Two weeks ago I attended a concert for Mexican pop-rock band Camila, who were touring in the US as an opening act for Marco Antonio Solis, a fellow compatriot and hugely popular artist in the Latino community. While Camila are themselves very well-known and successful in Latin America, they probably would not have been able to tour on a stadium level in the US without another giant act like Solis. I had been waiting for them to perform in northern California for years, but they mainly tour in Latin America and a handful of places in the US like New York or Miami. After awhile I stopped checking their tour dates, and figured I may never get to see them live.

By a stroke of luck that has seemed to grace me lately (thank you concert gods), a song of theirs popped up while listening to iTunes and I decided to on a whim check their tour dates. Lo and behold, they were actually on tour in the US, already in progress, and they were coming to San Jose in less than a month! Tickets were at a fairly high price at this point, and continuously rising, but it was a splurge well worth the stomach punch to my bank account. Being the eminently wonderful and favored daughter and granddaughter that I am (kidding…), I invited along my grandmother, a fan of Solis, and my mother, a casual fan of both.

So, three generations of Nicaraguan women made their way to the SAP Center on a Saturday night. I had never seen the place so packed and swarming with people. Granted, I had only been there once before for another concert, but the crowd was nowhere near the size as this one. And what’s more, the giant crowd was composed as far as I could see, and as I would unflinchingly wager, entirely of Latinos. This is an obvious and simplistic observation certainly, but something about the size of the crowd surprised me.

Living in the Bay Area, you’re used to seeing a diverse mix of people everywhere, and in certain parts, a great majority of Latinos. It’s not uncommon to find neighborhoods where you can speak Spanish to anyone, and where it may even be primarily spoken. It’s also a pretty well known fact that Latinos are one of the fastest growing minority populations in the US (currently only second to Asians).

Nevertheless, Latinos are still a “minority” population, and this fact comes with ongoing challenges and political issues of all varieties. It’s a fact I’ve always acutely felt throughout my years of school being one of a couple, if any Latinos in my classes. After spending the bulk of my life in this environment, from 12 years of primary education to 4 years of college, it has become more strange and distinctive to me when I am not a minority in a crowd. I can’t speak for everyone in this regard, and not everyone has the same experience, but I have gotten used to being “other,” to being one of a few, or the only Latino in a space.

Even the spaces I have come to know as majority Latino are changing. The Mission district where I grew up is still known as a Latino neighborhood, but the population of actual Latinos there is waning. It’s a discussion for another time and place, but forces such as gentrification have changed the landscape of the Mission enough that I can walk into a restaurant or shop there and feel the familiar sensation of otherness and uniqueness.

So you can imagine my shock at the size of nearly 20,000 Latinos strong descended upon one central location. Spanish could be heard left and right. There were children, adults and seniors. There were people in the garb and style of Mexican rancheros, and people in typical American fashions. It was a sold out show. After the concert ended and the sea of people came pouring out of the stadium, the streets came to a standstill because of all the bodies exiting.

I don’t think my mind had fully wrapped around how large the Latino presence is in this country until I experienced such numbers for such a niche entertainment event, in one corner of California. There is power and great potential in this. This is only a tiny slice of the far reaches of Latino influence. Musicians little known to the great majority of America can quietly, if not without disruption, sell out an arena in a way that many famed American acts cannot. Keep in mind that though these Mexican musicians are quite popular, they’re not internationally well known. Even amongst Latinos they’re not the biggest names, and their biggest appeal lies in large part with the Mexican community. Their fanbase is therefore but a fraction of the Latino presence in the Bay Area alone. Moreover, the strong support left me pondering–if Latinos can show in such numbers for a cultural event like this, imagine the totality of their political power, and their economic power. Though I may often feel singular, and Latinos (along with other people of color) sparsely represented in the media, in government, in the boardrooms, the fact is that Latinos have been, currently are and will continue to be a sizeable force to be reckoned with.

Though not always visible, we’re there. We’re here in great (and political) numbers. Though Latinos don’t comprise an ideological monolith that thinks the same and agrees on all issues, it probably isn’t a good idea to make monolithic, racist statements about Latinos as a whole. I can’t imagine, after this presidential election, that any serious candidate will be able to stand in front of the nation and label as “criminals” an entire growing and vital subset of the population without it being a form of political suicide. Latinos were an important force of President Obama’s 2012 presidential bid, with 71% of the Latino vote swaying in his favor. At this point in time there are over 25 million eligible Latino voters, and that number is only growing.

Latinos are a minority group, but an influential economic and political one. In numbers we can sell out major stadium shows, as well as make an impact on national elections, and politicians would do well not to discount or underestimate that leverage.

The concert was amazing by the way. If you want to see a great show filled with powerful vocals, pianos and violin solos, look no further than Camila.