</black> <!--5:12 PM--><black> Rockin' out the Native vote - 'Rez Rock the Vote' airs on PBS Email this page
Posted: October 06, 2004
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Navajo punk rockers Blackfire are headlining the Navajo Get Out The Vote concert tour on the Navajo Nation. Meanwhile, Indian country's leading country, folk and rock 'n' roll bands - Freddy Fender, Clandestine, Keith Secola, Casper, Ethnic D'Generation and Red Feather - will be onstage in a free concert on Election Day in Phoenix.
''We have to participate in democracy, otherwise it doesn't work,'' said Klee Benally, lead singer of Blackfire.
Now, with Democrats and Republicans seeking the Native vote in 2004, Benally said it is the perfect time for change; time for Native people to say what they want and make sure elected leaders follow through on promises.
On the Navajo Nation, about one-half of the more than 200,000 Navajos are under the age of 25, with a large population of voting age.
Blackfire's efforts began last November, when the band took its show on the road, along with its voter registration drive, and swept through Kayenta, Pinon and Tuba City, in the western part of the Navajo Nation.
''Everything is free, we are even investing our own money in this so we can get people registered to vote. We're doing this to educate people about the importance of the Native vote,'' said Benally.
''Rez Rock the Vote'', a mini-documentary now airing on PBS in 26 states, also features Blackfire. Band members Klee Benally, his sister Jeneda and brother Clayson, talk with others about the power of the Native vote.
Benally said the reaction has been tremendous, with many Navajos in remote areas realizing for the first time that their vote in national elections can make a difference.
Although many people take the right to vote for granted, he said Arizona Indians did not even gain the right to vote until 1948.
Benally said political decisions affect American Indians' way of life.
While American Indians have been victims of the nation's politics in the past, he said now is the time to change things for the better. Voting, however, is just one part of the process.
''We have to apply ourselves, we can't stop here.''
Benally said he was frightened by comments President Bush made to journalists at the UNITY conference this summer. He said as the head of state, with a government-to-government relationship with Indian tribes, he should be able to define sovereignty.
''He doesn't understand sovereignty, what does that mean for our future? We need responsible leadership,'' Benally said. ''Voting is the least you can do.''
Navajo Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan said the Navajo Nation was excited about the idea of a Native vote rock concert when Blackfire approached tribal leaders.
''This is a chance for our youth to have fun, register to vote and become more involved in the democratic process. The message is greater when it comes from other young people,'' Morgan said.
In Arizona, American Indians represent about 6 percent of the population. However, they represent 19 percent of the state's eligible voter pool, according to the National Congress of American Indians.
Arizona Indian musicians are also making history in Phoenix.
Celebrating the Fort McDowell Yavapai who won the right to vote for Arizona Indians, the ''Native-POLL-Ooza'' concert in Phoenix promises to be the first of its kind in Arizona Indian voting concerts.
''The concert is well timed,'' said Debra Yellowjohn, lead organizer of the Native American Community Organizing Project. Yellowjohn points out that it has been only 56 years since Americans Indians in Arizona secured their right to vote.
It was 1948 and the result of the landmark court case brought by two Fort McDowell Yavapai, Frank Harrison and Harry Austin. It was a long time coming.
''The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, as well as the 1948 lawsuit that secured the right of Arizona Indians to vote, were made possible through the leadership of Arizona Native Americans.''
While Indian musicians are gearing up, both Democrats and Republicans are vying for the Native vote. President Bush met with tribal leaders and veterans during the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian and reaffirmed tribal sovereignty.
The Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. is now preparing American Indian field directors and hosting the first ever Native American Field Training Program.
With more than 20 tribal members being trained to lead operations, Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said, ''This is an important part of the largest grassroots campaign in our country's history to help turn out the Native American vote.''
New Native American Field Directors are being deployed to battleground states with significant Native American populations including Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and Minnesota, he said.
Meanwhile in Phoenix, ''Native-POLL-Ooza'' is urging American Indians to get out and vote, with the concert on Nov. 2. It features Freddy Fender, a GRAMMY and Country Music Award winner, DJ Able, a Native drum group and folk and rock headliners Clandestine, Keith Secola, Casper, Ethnic D'Generation and Red Feather are on the lineup.
Jonodev Chaudhuri, co-chair of the concert planning committee, said the free concert is open to the public and designed to foster voter awareness and showcase Arizona's vital role in the political landscape. ''It is our hope that many Native Americans and other Arizona residents will vote and come to the concert for great music, good friends and a celebration of their citizenship.''
Chaudhuri said the concert serves as a capstone to many ongoing American Indian voting efforts. Organizers said attendees are encouraged to bring their ''I Voted Today'' stickers and other items to celebrate their citizenship and participation in the voting process.
The concert will be Nov. 2, noon - 9 p.m., at the Phoenix Indian School Park at Central Avenue and Indian School Road.
For information on the Navajo Nation tour, contact Karen Francis (928) 871-6384 or visit Blackfire at www.blackfire.net. </black> <!--4:49 PM-->
<black> Where to begin...
The Trutnov festival in northern Czech Rep. started during (fascist) communism with a bunch of passionate people running about in the woods hiding from the police in order to celebrate music. Today, the festival hosts about 10,000 people over a weekend. We shared the bill with Motorhead, Panteon Rococo and a plethora of great Czech bands like the Tataboys. We also shared tea, political conversation and even Hare Krishna food amidst the muddy trash ridden grounds of the "Woodstock of the Czech Republic". It was cool to see a Khans punk band ripping out versions of the Krishna Mantra and to sit around a fire soaking up the warmth and visit with our friends who hitchhiked 24 hours from Poland to see our shows. We also were surprised by some of our friends from Rudolstadt, Germany... you crazy girls!
Thanks to everyone who signed our petitions to help save the San Francisco Peaks from ski resort development! www.savethepeaks.org.
The last date of the tour was in Prague, the enchanting ancient city that is cut in two by the Moldov River. The show was at the Rock Cafe' in the old center. We played with our friends Gaia Messiah, who play a mixture of heavy power chords and a little reggae mixed with political tones. They rock. The club was packed and it was a little hard to breathe... like when you deny oxygen to a candle... I admit I almost passed out twice during the show. We've played Prague quite a few times and it was cool to hear so many people singing along with our songs. We were also surprised by a visit from some more of our friends who drove all the way from Poland. We also connected with some of our friends from Flagstaff who live in Prague now, if you ever get the chance to check out the city, I’m sure you'd see why there's such an attraction there.
Head spinning Jet-lag
breathing the dry Arizona air
The corn is high, the sheep and horses are fine too.
It's good to be back within the four sacred mountains.
Thanks to everyone who came out to all the shows on our '04 Euro-tour! Hope to see ya'll next time!
We'll be posting some video, pics and hopefully MP3s of some of the live shows. So stay tuned!
Peace!
Klee
</black> <!--4:21 PM-->
<black> Hey hey hey!
Were here in Vienna... strong coffee (i usually don't drink that muchcoffee so its a bit much for me) and enough crazy architecture to keep your head spinning (oh the marvels of "civilization"). Its our second time in Vienna but last time we were here for one show and out in a flash... so there was no time to really soak up the atmosphere. Today we had the whole day to wander around and lose ourselves (almost) in the complex complexities that make up this strange and old city. The show was cool witha nice intimate crowd and a surprise of someone who turned up that was at the Grassroots festival in Ithaca New York! (no singing of "its a small world...") We will be off to Czech Republic in the morning. PEACE!
-klee
p.s.
Ive been receiving emails of how the FBI is harassing people who might be linked to the Republican National Convention protests that will be in NYC in September. http://www.rncnotwelcome.org/ www.indymedia.org Some scary (and funny) stuff (see links below). I hope y'all who are going will be safe!
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/18/politics/18protests.html?th Inquiry IntoF.B.I. Questioning Is Sought
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/18/nyregion/18buttons.html?th Just Keep ItPeaceful, Protesters; New York Is Offering Discounts http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/nyregion/20protests.html?th AnarchistsEmerge as the Convention's Wild Card
For information on your rights when dealing with the FBI go to: > http://www.nlg.org/resources/kyr/kyr_poster.pdf
</black> <!--5:22 PM-->
<black> Just wanted to give the website for the Czech fest...
http://trutnov.openair.cz/
</black> <!--2:23 AM-->
<black> Hey!
Where to begin...
My head is spinning with these Swiss keyboards... letters numbers all mixed up for me.
It felt good to return to the Reithalle Club/Squat in Bern, Switzerland. We started the evening off with the Documentary "Incident at Ogalala" about prisoner of war Leonard Peltier www.freepeltier.org, if you haven't seen it i urge you to. Then our friend Bobby Castillo, who was in prison for a bit with Leonard, gave an update about his case and about the abuses that Leonard has suffered while in prison. It was great to play and visit with our friends at the Reithalle. They've been through many transitions since we played there last, now they are an "official" squat, it sounds like a contradiction, and maybe it is, but from what everybody i talked to who works/lives there says its for the better. From what i understand the Reithalle is an old riding stable/station that was abandoned and subsequently taken over by individuals who wanted an autonomous space. With a lot of community organizing they were able to make one of the best squats i think ive ever been to, It has a big club for shows, one of the largest infoshops ive ever been in, a dojo/dance studio, two theatres (one for cinema, the other for plays), a restaurant, a cafe, a print shop, a space for people to live and a huge space that used to be an indoor riding arena that now has basketball courts and hosts huge raves. With the organization consisting of small collectives that independently run the separate spaces then meeting to coordinate how things run as a whole, they've been able to maintain the space despite many battles with the police for obvious reasons. Now, from what i gather, they have signed a contract with the city of Bern making their presence official, meaning that they now have to pay taxes and insurance for the benefit of city funding for renovation and a more peaceful existence that is fairly insured. Its a tough issue, but again it seems that overall the people who work there are happy with it.
http://www.reithalle.ch/reitschule/index.shtml check it out.
The next day we went to a museum and saw their "Indian show". It was disturbing to see Yei Bi Chei masks on display. This is a very serious affront to traditional Dine' practice and we made it known that it was not appropriate to show such sacred ceremonial objects. (We just received an email saying that the masks were pulled from the exhibit and that they are trying to trace where they came from!)
The next show was in Yverdon at the squat La Bergerie, which is in the Swiss country side. It is a cool autonomous space created by a nice group of HC punx on the edge of a large industrial farm. They had a Tipi set up so at first i wasn't sure what to expect, with so many people with romantic notions of native people, im never sure what i might find. We had a great meal and show (although not many ppl dancing) and they had a very cool "free room", with all sorts of clothes and shoes and random items.
Last night was in Bienne at the Schrott Bar which is another squat (Switzerland has so many of them!!!) that is like a trailer park of sorts but in the middle of town with these carnival looking trailers and punks galore. The stage was a sand floor and wood structure that was like something you might find in Tuba City, tarps and lights and dogs running around. We had a chance to play with a HC band from Chile.
We got to play for about 15 minutes then the cops came to try to shut it down, at first noone wanted to stop so we waited, then we played a couple more songs, sang some traditional ones and by then more cops showed up and it was clear that it was time to go. Apologies to ya'll who came from quite aways to see us, we'll make it up next time.
As you know the show tonight was cancelled cause the squat exil was closed.
Exil is exiled.
More later as we find our way through Europe again!
peace!
Klee
Check it out...
http://www.indiancountry.com/index.php?1090592272
Gonzales and Rodriguez: What the big, fat filmmaker left outColumn Of The Americas
</black> <!--8:00 AM-->
<black> St. Nicodeme at the Ty Pikouz Club was a great show, thanks to everyone for sticking around considering how late we played and how remote the club was.
Wonderful firelight conversations and observations as the smoke filled the night.
Now were here in the Alps of Switzerland. Yesterday we performed our traditional dances in Alp Flix, high up in the mountains on a treacherous road. Its cool to connect with the Romansch (sp?) people, who have their own language and traditions in the Alps. They are not very recognized yet they distinguish themselves very much from the rest of Switzerland.
more later...
klee
Heres a link to the article i was speaking about that i have some quotes in:
Temperatures rise after documentary
Michael Moore?s film doing what mainstream media is not
by: Brenda Norrell Indian Country Today
http://www.indiancountry.com/index.php?1091216111
</black> <!--4:21 PM-->
<black> Just got done playing and dancing at the Les Escales Festival http://www.les-escales.com in Saint Nazaires France.
Clayson' s broken foot didn't stop him from tearing through the one and a half hour set we played before the massive crowd. Thanks to all ya'll who stuck around and talked afterwards!
I also screened the documentary "Sacred Mountain Under Siege" at the festival as well, although its a work in progress it got a great response. It was refreshing to see that a lot of people could connect with the issue and felt the need to do something to help stop the proposed development on the San Francisco Peaks www.savethepeaks.org. Ill be finish up editing and setting up some screenings when we get back to AZ so keep an eye out.
It was great to connect with our friends Lojo http://www.lojo.org/index.php and Tinariwen http://www.triban-union.com/tin_bio.php again. Tinariwen is the powerful Toureg group from Mali, and Lojo is the mysteriously wonderful group from here in Anger, France. Keep your ears open for some collaborations in the future!
The traditional dance show was great as well. Its always refreshing to connect with other indigenous peoples who are sharing their dances and songs as well as their stories of their struggles and their ways of resistance. Les Escales festival hosted Tibetans, Palestinians, Toureg, and more!
As long as we're in reach of a keyboard thats plugged in and online well be posting... so keep checkin back!
Peace,
Klee
Here's some interesting links:
Bush explains meaning of tribal sovereigntyFriday, August 6, 2004
http://64.62.196.98/News/2004/003738.asp
http://www.jibjab.com/
</black> <!--3:19 PM-->
<black> http://slambush.net
On Monday, some of our friends are launching a $5000 national hip-hop and slam poetry contest to tell the truth about Bush. They will release a flash movie created by Free Range Graphics --the geniuses who brought you the Meatrix-- the most successful flash movie ever. They're giving their list to the League of Pissed Off Voters for us to organize with. So when the movie comes out on Monday, send it around like crazy, ok? - Billy Wimsatt
Check it out... maybe we can have some native MC's represent!
-Klee
</black> <!--1:43 AM-->
<black> Ok, Ok...
Its been awhile since the last post, i know. But if you've been following what we've been doin, you might understand...
The Warped Tour was awesome to say the least, although it was a bit of a strain with the long drives and the fact that some of the venues were Clear Channel sponsored, all the music made up for it. Thanks to everyone who came down to see/hear us play! esp. ya'll from the rez who made it to the PHX show, Ahee' hee'!
Our crew consisted of the amazing and daring Michelle Mcleskey on sound and Ralo the great & all powerful for all things tech related.
It was frightening how much waste was produced everyday of the tour, from backstage catering to the show grounds as a whole, it definitely wasn't a sustainable tour. It'd be cool to get an estimate of how much waste was produced from the whole tour and see if there would be any way of setting up a recycling program. Aside from the expected pop-punk(isn't that a contradiction?) there were some cool bands; Unit F(who kick serious ass!) , our bro Kees (sp? who was the first native hip-hop representin'), Casualties (Incan fronted!), Anti-Flag (who broke down and Clayson ended up helping 'em out and drivin' to PHX with 'em in their bus that had its septic backing up.) Die-Hunns, Rise Against (thanx fer the pink sweatband!), Left Alone (Who kick out a mean Bar-B-Que), Flogging Mollies... and some pirates ;) . Most o' the people just wanted free stuff, which worked out cause we had lots of free info on various issues. The Take Action tent was cool too. The whole set-up was very Roma like... traveling masses of musicians with an energy towards the same direction of expression and creativity.
I'd be remiss if i didn't mention the grimey major label hands in almost everything, but theres money and politics everywhere, and of course theres an underground that creeps into that too.
PETA was there with spray paint tags for your body(environmentally friendly?) and their usual info which is cool, but while i support their goals, i draw the line at supporting objectification of women and other sexist means, and their failed "got beer" campaign to challenge the "got milk" propaganda.
Punk Voter was there in full force, it was cool to hear just about every other band slam Bushit.
I had a good talk with a Punk Voter rep about how it seems PVer is a tool for the democrats in the sense that they're not acknowledging the need for something more than a 2 party cystem and how while Kerry would be my choice over Bushit, he still voted for the invasion of Iraq and wants to send more of our brothers and sisters to occupy other indigenous people's lands.
I liked Anti-Flag's statement, " vote for Kerry this time, then kick his ass out of office next time". But personally i still have a lot of issues with the cystem as a whole. Check out our voting links in the news section. On the subject, the first day of Warped Tour in Houston was postponed due to rain so we went to see F911 with our friends Tristan(http://www.cowboykiller.com/) and Jason (thanx for the tix). We witnessed a TV crew get kicked out for asking ppl questions about the movie (funny, don't they usually like the attention? more ppl to the theatres right?) and a cop guarding an usher cause unruly Bushit supporters were physically threatening the innocent employee.
Theres a cool review in Indian Country Today about the Native perspective on the film, i think i have a quote in there somewhere. I just hope ppl don't walk out of the movie thinking that if Bush goes, everything will be fine. I also would have hoped that Michael Moore would have mentioned OUR responsibility for the invasion due to our dependency on fossil fuels, then focused on some alternatives like Straight Veggie Oil vehicles, Bikes, Fuel Cell (didn't Bush mention something about that in a speech a long time ago?) and lifestyle choices that we could make that lessen our overall usage. (i know, i know, we tour in a gas guzzling van and im not about to justify it, although i do have a Diesel Mazda that im converting to SVO).
Unfortunately(Fortunately?:)) due to a festival we were promoting in Flagstaff we couldn't be on the rest of the tour, maybe next year ;).
We helped to put on a Native American Arts and Culture Festival in the good 'ol town of Flag.
We danced one weekend with our traditional group, the Jones Benally Family, and played the next week at the Coconino Center for the Arts. We played with our friend Yaiva (see spelled it right!) and had a very special appearance by an old friend David Ramos. For those of you who know us, from years back, we used to have David interpret some of our old songs with modern dance. Now i know it might be hard for some of ya'll to imagine, but then i guess you'd just have to see it. David is an amazing dancer, it was actually about 10 years ago or so we performed a complete choreographed show with him at the Center. Ill just say that it was about conflicts of tradition and progress and ended with David Ramos with a bowl of fake blood and an Amerikan flag.
The next show was at the All Peoples Power Summit hosted by the Black Mesa Water Coalition http://www.blackmesawatercoalition.org/ on the west side of the San Francisco Peaks.
Despite the dive-bombing beetles and trampoline stage, it was one of my favorite shows of the year. An intimate crowd of active people from all around gettin down in the forest.
The show was completely powered by solar!
At the same time we were helping to put on a panel discussion on contemporary Native issues at the Center (Clayson was a guest panelist) and the Southwest Native American Film and Video Festival at the Museum of Northern Arizona. With the help of Indigenous Action Media www.blackfire.net/iam, Flagstaff Cultural Partners and the MNA, we brought some awesome films and videos from the region. Check out Shonie DelaRosa's work at http://www.sheepheadfilms.com/. I was editing all week and weekend so i didnt get to enjoy as much of the summit as i wanted to but i was also MCing the Film/Video Fest as well. The DVD of my documentary about the San Francisco Peaks controversy http://www.savethepeaks.org/ with the ski resort trying to make snow from wastewater didnt work! I was so stressed out, but i did get to play a part of the video and it was a good plug to get new equipment for Indigenous Action Media (you can make a tax deductible donation to Indigenous Action Media email: indigenous_action_media@yahoo.com
we are trying to get a Powerbook G4 to finish editing the Documentary :)).
Did I mention that were here in Germany right now?
We just landed and we start our Eurotour '04 in a couple of days!
More later...
Peace,
Klee
</black> <!--8:11 AM-->
<black> Hey from Paris... </black> <!--5:12 PM-->
<black> Just arrived in Paris... Scribblings from a table top napkin:
Paris graveyard attraction
jet lagged fractions of dreams deprived
backyard bohemian scenes contrived
mosaics of
catacombs
Eiffel towers
and various depictions of important unimportant monuments to some dead man who fought some dead mans war,
all for few crisp new euro a piece
sentimental trash
mementos from tourist ghettos of the world
decorations for dusty mantles above dusty televisions for dusty unflickering eyes
35mm transients armed with lightening flashes and deer in the headlights eyes...
poised to consume every inch of every view... because it is made just for them to devour...
disposable scenery is scattered bedding for destitute lovers who have too much money for the cops to bother and not enough money for the cops to bother
they searched for centuries
spices, slaves, gold...
so our minds the neo-colony for neo-conquest.
ads dive-bomb every sense...
sex sells smells, buys on and tries on sweatshop clothes and parades down the Champs Elisees in mute ceremony kissing broken reflections in store front windows... this was all made for us... we would never lick the Styrofoam clean, so
throw it away...
the wind has wings for us all.
(i'll see about those grape leaves Audrey :))
-Klee </black> <!--11:00 AM-->
<black> Dispatch from Klee
(the views here are my own)
Where were we last? ...sweating, energy, dancing and singing along at...
a Native Youth summit in California. Under the stars in Mexico. Eugene, Oregon at a Break the Chains solidarity event for "Free" that got the FBI 's interest and media machine moving...
Jeffrey Luers, also known as Free, is considered to be an "eco-terrorist" by the U.S. Government, but he continually denies any ties any "radical" earth liberation groups. He was sentenced to 22.8 years in prison for torching 3 SUVs back in 2000, although no one was hurt and he and his friend Critter (who accepted a plea bargain and received around 5 years) did everything in their power to make sure no one would be harmed. He struck out against the gas guzzling vehicles because he said that their use is a direct link to global warming and the extinction of many species on this planet.
Although we do not agree with his actions, the fact that Free's sentence is more severe than most murders and rapists is what should alarm everyone.
Free's sentence is absurd in this system that is based off of the destruction of the earth and terrorizes people of the earth, in this system that will not support global actions to reverse the effects of global warming and basically gives "slaps on the wrists" or even rewards corporations for destroying ecosystems, which ultimately results in violence against us all. Its hard not to think that the label "eco-terrorist" would fit better applied to those truly terrorizing the ecosystem.
Ramona Africa, one of two survivors of the State-initiated bombing of MOVE in Philly and once a political prisoner herself, stated at the Break the Chains event, "How can we expect the masters to free the slaves?". Her words unfortunately ring too many truths in relation to how we address all of our current political struggles, whether protecting sacred sites, against forced relocation, against uranium mining or working for justice for political prisoner Leonard Peltier who was convicted of killing two FBI agents... a crime he did not commit.
At the event Free's father expressed that his son was not a terrorist and how Free basically had just lost hope.
Free's actions are a symptom of wounds that need to heal. He was motivated out of desperation, like so many other individuals that strike out against material symbols (as Free did with no intent to harm anyone), themselves or others because they may have no other release for their pain or anger.
In video "Green with a vengeance", Free at one point says that he wanted to get people to see what was going on with the destruction of the environment and the extreme rate of extinction of many species.
We may not agree with his tactics maybe we can reach out and help heal the wounds in our communities that create the type of environment that lead individuals to take such desperate actions.
Free has an appeal to his sentence coming up in July, check out www.freefreenow.org for more info.
What Would Geronimo Do?
-K </black> <!--4:52 PM-->
<black> ::Dispatch from Mazatlan, Mexico::
Here we are, under the waxing moon and right next to the Pacific. A beat-up drum kit broken and fixed with mass amounts of whatever we could find, but Claysons played on worse so no problem. A mass of people eyes wide and ears ringing.
Dust and heat unrelenting. Sweat, lights and our music echoing off the "rich gringo" hotels down the road. Maka (sp?), Huichole(sp?), Yoreme and many more indigenous people sharing food, song and dance.
May 30th - Day off... beach, sun, good food. Shells, waves, political discourse to fill the belly. Struggles evrywhere. Noone likes Bush.
-K </black> <!--6:19 PM-->
<black> Hola mi amigos,
greetings from Culiacan... Tonight was the first ever Blackfire performance in Mexico, and what an incredible evening... We shared the stage with a traditional dance group from Paraguay, the Ma'ka. Despite the technical difficulties there was some massive energy. The show was opened with the hoop dance performed by our father Jones Benally, then Klee took the stage with the hoops as well showing that we are still carrying on our culture despite the struggles we face against assimilation and colonization. There are so many issues being addressed in this festival... with the survival of our indigenous cultures as the underlying theme. The more we tour and travel across this world we see how indigenous peoples everywhere from the Sahara deserts of Africa to the Yoreme of here in Sinaloa Mexico are in the same struggle, each one of us has something learn from the way we each are healing the wounds of our oppression.
It is hard to describe the feeling of meeting so many tribes that we never knew even existed. The opening ceremony on the first night was a stage filled many different traditional cultures from the 4 directions of the world. Each tribe singing their way onto the stage, each dressed in their own traditional style of clothing.
Well it's off to Mazatlan tomorrow, tourist meca.
-BF </black> <!--10:46 PM-->
<black> Hey! Back from California... The San Francisco State University show had some high energy! Special thanks to SKINS and everyone who brought us there. I wish we had more time at the Sha'bon Waya Festival, so many of our friends were there for the workshops and to play. Everything ran a little late (just about everybody got lost trying to find the site), but the energy was strong. We are greateful to AZTLAN UNDERGROUND and all the performers who kicked some powerful energy!
peace,
klee </black> <!--8:41 PM-->
/archives
