Gender & Hip Hop Community Dialogue

This past weekend, Bakari Kitwana, Mark Anthony Neal, Joan Morgan, Tracy Sharpley-Whiting, and Byron Hurt came together at the University of Chicago for a special event, "Does Hip Hop Hate Women?" Presented by the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture in conjunction with a number of other organizations, this panel discussion and community forum mulled over a critical issue that deserves greater attention--especially from those who make the music, and those who listen to it. If you have a second, check the Chicago Tribune (includes video footage) and MSNBC for reports on how it went.

Thanks to Theresa Mah for the heads up on this.

Sunday Night Grown n' Sexy

Sorry to all our loyal Hip Hapa fans for not getting you the Friday Groove this week. Hope this number helps you relax and get ready for the week ahead.

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - So What

Vote or Die!

No... this is not about Diddy trying to get you politically involved. This isn't about Obama, Clinton or the likes. This is about you, the Hip Hapa readers, exercising your right to support our 'ol boy PESU on MTV's TRL! Pesu will be reppin' the Old Souls and Hip Hapa families from Times Square in New York City in a live Art Battle to be aired May 4th. Watch, root, and VOTE for Pesu.

- MTV ArtBattle - This event features some of the most impressive artists/individuals that NYC has to offer. The artists will have an hour and a half to express their hunger to the world in a 360 degree MTV event. The artwork will be featured in the heart of times square where each artist will have their work from the event shown at 13' x 9' with clippings of the event on the huge MTV TV across the street. TRL will hype the event by pointing the viewers to MTV overdrive to watch the event and the day in the life of the artists. The cell phone and Internet votes will depict the winner of the event, who will be rewarded added publicity as well as a nice cash prize. The event will be the most explosive art show ever with special guest judge’s hosts and a few local bands that will maintain the authenticity of the Art battles. Each artist is extremely dynamic hungry for the opportunity to show the world their skills.

Extra: Instead of doing a separate post on top of this one, I thought that--seeing as how this fits in with the intro and title Mix76 used--I'd just add in down here that the Democrats are debating tonight (Thursday) on MSNBC from 7:00-8:30pm Eastern Time.

-OG

Free Speech, Hate Speech -- Same Dif, Right?

Folks in the Bay Area may remember JV & Elvis from their decade-long stint on Wild 94.9. After getting fired from that gig two years ago, they moved the act to New York, where they're broadcasting stuff like this.

If listening to that doesn't get you feeling sad or angry enough, then maybe you'd like to head over to the Speak Your Mind post at "The Doghouse with JV & Elvis" blog (scroll down a ways).

Hope I didn't put too much of a damper on your day.

Update: I didn't give much context when I originally put this up, so here are a few links from The New York Times and the Organization of Chinese Americans that should help clarify things.

Update 2: The comments on the Doghouse blog have been disabled, because the moderator decided that commentors have shown that they "obviously can't have intelligent discourse and feel the need to resort to violent threats."

Defending the Genre

From the opinion section of today's LA Times: "Hip Hop's Socially Conscious Side" (originally spotted on Poplicks).

The authors--Jeff Chang and Dave Zirin--aren't a couple of nobodies, either. I caught Zirin promoting What's My Name, Fool! in Chicago, and he's a terrific speaker. Be sure to catch him on the road as he tours for the new book, Welcome to the Terrordome and The Muhammad Ali Handbook this summer. And Chang's new one is recently out as well.

Oh, and that documentary they mention in the LA Times piece? I think someone told you to watch it earlier...

The Friday Groove

As always, Hip Hapa likes to drop the jazzy rhythms on you to kick your weekend off right.

I know this post is a day late but I just had to drop it on you! My homie "T" told me it was a Classic...

Diggin' on Diaspora

This has been on my radar for a while, but I've managed to yet again post the announcement as the event is happening. Good work, me.

Anyway, here's hoping you can at least follow up with some of these folks later on, if you don't get the chance to hit up the conference. And frankly, that's the main reason we put the stuff here; we're trying to spread word of important work and build connections--if you can make it out to events, great, but if not, at least you know what people are up to, and maybe touch base with them down the line.

Enough throat-clearing. In Evanston this weekend:

Diasporic Counterpoint: Africans, Asians and the Americas
"This two-day symposium illuminates the rich comparative and interdisciplinary scholarship on Africans and Asians across the globe and throughout the Americas. Specialists in African American Studies, Asian American Studies, History, Anthropology, Ethnomusicology, and Sociology explore issues and topics essential to understanding the complexities of diasporic intersections, internationalism, and transnationalism — concepts embodied, negotiated, and contested by members of these communities."

Hip Hapa's panel of choice:

Saturday, April 21, 12:45 — 2:45
Theme: Mixing Musics
Moderator:
Nitasha Tamar Sharma, Northwestern University
Panelists:
Darren Lee Brown, Michigan State University
“‘Reggae Gone International:’ Recovering the Cultural Productions of Asians of Jamaican Descent in Reggae Music”
Adrian Gaskins, University of Minnesota
“From Native Son to Native Guns: Hip Hop and the Politics of Racialized Diasporas”
Tamara Roberts, Northwestern University
“‘One Family, Many Children’: The Afro-Asian Aesthetic”

Bumpin'! As always, we're happy to post your reports or photos from the event, so hook it up already.

P.S.: Native Guns in SF tonight!

Prior to Today's Senate Hearing

Helping Iraqis Who Give Help

I met Kirk Johnson about five years ago, when he was about to graduate from the University of Chicago with a degree in Near Eastern studies. Since then, he went on to complete a Fullbright in Cairo, work in Fallujah, and maintain a now-defunct blog called US Amnesia (where he interviewed such notable scholars as Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn).

The reason I mention him now is that yesterday The New York Times published a letter of his that I think you should read. It echoes an important point he made last December in the Los Angeles Times. And while you're at it, check out his piece in The Washington Post Magazine about the harrowing experience he had in Iraq, and why his time there came to a premature end.

Important things for us to be aware of, I think.

GOLDEN

You'll have to forgive me doing another Warriors post (and this one without any breakdancing), but it's an historic day around the Bay Area--the Dubs are back in the playoffs after the longest-running active drought in the NBA! Let's celebrate with two videos that recently ran on one of the most popular basketball blogs around, Golden State of Mind:

Taking it back to when post-season play was nothing novel around these parts:



Yeah, it did end up feeling like infinity for some fans. And then, only because this is so damn quality:



And finally, big ups to the White Sox's Mark Buehrle, who tossed a no-hitter tonight. (Sorry to overload the sports angle, but today feels kind of like finding a $20 bill on the street--I'm a little loopy).

Chicago City Council Remains Asianless

Yesterday, 50th Ward incumbent Bernie Stone defeated challenger Naisy Dolar in a runoff election, 52.9 percent to 47.1 percent.

On her website, Dolar thanked her volunteers and offered some reflection:

"Today, we, the residents, took back the 50th ward and have forced our alderman to pay attention to our voices. Tomorrow, we will continue to talk about our achievements because there wasn't a moment of regret in any of this."

Props to those who lent their time, money, and effort to this cause; despite the outcome, this campaign has galvanized Chicago's Asian American community, and primed it to take important steps in the future.

I'd hoped to post these campaign photos prior to the election, but now seems like an appropriate enough time to give the volunteers their due. Thanks to Stephanie Drenka of DePaul University's Asian Cultural Exchange for providing them.

Eric Salcedo and John Park

Volunteers get ready to hit the streets (Eric Byler at far left)

Loving v. Virginia Turns 40

We're pretty much contractually obligated to link to something like this. From AP National Writer David Crary:

"The charisma king of the 2008 presidential field. The world's best golfer. The captain of the New York Yankees. Besides superstardom, Barack Obama, Tiger Woods and Derek Jeter have another common bond: Each is the child of an interracial marriage.

For most of U.S. history, in most communities, such unions were taboo.

It was only 40 years ago — on June 12, 1967 — that the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down a Virginia statute barring whites from marrying nonwhites. The decision also overturned similar bans in 15 other states."

Here's the rest: Interracial Marriages Surge Across the U.S.

Naisy Dolar for Chicago Alderman

In the election for alderman of Chicago's 50th Ward on February 27th, Filipino American Naisy Dolar managed to secure a run-off against incumbent Bernie Stone. The ensuing campaign for who will ultimately win the right to represent this neighborhood on the Far North Side has been heated, and will be finally decided at the polls this Tuesday, April 17.

If Dolar--a prominent and active leader in the Asian American community--comes out on top in this race, it will be due to a concerted effort from a small army of dedicated volunteers. One of those individuals is hapa filmmaker Eric Byler, who has produced the following campaign film:



If you reside in the 50th Ward, please make sure to cast your ballot this Tuesday for Naisy, and if you're in Chicago, please help out with the last-minute push for votes.

The Friday Groove

As always, Hip Hapa likes to drop the jazzy rhythms on you to kick your weekend off right.

Enjoy the Natural Vibes...

More Hanami Madness

On the heels of our coverage of LA's Cherry Blossom Festival, here's a reminder to Bay Area hanami enthusiasts that the Northern California CBF kicks off this weekend.

As a prelude of sorts, here's Hip Hapa's official pick for SF Cherry Blossom Queen, Megumi Kaminaga, along with author Becky King at last month's Pure Beauty book signing.

The festival goes pretty much all day on 4/14, 4/15, 4/21, and 4/22 in San Francisco's Japantown, but if you have time, be sure to hit up the Cherry Blossom Queen Crowning Event (4/14, 7-10pm in the Sundance Kabuki Cinema at 1881 Post Street) to support Megumi.

And those of you in our nation's capital should keep in mind that there's still time to catch the excitement as well.

Hanami

This post is long over due folks but I wanted to give you my report on the Cherry Blossom Festival that took place two weekends ago in L.A.'s Little Tokyo. Here's a quick list of the things I saw:

1. Headed over to the main plaza where crowds filled the area to listen to the deep pounding of the taiko drums. Once I learn to DJ I'm seriously going to remix this stuff. Great bass!

2. Meandered through the various booths admiring the workings of the many Nikkei artisans. From kimono silk handbags to origami creations many great arts and crafts were displayed. Most importantly, however, the food vendors were in full force pumping the delicious smells of yakitori and teriyaki corn into the streets of downtown L.A.

3. Took a look at the display from the Martial Arts History Museum. Impressed by some of the equipment they had on display. Less impressed with the otakus dressed up in faux martial arts attire running around.

4. Eventually I made my way to Japanese American National Museum (I had to use the restroom REALLY bad!). Ok...Ok... Don't hate now. I was at JANM a couple of weeks before taking in the unforgettable images from the Ansel Adams exhibit. Anyhow, while at JANM I stopped at the book shop and peaked at the book Part Asian, 100% Hapa from our old friend Kip Fulbeck. Look who I found...

5. Lastly I headed to the Memorial dedicated to Nissei soldiers to pay my respects. I love the quote in the middle...

I Want My M... YX?

I missed the chance to bring you a Hip Hapa exclusive last night to instead go watch the White Sox blow a ninth-inning lead to the A's (damn you Bobby Jenks!), but it turns out these people are having another event this week, and this time you don't need press credentials.

Yes folks, I'm talking about the MYX Launch Party:

4/12/07
8pm
Glas Kat
530 4th Street, San Francisco
With apl.de.ap, Paula DeAnda, Jin tha MC, and others

If you're wondering what MYX is, here's an explanation from their website:

The first music channel of its kind, MYX will feature the hottest major label hits, the biggest jams from Asia and a healthy dose of independent music all played back-to-back on one feed, 24 hours a day. No where else on television will you find such a variety of really good music all in one place.

Developed by ABS-CBN, one of Asia’s biggest media companies, MYX finds its way from the Philippines, where it’s the country’s biggest music channel, to America. MYX in the US is headquartered in San Francisco. This channel embraces the young, fast-growing Asian American community, as well as a broader audience hungry for music fusion. This channel celebrates young men & women ages 18 to 34 and their passion for all sorts of music, Asian entertainment, culture and member generated content.

I know this has the potential to be very exciting, so I'll hold back on my curmudgeonly old man comments. Instead, I'm just going to let Blueprint have the final word on the dangers of this kind of venture:

"I react by turning off BET/and sambos telling me what blackness is supposed to be/used to give us world news now its all videos/replace Tavis Smiley with reality shows"

APA Movements on Campus in Chicago

After some unsatisfying negotiations with the administration, University of Chicago students have decided to get more public with their efforts to increase the number of Asian American faculty in the Humanities and Social Sciences divisions. In an open letter to the school's president published in today's issue of the campus newspaper, the PanAsian Solidarity Coalition outlined its grievances, called for a new hiring policy, and requested a response by April 30. You can read the full letter on page 10 of the Chicago Maroon (while you're visiting, check out the page 1 article about social protest in Japan).

The letter mentions that with the departure of history professor Mae Ngai, "the situation has become dire." As a former student of hers, I'll attest that her moving on certainly does leave an even more gaping void in APA faculty representation. She's an excellent teacher whose class inspired the topic of my thesis. At that time, she was too overloaded to take me on as an advisee, and wasn't in the right department anyway, so I ended up having to seek out my advisor at an entirely different school--which speaks loud and clear to the problem PASC wants to see fixed.

And on a related note, tomorrow, over at the University of Illinois at Chicago (for our readers on the coasts, that's an entirely different school) the push for Asian American Studies continues. For anyone who can make it, there's a workshop on why AAS is necessary and what you can do to help. It's at Taft Hall (room 204) from 4 - 5pm; contact Joyce Yin via email at jyin4(AT)uic(DOT)edu for more details.

And just for the hell of it, I'll throw in this.

National Asian American Call-In Week

An Action Alert from the Asian American Justice Center:

National Asian American Call-In Week
Monday, April 9 thru Friday, April 13

Contact the White House by Calling 1-202-456-1111 and Tell The Administration You Oppose Their Unworkable and Unfair Immigration Plan

Asian American immigration is at risk under a White House supported proposal on immigration reform which would guarantee a continued vulnerable underclass of immigrant workers and deny immigrants from uniting with their families. If made into law, these proposals will have a disproportionate and detrimental impact on the Asian American community.

Asian Americans must contact the White House and make the following demands regarding the family immigration system:

Support a workable bipartisan comprehensive solution with the provisions of the STRIVE Act of 2007 that promote family unification and try to provide a real path to citizenship for new workers and those seeking to legalize;

Propose a real solution to the tremendous backlogs for family unification and provide a path to citizenship for new workers and those seeking to legalize;

Support the creation of strong and healthy immigrant families, by continuing to allow U.S. citizens to sponsor their parents, adult children, and brothers and sisters;

Respect our mothers and fathers by placing no new restrictions on the sponsorship of parents by their adult U.S. citizen children.

For more details, and to compose and send an email to the White House, click here.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

From this:


To this:



Yeah, we're done. We most definitely are done.

Bring the Thunder. Or, Thunder Brings It.

As we head into the final stretch of the NBA season, the Golden State Warriors are striving to grab that eighth spot in the West and bring playoff basketball to the Bay Area for the first time in over a decade. In solidarity and support, we bring you their mascot, Thunder (no, not the bird, the other one):



That's from All-Star weekend, apparently (video posted and contextualized by The Basketball Jones). I've seen the Dubs twice this season, and I don't remember him doing anything like that. He needs to break that routine out before the fourth quarter; I'm sure Boom-Dizzle and company would be inspired for victory.

More Film Festival Excitement

Since we've been all about the cinema lately...

If you plan on being in New York this summer (or reside there now), are a student, and enjoy movies (who doesn't?), you might apply for a gig with the Asian American International Film Festival (billed as "the first and longest running film festival of its kind." I guess when you're the first you don't have to list the city at the beginning of your festival name. Or maybe this is just a case of that New York-being-the-center-of-the-universe foolishness at work. Whatever.).

They are hiring for the following positions: Archives Assistant, Marketing Assistant, Hospitality Assistant, Box Office & Membership Assistant, Sponsorship Assistant, Youth Programs Assistant, and Administrative Assistant. College credit and a small stipend are available.

They've listed some info on the site, but the email announcement I got also encouraged interested candidates to inquire with festival coordinator Irene Cifra at (212) 989-1422.

Oh, and they are also accepting film submissions. HOOK IT UP.

If Only Kid Frost Was on the Bill

THIS WEEKEND. PEEP IT.


De mi novia.

Hit up Harold's before the Show

The Chicago Asian American Showcase has fond memories for me, and I'm bummed to be missing out this year. Sure, it does follow the more high-octane SFIAAFF (covered in one two three four five installments right here!) and looks like it might have slipped a little this year (does it make me a jerk to write that? maybe, but at least I'm an honest jerk)...

NONETHELESS--if you're in the Windy City, go check it out before it's over. The program for this week includes a performance by The Pacifics, an unheralded but truly excellent local hip hop group that your ears yearn to hear. The gig is Wednesday night at the Hot House, a dope venue in the South Loop (the Harold's is round about 800 Wabash or so).

And if anyone makes it out there and can file a report, send it to ozzie_guillen AT hotmail DOT com. Although really, that goes for most any showcase event. Ah, sweet home Chicago (SIGH).