Katarungan: Rooted and Rising

12May10

I’m honored to be MC’ing Filipino Advocates for Justice’s (formerly FAA) 37th Anniversary Event: Katarungan Rooted and Rising.  One of my favorite things about FAJ is that in the 10 years I’ve known the organization, they’ve always been young at heart.  Youth organizing has been not just an add-on program, but the center of FAJ’s service and power-building work in the Bay Area Filipino community.  Come celebrate FAJ’s youth organizing victories, strong youth leaders in the community, and dope young performers (cuz you know Filipin@s can move and sang!).

Katarungan: Rooted and Rising Thursday May 13    Oakland Asian Cultural Center   6-10PM   Tix $60, $20 Youth under 20

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4 SPRING SHOWS!

23Apr10

After a lot of time in practice tinkering with three new songs, we are finally launching them at 4 upcoming shows.  Come hear “We Need a Cure” – a blues song about our broken health care system, “Relief” – a hard to classify rockin song about ecological reparations – and “Tondo” – a roots reggae influenced song inspired by Andres Bonifacio, revolutionary leader of the Katipunan.  Tondo is also Paul Bolick-Mausisa’s debut as lead vocalist, and mine as a keyboardist and backup singer with Diskarte

Click here for details on these upcoming shows

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Art and Activism panel at Manilatown

25Mar10

Thank you to SF Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines for showing “Under One Sky” the documentary that humanizes the victims of the Maguindanao massacre, a politically motivated tragedy in which 34 journalists plus 23 more people including family members of a rival mayoral canidate were killed.  The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the Maguindanao massacre the single deadliest event for journalists in history.  Andal Ampatuan, Jr. the incumbent mayor was charged with 25 counts of murder.  He was a favorite of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration.

The documentary will be followed by an art and activism panel with me, musician Paul Bolick-Mausisa also of Diskarte Namin, filmmaker RJ Lozano and graphic artist Mike Luat moderated by TJ Basa.

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Isang Siglo for 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day and 5th Anniversary of Babae

14Mar10

This latest Diskarte Namin recording, is dedicated to the women of Babae and GABRIELA USA, and women across the world fighting against violence and for equal rights and a system that will support women’s rights to full self-determination.  ISULONG!

The song was originally written for the 100th anniversary of the Philippine revolution against US occupation.  Translated by Myke Sotero and Igan of DKK Philippines, featuring Ron Quesada on the kulintang.

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SF Supervisors’ Haiti Benefit Friday Feb. 5

02Feb10

Haiti might be out of the news but the Haitian people are not outta our minds – relief work continues to aid the hundreds of thousands made homeless, and to heal the sick, injured and grieving.  And beyond this we’ve got to stay plugged in to do what we can to contribute to a just reconstruction of the nation – this means watchdogging the military and the finance vultures who will try to turn Haiti’s tragedy into an opportunity to make lots of profit and to assert power in the region.  We must help give relief but also help rebuild the social movement organizations that can work to rebuild Haiti by and for the well-being and sovereignty of its own people.  Join the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Diskarte for a short set to benefit Haitiaction.net:

Friday Feb. 5th, 5-7PM The Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell @ Van Ness, SF

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2010: Three 5 Year Anniversaries

20Jan10

2005 was apparently a big year.  Can’t say a good year, because 1 of the three 5 year annivs I’ll be celebrating is the 5 year death anniversary of my like-blood-brother, fellow lead singer of diskarte, and kasama BJ Alisago.  We’ll be celebrating his memory with the launch of the BJ Alisago Memorial Fund for Performance Artists – more info on this to come soon.

But here’s the good part: also celebrating 5-year anniversaries are the Filipino Community Center in the Excelsior District of San Francisco, and the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (where I’m currently working as communications coordinator).

If you’re in the Bay please join Diskarte for these events:

FCC 5th Anniversary Celebration

Friday January 29, 6:30-10PM  San Francisco

purchase tickets here: filipinocc.org

BJ Alisago 5th Anniversary Memorial

Saturday February 6, 1-6PM Vallejo

email diskartenamin@gmail.com for more info

And come to the US Social Forum in June to celebrate GGJ’s 5th anniversary and to build a stronger US movement for another world.

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Diskarte at the 10th Hecho en Califas Festival

09Nov09

Diskarte Namin is happy to come back to La Peña for the 10th annual Hecho en Califas Festival.  The last time we performed at Hecho en Califas was with Jime Salcedo-Malo when we opened for Quetzal – still my favorite show Diskarte has ever done this side of the Northern Philippines  Come out to see us perform Saturday November 14th at 9:00 pm at La Pena in Berkeley. (We’ll go on around 10 ‘ish) We ‘ll be performing new songs, selling our new single and collecting donations for typhoon relief to send to the Philippines. Hope you can come through…it will be a great night full of Bay Area artists. Click here to check out a clip from our new single Desaparacidos:

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New Third Rail Track

03Oct09

Juan and I were asked by our good friends Mia and Alex to play music for their wedding.  At first we were just going to do a few appropriate covers, but then I got hit by a melody that I couldn’t get out of my head, so we turned it into a new and hopefully appropriate original song for a planting ceremony.  The song’s in the style of Zee Avi, who my friend Roseli introduced me to and who I listened to obsessively for the week before Juan and I wrote this song.  Still can’t find a title that we feel good about but wanted to share the track here:

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We’re Going into Recording, People!

02Sep09

Hey all, I am happy to announce that Diskarte is spending the next 3 months recording a new EP with at least 4 new songs and remixes of a couple old favorites.  Before that, we’re recording a new single – DESAPARACIDOS – in honor of Melissa Roxas – one of thousands of victims of state-sponsored violence in the Philippines – and for the Justice for Melissa campaign.  Stay tuned…

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Diskarte in San Juan!

11Jul09

Diskarte’s heading for the Caribbean – We’ll be in Puerto Rico the weekend of August 1st performing a few songs for Juan’s and my wedding.

Stay tuned for the videos…

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