themes of embracing blackness as a form of self-love and the threat of violence against black boys in Soler’s other songs complicate Cri-Cri’s legacy.” 

In Mexico it is common to call someone by their skin color. I am called by my parents “güerita” which means “light skinned girl”. My abuelita (grandmother) often refers to herself as “morena” which means dark brown lady. There are many skin colors in Mexico and referencing a person’s skin color is found in other folk literature as well. As in every society that was dominated by a White European group, there is a history of the struggle of being preferred or not preferred based on proximity to whiteness. 

Now, there are decisions I have to make with the information found. I want my students to know their culture and embrace it. My presentation has to be truthful and honest but never degrading of others. I find value in Soler’s material because it is folklore found in Mexican culture, also there is still so much research to encounter when finding the effects of anti-blackness in any country that has the struggle of colonialism present. I am still evaluating which folklore will best represent Mexican culture- all the cultures that are part of it. The new research found in this piece has opened up discussions about the shared effects of anti-blackness throughout the world. I am still alarmed that so much of the colonialist history is paralleled with other countries. It is the responsibility of the educator to research a piece of folkloric literature and be absolutely sure what is presented in the classroom is honest and has integrity.