Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy indigenous genocide day.
Kids say the darnedest things. Especially when they voice social truths about history. Here, kids reenact the First Thanksgiving, how it really went down.
Via : www.racewire.org
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Reddy Case: 10 Years On, Violence Against Women of Color Continues
article by : DEBAYANI KAR
Violence against women of color is often reported out of context. The deeper social and economic injustices at work are overlooked.
Today, a coalition including (partial list) Narika, ASATA (Alliance of South Asians Taking Action), South Asian Sisters, Asian Women’s Shelter, Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, Maitri, and California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, will mark the 10th anniversary of the Lakireddy Bali Reddy sex and labor exploitation case with a vigil and press conference in Berkeley.
Lakireddy Bali Reddy is a wealthy South Asian businessman who owned more than fifty percent of the rental housing in Berkeley and the popular Pasand restaurant chain, second only to the University of California in Berkeley property holdings; he is still the largest owner of rental properties in Berkeley.
After one of the victims of his sex and labor exploitation activity turned up dead in late November 1999, his criminal endeavors were brought to light.
Today’s vigil will honor victim Seetha Vemireddy who was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning on November 24, 1999. She was one of nine young women found to be victims of Reddy’s labor and sexual exploitation, in addition to dozens more workers who faced labor exploitation at Pasand restaurant and Reddy Realty.
From the beginning the Reddy case was told by the media in sordid detail. It was easy to tell a story of man bites dog: a wealthy and respected real estate mogul from the model minority South Asian community engages in sexual slavery.
In 2001, Reddy and five of his relatives pled guilty to various counts of conspiring to commit immigration fraud, transportation of minors for illegal sexual activity, and submitting a false tax return. Reddy paid $11 million in restitution to the victims and their families, with an additional undisclosed amount for a workers’ class action lawsuit. Upon serving just under seven years in prison, Reddy was released in April 2008...continue reading on racewire.org
Violence against women of color is often reported out of context. The deeper social and economic injustices at work are overlooked.
Today, a coalition including (partial list) Narika, ASATA (Alliance of South Asians Taking Action), South Asian Sisters, Asian Women’s Shelter, Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, Maitri, and California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, will mark the 10th anniversary of the Lakireddy Bali Reddy sex and labor exploitation case with a vigil and press conference in Berkeley.
Lakireddy Bali Reddy is a wealthy South Asian businessman who owned more than fifty percent of the rental housing in Berkeley and the popular Pasand restaurant chain, second only to the University of California in Berkeley property holdings; he is still the largest owner of rental properties in Berkeley.
After one of the victims of his sex and labor exploitation activity turned up dead in late November 1999, his criminal endeavors were brought to light.
Today’s vigil will honor victim Seetha Vemireddy who was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning on November 24, 1999. She was one of nine young women found to be victims of Reddy’s labor and sexual exploitation, in addition to dozens more workers who faced labor exploitation at Pasand restaurant and Reddy Realty.
From the beginning the Reddy case was told by the media in sordid detail. It was easy to tell a story of man bites dog: a wealthy and respected real estate mogul from the model minority South Asian community engages in sexual slavery.
In 2001, Reddy and five of his relatives pled guilty to various counts of conspiring to commit immigration fraud, transportation of minors for illegal sexual activity, and submitting a false tax return. Reddy paid $11 million in restitution to the victims and their families, with an additional undisclosed amount for a workers’ class action lawsuit. Upon serving just under seven years in prison, Reddy was released in April 2008...continue reading on racewire.org
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Radio show went amazingly well..shout out to Maria for inviting me...but this week looks promising...I have tons of meetings for this weekend and Im auditioning for the vagina monologue tomorrow and going to the SPIC Event at El barrio Museum.
But what I cant wait for is... November 30th I'm performing at the Fall Into Gender Event ....make sure ya come out
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
"It was very hard for me. Music is like fire. If you just keep blowing air onto it, it will be fresh. Otherwise, it will soon die out." -- rabab master Attiqullah Sangin
Via : Afghanistan: Musicians Struggling To Revive Classical Heritage After Taliban
Peep P.H.I.L.T.H.Y.' s Interview on michiganhiphop.com
“Phenomenal Hip-Hop Individual Living Through His Years.”
The name says it all. P.H.I.L.T.H.Y, born name James Gardin, can fight the AIDS epidemic, lead Bible study, do a fashion shoot, create an awesome EP, and still have time to jump on stage for a performance before the day is done.
After the mixtape Young Black Hope Vol. 1 and the album Save Us All (Click Here to Buy on iTunes), the 24-year-old has released the EP Love Songs for Losers & Ballads for Ballers (Download and Listen Here), which showcases his talent for laying lucid lyrics over the touching soundbeds to make a universally appealing listen. And don’t let the EP title fool you; this project encases a diverse topic line-up, covering awareness, love, respect and more.
The 24-year-old Lansing emcee knows how to keep balance in his life and in his music, making him admirable to fans, fellow hip-hoppers and strangers he meets in the streets. In the interview below, P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. lets MichiganHipHop.com in on the secret to how he became a phenom without losing himself in the process.
MIHH: You’re known for practicing what you preach. You wouldn’t be mistaken for an artist who only mentions God when accepting his Grammy. How do you incorporate your beliefs into your music and your life?
I’m never going to have a song where I talk about someone else’s problem and how they need to change it. I’m going to attack myself and the problems I need to work on. I think that if people saw an example and see there are possibilities of finding a way out of it, it would guide them more instead of saying, ‘Jesus this, Jesus that, if you don’t do this, you’re going to Hell.’ I don’t like that or respond to that well. I would never describe myself as a Christian rapper. Because by definition, I believe if you’re a gospel or Christian rapper, your audience is primarily Christian or gospel. Even Jesus said he had to save the lost and heal the sick. I don’t think I came to entertain the people who already have it or are already on the right road. Being overbearing isn’t the right way to do it, and I try to use myself as an example. If I’m talking about faults I’m talking about myself, my faults and how I dealt with them. I think that’s the best way to do it.
MIHH: Have your beliefs ever caused a conflict when working with other artists who don’t have the same point of view?
No and I think the thing that works is that I’m not overbearing with it. A lot of people who I do shows with are of different faiths or no faiths. The way I look at it is dope music is dope music. You may not have the same beliefs as me but I can still like your music....continue reading on www.michiganhiphop.com
I still dont kno what to make out of ...
Lil Wayne... I use to love his music at some point, sometimes I find myself listening to it and yet sometimes I wonder wat the f*ck is wrong w/ him....To understand him is too complicated, to hate him is impossible, he is human just like me..
This is the Diary of Sonia G...
You think you know but you have no idea....This is the Diary of Sonia G ....So tomorrow...Tomorrow I will be a special guest on the Hunter College Radio 4-5pm whcs.hunter.cuny.edu make sure u tune in and listen
MTV Diary of... N.E.R.D from Adrian Hylton - adrianhylton.com on Vimeo.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Super heroes and Rockstars!!!! Nov. 27th
Featuring:
Ainsley Burrows
Lacresha Berry
Hakhi Alakhun
Tai Allen
Chicava Honeychild
Sosoon
Sabrina Gilbert
Carolyn Malachi
Sean B
Rain maker
ihsan Muhammad
plus more...
special guest appearances by
B Young
Carvens
Daynomi
Sunday, November 15, 2009
My cafe..our Cafe
"The creativity inside me is screaming so I'm gonna paint her notes..."-Sonia G
I remember going to DC early this fall and going to this dope cafe. It hit me then that I wanna open a Cafe...make it a space for artist, for students, for ppl to just relax, drink and escape from reality into their creativity...so yeah next year Im starting the process of getting a place in BK with my fellow partner in crime , William Maye, and open a Cafe by that Fall :)
--- one of the pics. of the stuff found at the DC cafe
Friday, November 13, 2009
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
My song...
Up late after what may be one of my life changing days..and I dont say that because I got in a car accident or I won a million dollars...I guess in a subtle silent way things unwrapped in the past 24 hours and kinda cleared some things out for me.
Today was the 40th anniversary of the Africana/Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College. I went to the celebration and it hit me then that I need to not try to be what I'm not...let me elavorate so I love Political Science..I love politics, and majoring in it I guess gave me this professional elitism ..like "no one can front on my intelligence if I major in Political Science"....wrong...I love political science but I been fronting on my love for Africana Puerto Rican and Latino Studies..maybe my fear is that people wont take me serious if I major in this studies...wrong...Who gives a rat if I major in this or not...I must do what makes me happy...I'm the one who has to wake up every day with this life so why would I do something Im not fully happy w?...so folks I will be changing my major ...:)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Faith!!
One of my close friend tweeted this early today: "God is the only reason why I'm not in jail, why I haven't robbed n killed anyone, why i'm so calm nowadays..."
I must say thus far Faith has kept me strong. I know that there are times I look at myself and be like "what the fuck am I doing",I look around and see dreams at the point they are about to extinct ....sometimes I feels like I am all alone, that nothin is no longer possible but I have this little voice whispering in my ear "wake up and live"....Faith!!!
I must say thus far Faith has kept me strong. I know that there are times I look at myself and be like "what the fuck am I doing",I look around and see dreams at the point they are about to extinct ....sometimes I feels like I am all alone, that nothin is no longer possible but I have this little voice whispering in my ear "wake up and live"....Faith!!!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
I AM ASSATA SHAKUR - A Party & Benefit for The Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153044286835&ref=mf
This celebration is an opportunity for us as a community to acknowledge our victories and renew our efforts to continue this essential work. We celebrate the liberation and freedom of our sister Assata Shakur, who along with many other Political Prisoners (who still remain behind the walls) set the example of unselfish sacrifice for our beloved people. We also celebrate the sacrifice of those freedom fighters whose spirits were released due to their physical demise. This is a celebration for them all. We will especially honor Sundiata Acoli. Through music and the warm meaningful collective interaction of dance and laughter, we will reaffirm our commitment to their freedom.
Admission is $20. Food and beverages will also be available for purchase.
Even if you live outside of the area, we encourage supporters everywhere to make a contribution through our Paypal account. If you would like to support but cannot attend, please click maybe and we will send you more details to come.
Help us raise funds for legal fees and other projects supporting Sundiata's release as we prepare for his upcoming parole hearing in February 2010.
Can we get 1,000 people to support Freedom Dance? We're counting on it! This event is a special and important opportunity to show your love for Assata & Sundiata.
36 years is long enough! Sundiata must be free!
Hands off Assata!
It is time for truth and reconcilation!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Helena we support you!!
New Immigration Reform Policy: Deporting Our US Citizen Children
When we elected Barack Obama as the President of the United States, we thought we were choosing change; we thought we were voting for humane immigration reform; we thought the separation of families would end. Now, less than a year later, we see that we were wrong.
Helen is asleep, dreaming of her lacrosse match the next day, the latest poem she has been working on and her weekend plans with friends from her church group. Suddenly, she is woken up, dragged from her bed at gunpoint and told that none of the things that she has been working toward and dreaming of are possible for her. Helen’s dreams have been interrupted by a living nightmare.
Helen Mejia-Perez was born in 1996 in Novato, California. Her parents had lived in this small Northern California town for five years and saw it as a perfect community in which to raise their small family. As a young child, Helen was full of positive energy and loved to play with her older brother, Gilbert. She and her family enjoyed “spending quality time together, from going to Disneyland to just taking a walk in the park…”
Helen began school at Marin Montessori in 2001. She enjoyed art and was well liked by her teachers and classmates. Helen excelled throughout elementary school and into middle school, flourishing as young poet and exemplary student. One teacher described her as an “outstanding student [who] contributed enormously to her classroom and the whole school… [she] is bright, motivated, independent, and compassionate”. Her friends described her as “a super-fast reader who could read a 500 page book in one day if she wanted to” and smart, but always ready to laugh.
On March 7, 2007, Immigration and Customs Enforcement woke Helen with guns raised and told her to join her family in the living room. Helen had no idea what was happening. She knew her parents as “very hard working [people] [who] have always supported me with my education… taught us to help our community, help our church, and to try our hardest in school”. As she stood shivering in the living room, surrounded by ICE agents, she could not comprehend what was happening to her family.
Helen’s parents, Salvador and Elida, had come to the United States in 1992 with their infant son, Gilbert. They were fleeing the violence that had ravaged their home country of Guatemala and seeking a better life for their baby. They worked hard, bought their home in Marin County, raised three children, learned English, paid taxes and become invaluable members of their community.
Today, Salvador and Elida wear ankle bracelets to alert ICE if they stray too far from their home. ICE agents visit their house weekly. Helen sees the anguished looks on her parents’ faces and knows that she may be about to lose everything she has ever known. 4 year old Dulce does not know what is about happen to her life, although she too senses fear from her parents.
At 1AM this Thursday, Salvador, Elida, Helen and Dulce will report to ICE for deportation to Guatemala. Helen and Dulce are US Citizens by birth. They are about to be torn from their country and taken to a place they have never seen. Helen’s rigorous education will come to a halt, she will be separated from the friends and community that have shaped her life, her friends will miss her contagious laughter and her entire world will be uprooted – and who could explain to her why? She wonders why “other US citizens live happy lives, and then there’s me.” And she’s right to wonder: How does this country benefit from an immigration system that rewards Helen’s hard work and good spirits with trauma and devastation?
Senator Feinstein has refused to save the family by introducing a private bill, claiming not to see “exceptional hardship” to the family, should they be deported. We ask her to read Helen’s story and reconsider her position.
And we ask President Obama, is this the immigration reform you promised? Is deporting US Citizen children your solution to our broken immigration system?
ACTIONS:
Call Senator Feinstein: D.C.: (202) 224-3841 San Francisco: (415) 393-0707 Los Angeles: (310) 914-7300
“I was calling to ask why Senator Feinstein is not stepping in and allowing for United States citizens to be deported!”
Leave a message at each office and then rinse and repeat in a few hours. We have to make sure Feinstein knows we won’t tolerate this from her.
Sign onto this letter here: http://immigration.change.org/actions/view/feinstein_why_are_you_deporting_us_citizens
If you are an organization please sign onto this letter by sending an email to mo@dreamactivist.org
When we elected Barack Obama as the President of the United States, we thought we were choosing change; we thought we were voting for humane immigration reform; we thought the separation of families would end. Now, less than a year later, we see that we were wrong.
Helen is asleep, dreaming of her lacrosse match the next day, the latest poem she has been working on and her weekend plans with friends from her church group. Suddenly, she is woken up, dragged from her bed at gunpoint and told that none of the things that she has been working toward and dreaming of are possible for her. Helen’s dreams have been interrupted by a living nightmare.
Helen Mejia-Perez was born in 1996 in Novato, California. Her parents had lived in this small Northern California town for five years and saw it as a perfect community in which to raise their small family. As a young child, Helen was full of positive energy and loved to play with her older brother, Gilbert. She and her family enjoyed “spending quality time together, from going to Disneyland to just taking a walk in the park…”
Helen began school at Marin Montessori in 2001. She enjoyed art and was well liked by her teachers and classmates. Helen excelled throughout elementary school and into middle school, flourishing as young poet and exemplary student. One teacher described her as an “outstanding student [who] contributed enormously to her classroom and the whole school… [she] is bright, motivated, independent, and compassionate”. Her friends described her as “a super-fast reader who could read a 500 page book in one day if she wanted to” and smart, but always ready to laugh.
On March 7, 2007, Immigration and Customs Enforcement woke Helen with guns raised and told her to join her family in the living room. Helen had no idea what was happening. She knew her parents as “very hard working [people] [who] have always supported me with my education… taught us to help our community, help our church, and to try our hardest in school”. As she stood shivering in the living room, surrounded by ICE agents, she could not comprehend what was happening to her family.
Helen’s parents, Salvador and Elida, had come to the United States in 1992 with their infant son, Gilbert. They were fleeing the violence that had ravaged their home country of Guatemala and seeking a better life for their baby. They worked hard, bought their home in Marin County, raised three children, learned English, paid taxes and become invaluable members of their community.
Today, Salvador and Elida wear ankle bracelets to alert ICE if they stray too far from their home. ICE agents visit their house weekly. Helen sees the anguished looks on her parents’ faces and knows that she may be about to lose everything she has ever known. 4 year old Dulce does not know what is about happen to her life, although she too senses fear from her parents.
At 1AM this Thursday, Salvador, Elida, Helen and Dulce will report to ICE for deportation to Guatemala. Helen and Dulce are US Citizens by birth. They are about to be torn from their country and taken to a place they have never seen. Helen’s rigorous education will come to a halt, she will be separated from the friends and community that have shaped her life, her friends will miss her contagious laughter and her entire world will be uprooted – and who could explain to her why? She wonders why “other US citizens live happy lives, and then there’s me.” And she’s right to wonder: How does this country benefit from an immigration system that rewards Helen’s hard work and good spirits with trauma and devastation?
Senator Feinstein has refused to save the family by introducing a private bill, claiming not to see “exceptional hardship” to the family, should they be deported. We ask her to read Helen’s story and reconsider her position.
And we ask President Obama, is this the immigration reform you promised? Is deporting US Citizen children your solution to our broken immigration system?
ACTIONS:
Call Senator Feinstein: D.C.: (202) 224-3841 San Francisco: (415) 393-0707 Los Angeles: (310) 914-7300
“I was calling to ask why Senator Feinstein is not stepping in and allowing for United States citizens to be deported!”
Leave a message at each office and then rinse and repeat in a few hours. We have to make sure Feinstein knows we won’t tolerate this from her.
Sign onto this letter here: http://immigration.change.org/actions/view/feinstein_why_are_you_deporting_us_citizens
If you are an organization please sign onto this letter by sending an email to mo@dreamactivist.org
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
.....
I hope someday when my insecurities about my writing fades away I will be able to write the perfect piece with the most perfect words to describe my love for u...till then these inperfect words must do : "I love you "
a sense of my blog page ...
Like the many things in my life..Im still trying to get a sense of my blog. Im trying to figure out the post I should have up or dont have up. Trying to figure out if I should include this or that, should I include personal personal life things, should I discuss personal issues, should I post things about my growth as a person, as an artist, as a lover, as a sister, as a student, as an undocumented students, as a woman, as a music lover....I hope i dont confuse my readers, and if confusion is the best way to describe my blog than maybe it was intended to be that way ....
Monday, November 2, 2009
Documentary Chronicles the Life of Richard Aoki
A new documentary, Aoki, chronicles the life of Richard Aoki, a third-generation Japanese American and founding member of the Black Panther Party. The documentary, directed by Ben Wang and Mike Cheng, was filmed over the last five years of Aoki’s life. It includes interviews with Kathleen Cleaver, Bryant Fong and many other comrades and friends Aoki knew through his work with the Panthers, Asian American Political Alliance and Third World Liberation Front.
From the film’s website aokifilm.com
Above all else, AOKI is a film that demonstrates the incredible dedication to justice that one man’s life has had and how the lessons of solidarity, commitment, and discipline can carry on from one generation to the next.
The world premiere of the film will be at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, CA this November 12. Check out the trailer below and visit the site for more details on the premiere and how to get a copy of the documentary.
via: Racewire
Sunday, November 1, 2009
“Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”--Ella Fitzgerald
There isnt any way better to say it..Ella said it right!!!
Damn November 1st...ladies and gentlemen its officialy two months before the year finishes. I cant believe it, like its official two more months and its over. So much greatness so much love so much inspiration roams my surroundings. I am healing little by little from my trouble past and now I can only enjoy the beauty some of these wonderful people have brought into my life.....lets go folks. Lets enjoy these two last months in the year 2009 !!!!
There isnt any way better to say it..Ella said it right!!!
Damn November 1st...ladies and gentlemen its officialy two months before the year finishes. I cant believe it, like its official two more months and its over. So much greatness so much love so much inspiration roams my surroundings. I am healing little by little from my trouble past and now I can only enjoy the beauty some of these wonderful people have brought into my life.....lets go folks. Lets enjoy these two last months in the year 2009 !!!!
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