BOCAS RADIOACTIVAS at Galeria de la Raza April 29, 2010

An Evening of Bilingual Spoken Word about Race, Colonialism and Hip-Hop/La poesia y politica del Hip-Hop

APRIL 29, 2010
7:30PM

Featuring:
LOS RAKAS (Panama/Oakland)
BOCAFLOJA (Chilatown, Mexico De Efe)
PAUL S. FLORES

And special guest ALEJANDRA MOJICA
With DJ AZTEC PARROT

A Spanish- English spoken word event to bring awareness to Black Latino heritage, immigrant rights and Spanglish culture through the global lens of the Hip-Hop generation. Also celebrating the release of Bocafloja’s book of political hip-hop poetry in Spanish entitled ImargiNación.

Se habla Español…con ganas.

Tix $10 (none turned away for lack of funds)

Galeria de la Raza
2857 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-4234
(415) 826-8009
www.galeriadelaraza.org

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ARTIST BIOS

Paul S. Flores is a poet, playwright, novelist and nationally prominent spoken word artist from San Francisco who specializes in bilingual and hip-hop performance. His novel Along the Border Lies won the 2003 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award.. Flores most recent plays Fear of a Brown Planet (2005) and REPRESENTA! (2007) were both National Performance Network Creation Fund Commissions. Flores was featured on Russell Simmons Present: Def Poetry on HBO and was recently awarded a Center for Cultural Innovation grant to tour Latin America. He is the co-founder of Youth Speaks and currently teaches Hip-Hop Theater and Spoken Word at the University of San Francisco. For more info: http://www.myspace.com/paulfloresrepresenta

Bocafloja is a MC, poet, spoken word artist, and outspoken social communicator from Mexico City, Mexico. Bocafloja began his musical career in the mid-90's with the groups Lifestyle (1996-1998) and Microphonk (1999). As a solo artist since 2000, he released his demo EP album Lengua Insurrecta in 2002. Bocafloja burst on the Mexican hip hop scene with the release of the his debut album, Pienso Luego Existo, in 2003. Followed by the successes of Jazzyturno in 2004, A Titulo Personal in 2005, El Manual de la Otredad in 2007, and Existo: Matriz Preludio al Pienso in 2009, Bocafloja has transformed into one of the most revered icons in the hip hop scene in Mexico. Lyrically Bocafloja critically addresses topics such as institutionalized racism, social and political oppression, mental slavery, colonialism, and other human conditions. Bocafloja is recognized in Mexico as the pioneer of the utilization of hip hop culture as an alternative tool to create awareness, developing a different form for political participation that reaches and is more relevant to marginalized youth. Bocafloja currently lives and works between New York, California and Mexico City. More http://www.myspace.com/bocafloja

Los Rakas includes Ricardo Guillam Bethancourt and Abdull Dominguez. Better known as Rico and Dun Dun, they were just toddlers back in 1989. But their memories of that time are vivid. In their song "Invasion of Panama '89," they use archival news clips and somber lyrics to recount the violence that engulfed their Panama City neighborhoods. Like hundreds of Panamanians, Rico's grandfather died in the violence. Rico says he wrote the song so more people, especially Americans, would be aware of the pattern of U-S military intervention in other countries. RICO: "The thing that was going on with Iraq, that kind of reminded me of it. So I'm like, here we go again you know." But don't get the wrong idea. Rico and his cousin Dun Dun, now in their early 20s, have lived half their lives in the U.S. And they say they're grateful for all it has given them. Their debt to this country is apparent in their music. English and Spanish take turns over beats that merge Bay Area hip hop with the Caribbean rhythms of Panama. They have just released their second CD Panabay Twist 2. For more info: http://www.losrakas.com
Alejandra Mojica was raised in the Mission district of Frisco, and has been performing most of her life through dance, theater and spoken word. For the past nine years she has worked in after school programming, creating her own curriculum designed for social justice, youth empowerment and creative expression. She recently started a group called “TekpatlPoets”, a small group who uses spoken word and hip hop theater as a tool to educate and liberate as well as self-expression and self love. Alejandra grew up in the world of performing arts and the social justice movement. She has taken her passion for education, her responsibility to youth empowerment, and her exposure to event production and has begun a new chapter in her life producing various community and youth events. She is currently organizing and producing an all ages concert with Los Rakas and collaborating with various Bay Area artists. Alejandra hopes to one day have a significant impact on the education system to fully meet the needs of the youth and will continue to provide positive spaces for youth to express themselves and build community.

Official Website: http://galeriadelaraza.org/eng/events/index.php