Haven't spoken with y'all since August!!! Again, my apologies...Still in the process of learning how to balance varying responsibilities and reflecting on how I should of done more of this "punk stuff" when I was younger, haha! But who cares, we're doing it now and that's what matters right? This is an interview with Oxnard/El Rio, California's Sordo. Sordo are a powerviolence band. Powerviolence is a more extreme and spastic manifestation of hardcore punk. As explained in the DIY Noise interview below, "powerviolence" emerged as a subculture within punk in the late 80's and early 90's and has continued well into the present day.
Before I forget anything here is the link to the Sordo 7" EP. It is AMAZING!!!!
The involvement of youth of color in subcultures is very deep and needs
to be further unpacked, situated, and contextualized vis a vis other
mechanisms of marginalization, oppression, racialized social control,
inadequate schooling etc.
What healthy, creative, and
culturally affirming responses can our youth generate to a world that
seems to be forgetting them and neglecting them???
Anyhow, here is the Sordo interview we did a
while back (I believe it was late Summer last year), it's audio with
images of the band. We still haven't completed Staycool Fanzine #2, but we promise
that it will be JAM PACKED and well worth the wait...topics include the
Post Morrissey Xican@ essay, Imaginary Chola Complex essay, band pics,
interviews, a demo release of our sister label for a new band named
Sendero (Revolution Summer meets indigenismo/indigeneity/decolonial
hardcore) and a t-shirt. Keep your eyes peeled.
Staycool Fanzine #1.5
Cultural Wealth in the Hood #2
Well it's been a while since the last post. Like about 7 months or so? Sheesh!!! My apologies!!! Chalk it up to an inability to effectively manage time, being stressed about about teaching, not asking others for help, busting a (I guess it's 'masculine') lone wolf approach to life, etc. That said, the print edition of Staycool (aka STC) Fanzine is about 70% done. Yes, despite all of the challenges to producing an 'old-school' style fanzine I will remain true to the DIY Hardcore Punk fanzine aesthetic of cut and paste. At least until it becomes too much of a headache and my creative pursuits clash with some of my 'professional' responsibilities. The ultimate goal is to intertwine both of these interests/responsibilities and create a curriculum by which youth can express themselves through writing, critical media, and art.
That said, in our first installment of DIY Noise we look at the hardcore punk phenomenon of "powerviolence". Powerviolence is a more extreme, abrasive, and spastic incarnation of punk. It's pretty much the personification (to an extent) of punk rock/hardcore parodies, where folks are just playing fast while screaming lyrics in a spastic and unrestrained manner. Critical/radical deconstructions of the punk subculture (see White Riot: Punk Rock and the Politics of Race) tend to look at the way in which whiteness and the varying manifestations of racism (overt, colorblind, casual, etc.) interact and intersect within a self-proclaimed radically progressive and revolutionary subculture, one in which whiteness itself is an identity that can be traded in for a 'punk' identity. Some critiques of punk focus solely on punk as a 'white' counter-cultural expression and negate the tremendous influence and role people of color have had on this subculture since its inception. In fact, Punks of Color continue to exert a revolutionary role, truly embodying the universal ideals of rebellion.
Currently, the Chicano/Latino punk scenes, the Afro-Punk scene (www.afropunk.com), the Pakistani punk scene, the Indian punk scene, the Central American/Caribbean and South American punk scenes, the multiple Asian and Pacific punk scenes, and the African punk scenes all push the parameters of musical expressions to its limits (it is also crucial to mention the role of queer folk and wombyn in all of these scenes, they ultimately go above and beyond punk). Relying on an anti-corporate and sometimes de-colonial aesthetic punk scenes established by folks of color remind us of the tremendously vibrant and dynamic nature of communities of color throughout the world. They remind us of the tenacity of these communities in the face of social and institutional hurdles, reminding us of the Mos Def lyric from Mathematics, where "hip hop passed all your tall social hurdles like the nationwide projects, prison-industry projects, working class poor better keep your alarm set, streets to loud to ever hear freedom ring". The lyric rings solemnly true.Youth of color in the United States, and worldwide, continue to face perilous realities, the school to prison pipeline, racist criminal justice system, unequal schools, historic deportation rates, racialized War on Terror, Islamophobia, under-served communities, disproportionate unemployment and underemployment, failed Drug War etc. At least in the United States we are living in the age of what legal scholar Michelle Alexander refers to as the New Jim Crow where our African American communities are subjected to punitive and degenerated systems of law. We are living in an era where African Americans and Latinos continuously become incarcerated or die because of an unjust and ineffective Drug War, one in which banks (HSBC, Wells Fargo) play a direct morbid role. With the weight of history, poverty and internalized hate makes our people do heartbreaking things.
Despite this, our communities remain as places of resilience. We create art, culture, and beauty from struggle, inequality, and pain. I suppose this can be healing in some instances.
We only hope we were able to situate the importance of subculture produced by folks of color, specifically Punks of Color. Under this context, we present to you our series, Situating Subculture - Cultural Wealth in the Hood
¡Viva Juchari Uinapikua!
Cultural Wealth in the Hood: Interview with Oxnard, CA's first powerviolence label DIY Noise
Yo, been a sweet minute since the last update. It's funny how we try to run away from things but they always end up catching up with us right? I guess some of us are just better at pretending everything is okay and we just go through the motions...whatever...Gangstarr said we all must meet our moment of truth...In the mean time here is a little reflection we came up with. Nothing new...I was just tying to fool around with iMovie, haha!
The video is a simplistic and possibly over simplified analysis of the Botas Picudas phenomenon (Mexican pointy boots and Mexican electro music) juxtaposed with the racism and marginalization suffered by indigenous communities in Chihuahua, Mexico. Kinda was just thinking about how cultural imperialism is manifesting itself in Mexico, via the transposable hedonistic American party/club culture (getting fucked up, one night stands, live to party, bullshit we do to numb ourselves and not face certain uncomfortable realities, right?).
To put it in colloquial Chicano English..."Anywayyyyzzzz..." Since the last blog update I started work/teaching and that has always kicked my ass, in addition to taking up a significant portion of my time. That said, I was unable to work on issue number 2 until Winter Break (which just flew by) and so far it looks pretty cool. This issue is gonna deal with "Facing the Pain"...sometimes we just gotta pull up our pants, roll up our sleeves, and say "fuck it" right?
