Hitting the right chord

The family of a teenager killed on the Plaza hopes Guitars Not Guns program will help turn kids away from violence

Ana Maria Trujillo | The New Mexican

5/10/2008 - 5/11/08

On Tuesday evening, five of the six Nava siblings sat in the living room of the Casa Solana home where they grew up. Dan Nava asked his sister, Denise, if she could get his guitar so he could play an old family favorite.

This is how it was growing up. The Nava side of the family was "very, very musical," and they'd play guitars and mandolins.

"Every weekend they'd get together," Debbie Romero said.

"They grew up very, very poor and didn't have anything but their music," Dan said.

Denise got Dan his guitar and he started his song, "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Seat."

Dan sang, and at the end of every verse, the song seemed as though it would end, but Dan would strum faster and start another, more humorous verse. While Dan sang the first verse, smiles crept onto the faces of his siblings, with the second they were starting to chuckle, and by the last verse, all were in stitches. The laughter radiated through the living room.

It took the close-knit family a long time to be this happy after the 1997 murder of Carlos Santiago Romero, their son, nephew, brother, father and grandson.

Carlos was shot to death on the Plaza after the 1997 burning of Zozobra. And if it were up to his family — especially Carlos' mom, Debbie Romero — nobody should ever have to experience what they did. Now they want to do their part to end violence with guns.

Away from violence

Carlos didn't play any musical instruments.

"Just his radio," Debbie said with a smile. "He liked rap and he loved oldies."

Not that he couldn't have played. Carlos was "smart as hell," said his uncle Dan. If he were alive today, he'd want to be part of the program his family started in his memory, The Carlos Romero Chapter of Guitars Not Guns, a national, nonprofit organization that works to steer kids away from violence and toward creativity.

"He would have tried to keep kids out of trouble," Debbie said.

Four years ago, the family was lobbying the Legislature for longer penalties for perpetrators of gang violence. But they wanted to do something else to help stop the problem.

Denise, the local chapter president, said she stumbled upon the program while browsing the Web.

"I found it by accident," Denise explained. "I was reading an article about guitars for kids that was going to benefit St. Jude's ... there was a link to Guitars Not Guns."

She liked the program immediately.

"I thought about us because of what we've been through," Denise said. She took the idea to Debbie, and she loved it too.

At the time, there were no Guitars Not Guns chapters outside California, so it took the family a long time to get the ball rolling. It took nearly four years to get their 501(c3) status and become a nonprofit organization.

They picked Agua Fría Elementary School to be the first site because of the school's demographics — a high number of students on free lunches — and because a nephew, Mario Montoya, is the school's music teacher.

"There's a huge need for the program because of the student population and where the kids are from," Mario Montoya said. "These kids don't have a lot going. ... A lot of these kids have nothing.

"Agua Fría helped us so much in getting this program started," Montoya added. "They helped us get into gear and get ready."

"We'd like to see (Guitars Not Guns) go into other schools, other cities and other counties in New Mexico," Denise said. That might be happening already. Dave Nava, the chief financial officer for the local chapter, said he's already received a phone call from a woman in Las Cruces who's interested in starting a chapter.

Dan, who works in the Santa Fe courts, said he sees more violence in the community since Carlos' death.

"The kids seem to get younger and the acts more violent," Dan said. "I think (violence) has escalated and I think it's because of a lack of stuff for them to do."

Felicia Romero, Carlos' sister, said she got into a lot of trouble when she was young and said a program like this would have helped her and the many friends she lost to violence.

"I was so used to the fact that our young friends were getting killed, but my brother (dying), I couldn't cope with it," Felicia wrote in an e-mail.

Guitars Not Guns "is just a way to turn my brother's, and other victims' tragic deaths, into something positive," Felicia added. "Maybe if there were more programs like this one, there'd be less criminal behavior."

Music is for life

In Mario Montoya's music classroom at Agua Fría Elementary, there are six Gibson guitars, still in the boxes. The other six have been claimed by students. One by one, three students come in with their guitars secure in their black cases.

The students get to keep the guitars, donated by Gibson, if they complete a class and sign a contract saying they'll practice and show up.

"When the kids saw the guitars, their eyes got big," Dave Nava had said at the family meeting. "They were so excited."

The students sit down, take out their guitars, and start practicing the things they learned in the first class, April 16.

Dean Delora is already making tremendous strides. The lefty focuses hard to strum the
G and D chords. He concentrates even harder, furrowing his brow, as he learns the C chord.

"My grandma signed me into this thing and I didn't think I would like it, but when I went in, I liked it a lot," Dean says with a big smile. "I like playing the best."

Mario says Dean has improved more than his guitar skills.

"I've noticed a huge change in Dean's attitude since we started class," Mario says. "He's a lot more respectful, and I think he really looks forward to this."

The class has three other instructors, all volunteers — Dan Nava, Danny Gonzales and Marck Romero — who all say the kids the enjoy themselves.

"An instrument will give them a lifetime of happiness," Mario says.

Help out

"We're starting with almost no money," Dan said at the meeting. Because the group didn't have its 501(c3) status for the most of its organization process, it wasn't allowed to take donations, but now the chapter is in need of some money.

Debbie said the goal of the program is to keep kids away from the violence that took her son, but with only four instructors, and one who takes time off from another job to teach, they don't know if it will take off.

Darlene Montoya said they will be able to help the kids more "if we get more teachers to help spread it throughout the city."

"That's our biggest obstacle in reaching out to other schools right now," Darlene added.

Dan said they are looking for people to sponsor a child. The program is free to the students, but it will cost the board $75 per child in the future, for a guitar and books.

For more information on donating, call Denise at 690-5945.

Guitars, not guns

Carlos' son, Andrew, is carrying on the family tradition of music. He's not in a Guitars Not Guns class, but he's a guitarist and the 12-year-old stays out of trouble.

He played mariachi music for a few years with his school's group in Pecos.

"Now he's learning how to play Metallica and Deep Purple, all the good music he likes," Debbie said. "I'm so proud of him.

"I think (Carlos) would be psyched with Andrew playing guitar."

The family hopes the guitars have the same effect on all the kids they reach.

"I'm hoping the kids stay out of trouble," Debbie said. "I hope it turns their lives in the right direction."

"I hope and pray that this is a success," Felicia wrote, "not only for my mother, but for the kids who will benefit from it."

Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.