SAUGUS — As a child, Veronica Robles says she dreamed of being a wise woman when she grew up. The hundreds of children Robles mentors at her cultural center in Boston might say that’s exactly what she’s become.
The Mexican-born singer’s life has always followed a somewhat unconventional path. Since the tender age of 14, she’s traveled to countless other countries acting as an unofficial cultural ambassador and advocate for diversity through music and dance.
Her worldly education began at an early age. With her grandmother’s encouragement, Robles studied traditional Mexican music as a teenager. Although she only ever thought of singing as a hobby, it wasn’t long before she was approached by numerous organizations asking her to participate in cultural exchanges around the world.
“People came to Mexico looking for that specific (performer) profile, and they all found me,” she said.
Perhaps Robles’ gift for bringing communities together stems from the lack of community attachment she felt in her own life early on.
Growing up, Robles was never able to grow roots in any one place for very long — a side effect of the travel required by her mother’s job. Instead, she says, she was entrenched in aspects of the different cultures she was exposed to through her travels and by her immediate family.
“I spent time with locals to learn about their different traditions, especially through dance,” she said. “I grew up listening to traditional music from Cuba, because in Mexico there are a lot of people from Cuba. My father also played a lot of Latin jazz and Cuban music.”
After she and her husband, Willy Lopez, decided to make Massachusetts their permanent home in 1999, they settled first in Carlisle, then Saugus. Robles was struck by the lack of Latino representation to be found in the East Boston and North Shore area, and decided to close the cultural gap by starting her own all-women mariachi band — the first of its kind in Boston — and by offering classes in Latin culture to local families.
“When I came here, I not only noticed the lack of representation, but also that the kids felt ashamed of who they were and where they came from, because they didn’t know,” she said.
She believes that giving kids, many of whom don’t often see their background represented in their local communities, a chance to celebrate who they are, can prevent them from going down dangerous paths.
“When somebody is not happy with themselves, when they feel their culture is not valued in their society, they tend to do other things, and usually those are bad things,” Robles said. “They want to be like the other kids, and that makes trouble.”
She added: “(But) now they know the music, they’re familiar with the different dances, and they enjoy it. They feel integrated.”
Robles says she also often finds a disconnect between children of immigrants and their parents. Parents forced to work long hours to put food on the table aren’t always able to give their children the quality time they need, and kids can often feel as though they’re being pulled between two worlds.
Because of this, Robles has made an effort to make her lessons an inclusive occasion for family members of all ages.
“Even if (the parents) speak English, there’s a disconnect,” Robles said. “They and their kids aren’t speaking the same language. There is a point when youth become immersed in the culture here … There is this disconnect and the bond is broken.”
Robles’ story is also one of rising from the ashes after tragedy. The death of her only child, Kithzia, in 2008, is largely what drives her passion for spreading messages of love and peace. When she and her team opened the Veronica Robles Cultural Center in 2013, she dedicated the building in memory of her daughter.
Despite her difficult past, the love Robles has for the children she takes under her wing is evident.
“(I have) no more children of my own, but I have so many children in the community,” she said. “I just want to be that old lady who, whenever you come and visit, you get a hug and a kiss.”