Beat Rock &You Don't Stop

SOUNDS OF A NEW HOPE

"If you didn't know, October is Philipin@ American History Month! This month, Kaba will be focusing on preserving the gifts of the motherland, starting with the opening ceremony tonight at 7pm in DBH 1100! There will be live performances by amazing artists, as well as a live remix of "Sounds of a New Hope." There will be a Q&A session/meet and greet afterwards, so you don't want to miss out because it's gonna be sick! SEE YOU THERE!!

-Lisa Tran (of UCI Kaba)

This just happened. :)

OMG. Did i really just get a friend request from DJ FatGums? thebeatrockers are coming up!

Rocky Rivera - Slick Talk

Rocky Rivera drops a verse over Dilla's "F*ck the Police" beat. Listen to the entire song or download the Pop Killer Mixtape for free at www.beatrockmusic.com

"Middle finger to the cops."

More about the Filipino Community Center in the Excelsior District of San Francisco that Nomi from Power Struggle works and organizes with.  This space does great work for the community, especially the youth.  

I personally used to go to the FCC after school just to chill or to attend workshops about social justice and the Filipino community.  I remember learning about immigration, class issues, the Hacienda Luisita massacre, and Filipino history, things that I would never learn about in school, but were all extremely relevant and important to me.  We need to continue educating the youth to continue that pipeline of critical consciousness and activism.

Shout out to Pele, TIBAK, and Lowell High School's Fil-Am club!

Here's a documentary that features Nomi from the hip hop group, Power Struggle.  Nomi talks about how he connects his music and work to issues of social justice in order to educate the community through hip hop.  He keeps it real, talking about his own sexist tendencies of objectifying women and how he is battling with his privilege of being a male.  I admire the fact that he acknowledges sexism within hip hop.  Even conscious male, non-queer hip hop artists, leaders, and organizers can demonstrate (hetero)sexism in their work and in their actions.  They typically talk about issues of race and class, but these artists rarely discuss issues of gender and sexual orientation.  The beautiful thing about Nomi's work (and the work of other Beatrock Music artists) is that he is trying to be conscious of empowering Filipin@-American youth not at the expense of oppressing other marginalized groups, but instead trying to uplift and empower all communities at the same time.

Side note, Nomi does work in the Excelsior district and the Filipino Community Center, where I grew up and attended workshops during high school.  Shout out to the FCC for seriously being the spark to learning about these issues, developing this critical mind, and igniting this passion for social justice within me.

And another shout out to my friend, Eric Tondoc, for filming and editing this dope documentary.