Here's a short glimpse into the listening party for Erykah Badu's upcoming New Amerykah Pt. 2 Return of the Ankh from Creative Control TV. Peep out Dame Dash's new gallery/studio, DD172. On some fresh grown art steez.
Dropping in February yall.
-ET
The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project on Vimeo.
The Story of Cap & Trade is a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the leading climate solution being discussed at Copenhagen and on Capitol Hill. Host Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the "devils in the details" in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from what’s really required to tackle the climate crisis. If you’ve heard about Cap & Trade, but aren’t sure how it works (or who benefits), this is the film is for you.
I think Annie Leonard is on point with this one. How can you trust the people who got us into this mess (the entire mess - all messes -every single, pile of sh*t) to be the ones who are going to come up with a plan to solve it?
Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me twice... shamon!
-Chris G.
While I was driving back to Santa Cruz from our newly acquired spot in Oakland (Yessssir! Flo and I gotta new place!) on THE 580 (you can take me outta LA/Carson, but you can't take the LA/Carson outta me), the Jay-Z song came on the radio and I thought to myself, "it'd be tight if someone made a Bay remix of this." Low and behold, I got on my laptop that same night and somehow stumbled on this video. It's been on my constant rotation ever since. Peep their blog at teambackpack.com
Absolutely, cannot wait to start working with the talented, young folks of the Bay! But first things first... gotta get hired. I've been applying and applying but still no luck. Anyone got any connections?
-Chris G.
Check out the artists who will be performing THIS FRIDAY at the Beatrock Music Launch/CounterParts Release Party:
(all the "divshare" links are free downloads!)
Bambu and DJ Phatrick - Ain't No Future In Yo Frontin' 2009:
Otayo Dubb - The Dealership (feat. Akil, Tahaj the 1st, and Hudathawt):
Rhythm Natives - So Fire:
EyeASage - MRSHMLO:
Bwan - Wake The F*ck Up:
The Aesthetics Crew - The City Beat:
The Fighting Cocks - Exact Change Interlude:
Power Struggle - Sometimes Rappin' Ain't Enough:
ET of Mass Movement - Planet Earth Was My Place Of Birth Part I:
The CounterParts - What We Do:
IT ALL GOES DOWN THIS FRIDAY AT DAKOTA LOUNGE!!!
Event Info:
Friday, November 20th, 2009Dakota Lounge (formerly Temple Bar)
1026 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA
(310) 393-8200 http://www.dakotalounge.com/
Doors open at 8pm $12 at the door, $10 pre-sale (available at
Pre-Sale Ticket/CounterParts CD and Ticket/CounterParts CD/Limited Edition T-shirt combination deals will are now available at http://www.beatrock.com
-Fatgums
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Mass Movement DJs and DJ Phatrick will be on the wheels of steel.
Event Info:
- Beatrock Music Label Launch/CounterParts CD Release Party
- Friday, November 20th at Dakota Lounge (formerly Temple Bar)
- 1026 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA - (310) 393-8200
- Doors open at 8pm
- $12 at the door, $10 pre-sale (available at http://www.beatrock.com)
- Pre-Sale Ticket/CounterParts CD and Ticket/CounterParts CD/Limited Edition T- shirt combination deals will also be available at http://www.beatrock.com
For more info, peep activism.ucsc.edu
Here's a little promotional video I chopped up for the conference. Directed by Arlene Park. Music by Blue Scholars.
Don't Go To The Practical Activism Conference from Chris Guevarra on Vimeo.
-Chris G.
It's gonna be a full-blown Cali invasion with performances by Bambu & DJ Phatrick, Power Struggle, and EyeASage. But most importantly, the event is a fundraiser for the Chris Iijima Scholarship Fund at the University of Hawai'i Law School. 
I can't believe I just heard about my fellow comrade and friend, Devin Cohee, passing away in February. I miss both you and Audrey very much. I can only hope that you two are slam dancing and skanking away in a punk rock heaven somewhere. As my friend Alex said, you and Audrey's spirit will continue with us "in the streets." Here's a piece Alex wrote for her:
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OUR COMRADE Devin Cohee died tragically in Santa Cruz, Calif., on February 28. She was a loving friend, a driven activist and an unyielding revolutionary. Her passing is a mighty loss to the antiwar and socialist movements.
Devin was a true revolutionary in the way that she identified all oppressed and exploited peoples' struggles as her own.
She proudly expressed her sexuality in the face of gendered bigotry. She organized against the racist death penalty as if every inmate was a member of her family. Every march for immigrant rights left her with a strained voice after hours of yelling on the bullhorn. She never shied away from defending the right of the Palestinian people to resist.
Devin's biggest passion was ending U.S. imperialism. She protested the first Gulf War as a child with her father, and got involved in Students Against War (SAW) at the University of California-Santa Cruz as soon as she arrived at college. During her time in SAW, she helped organize a kiss-in against military recruiters, a march that kicked them out and several teach-ins.
There will be a wake for Devin in Santa Cruz on Friday, March 6, at the Zami Co-op (807 Laurel St.), starting at 4 p.m.
Messages of sympathy and solidarity may be sent to Devin's parents at 25 Via Athena, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656.
Early this year, she helped found the Santa Cruz chapter of the Campus Antiwar Network. Devin worked very hard to bring antiwar vets to speak on campus and build bridges with Arab and Muslim students to build the movement.
Devin was, above all, an unapologetic and committed socialist. Almost as soon as she joined the antiwar movement, Devin joined the Santa Cruz branch of the International Socialist Organization. In no time, she led with her keen intellect. She was open to talking politics with anyone, she made theory accessible to everyone, and she utilized her sass and smile to make activism fun.
Sometimes, Devin's political energy and enthusiasm was unexplainable. She would stay up all night at the annual Socialism conferences, arguing politics with comrades and strangers, then using a few spare moments, she'd touch up her makeup, grab a cup of coffee and head to the first sessions of the morning, as sharp as a tack.
Unfortunately, she didn't fulfill her personal goal of being named one of the top 10 security threats to the state of California by Gov. Schwarzenegger.
In the past few years, Devin had faced incredible hardship. In 2006, she was hospitalized after a car wreck that killed her friend, Audrey Castellanos, and injured both her and her friend Jacquie. From an early age, she was diagnosed with arthritis, which caused her severe pain that she tried to treat with many different medications, all of which caused awful side effects. Even when she was in pain, she still went on long marches, paper sales and picket lines.
Devin would sometimes--half-joking and half-serious--declare that capitalism was killing her. It may be reckless to say that universal health care and free college tuition would have saved Devin's life, but she would be the first to point out that such things are necessary and must be won. Then, she would wrap up by calling for workers' power.
Our struggles won't be the same without her. Devin has and will continue to inspire her friends, allies and comrades to carry on the fights to which she devoted her life.
Comrade, we will miss you, but we will never forget you. Devin Cohee: Presente!
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RIP Devin
-Chris G.
Photos: Skating together in Kabul -- latimes.com
Posted using ShareThis
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Skating makes everyday feel like a good day. Who can you spot in the video below?
Hint:
Can this be Mass Movement's very own Tadillac disguising himself with a fake mustache?
On July 30, 2009, Melissa Roxas speaks to the crowd that gathered at the Court of Appeals. She thanks friends, colleagues and comrades for their support throughout her ordeal.
And I'm loving the new album "The Ecstatic." One of the few new albums on constant rotation for me this summer.
Mos Def - "Casa Bey" - The Ecstatic - 6.9.09
-Chris G.
July 30, 2009 6 pm
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church
756 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA
On the night of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo’s meeting with President Obama, we’re gathering to remember human rights victims and to pray for meaningful change in the militarized situation in the Philippines . Clergy, musicians and concerned advocates from around the Bay area will meet to reflect, sing, light candles and sign a letter to Barack Obama asking him to hold the Philippine Government and its military accountable for the abduction and torture of hundreds of activists, including American citizen Melissa Roxas.
Since Arroyo came to power in 2001, hundreds of clergy, activists and human rights workers have been illegally harassed, abducted, tortured and murdered. Reliable sources such as the United Nations and Amnesty International put the total at 600 disappeared or killed in the last eight years, with additional hundreds of thousands indiscriminately displaced by military exercises and fear-mongering.
In May 2009, an American citizen, Melissa Roxas, was illegally abducted and tortured while on a medical relief mission in the Philippines . President Obama must demand justice for her and for all the other human rights victims in the Philippines . The US taxpayers do not want to support corrupt foreign governments! Demand justice for the Philippines and stop funding the Philippine military!
We ask you to join us for this time of sharing and prayer.
Contact Lindsey Kerr, USA-Philippines Ecumenical Advocacy Network Coordinator, at
lkerr@psr.edu or 412-576-5763
For more information see www.usapan.wordpress.com
The Tarantino Mixtape from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.
I’m amazed that it’s possible to be more meta than a Quentin Tarantino film. If for some reason you thought that Tarantino’s movies dragged or could have used faster cutting, this mash-up is for you. Simply a must-see.
It’s from Eclectic Method who has also fashioned a remix for 30 Rock, a Fraggle Rock remix, and a remix of the Colbert Report.
(via Popped Culture)
-Chris G.
Did ya'll know that "Death Proof*" was inspired Pilipino Cinema? That's wassup!
Click on it for larger image. Photo by Florence DeKoven
RIP Michael.
-Chris G.
Kobe said that after the Lakers lost game six of the '08 NBA Finals in Boston by 39 points, he was alone in the shower, just fuming. He heard somebody walk in and assumed it was one of his teammates, or maybe a staff member. Instead, he looked up, and it was Ron Artest (to this day, Kobe has no idea how Artest got into the locker room).
"I want to come help you," Artest said. "If I can, I'm going to find a way to come to LA and give you the help you need to win a title."
We don't stab folks with broken table legs for beating us 1-on-1 but Welcome to LA Ron Ron!
Lakers,
Chris G.
