Fotos - 25 Years at KUVO - Chile Harvest

bicep

heart of aztlan




not a mexican sleeping in the cactus



¿mas k?




sweet condemnation



musica de carlos
[original artwork by Carlos Fresquez]

all images © Manuel Ramos

_________________________________________________


This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of public radio station KUVO, 89.3 FM. I still remember the first day of broadcasting; no one, and I mean no one, gave the station a chance. The odds were stacked against the new outlet. The station was going to be run by a bunch of amateurs who did not have a track record in media. And, although the press releases spoke about "bilingual public radio", they were going to broadcast jazz, latin jazz and blues, not banda. At the head of the station was a diminutive, high energy Chicana who brought humor, hard-work, and dedication, but no money, experience, or political baggage.Today, the award-winning station is one of the premier jazz venues in the world (www.kuvo.org), internationally known for its diverse and exciting programming. World-class musicians regularly perform in the high-tech performance studio, and over the decades the station has hosted all the greats, as well as local bands and numerous college and high school units. The weekend programs are nationally envied for consistent high ratings and creative, innovative formats: Native American, Latin American protest and folk, blues, R&B, Chicano rock, African American roots music, salsa and Latin fusion, Brazilian pop, and much, much more. KUVO truly is the "oasis in the city."



Flo Hernandez-Ramos helped create the station. She worked with other founders for more than two years-- fund raising, dealing with the FCC, taking care of debt owed by the previous license holder, lining up the original staff and board, and learning from scratch about what public radio is all about. Then, for more than twenty years Flo was the CEO and driving force behind the station. She was there at the beginning and she has been through it all: no money, not enough staff, intermittent electricity, makeshift equipment, federal myopia, local apathy. She endeavored and endured and she gathered around her a stellar staff of radio pros just as dedicated as she. Flo is a national symbol for Latino-controlled public service radio, winning countless awards and gaining recognition as a tireless force for community involvement, diversity in staff and programming, and setting high standards for all other Latino media. She left her administrative responsibilities a couple of years ago but she stayed on as a volunteer, continuing as the mainstay for the immensely popular Sunday show Canción Mexicana. This program is the flagship for the weekend - one of the most listened-to shows in any radio service area, and clearly a leading example of how one culture's "cantina music" can cross over to any audience if just given the chance.


Well, this incredible run is finally over this weekend. Flo's last show as DJ for Canción Mexicana will happen August 29th (the actual date KUVO went live.) Flo will stay involved with public radio as the Director of the Latino Public Radio Consortium, but her regular gig as DJ is done. In typical Flo and KUVO style, that means a big party. If you haven't obtained your tickets for the in-studio celebration, then listen beginning at 10:00 AM, on the radio or the Internet. There will be plenty of live music, memories and testimonials, and Flo gets a chance to say one more goodbye, one more adiós to her many fans and friends.



Meanwhile, check out the Chile Harvest Festival, August 28 and 29 at the Lakewood Heritage Center, sponsored by the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council (CHAC), 10 AM - 5 PM. I'll see you there on Saturday at 1:00 PM when I'll be signing King of the Chicanos at the Cultural Legacy booth.

Later.

Bits and Pieces

AZTLAN LIBRE PRESS PUBLISHES ALURISTA’S TUNALUNA

[press release from Aztlan Libre Press]

Aztlan Libre Press, a new, independent publishing company based out of San Antonio, Texas that is dedicated to the promotion, publication, and free expression of Xican@ Literature and Art, announces the publication of its first book, Tunaluna, by the renowned veterano Chicano poet, alurista. This is alurista’s first publication in ten years.

alurista is one of the seminal and most influential voices in the history of Chicano Literature. A pioneering poet of the Chicano Movement in the late 60s and 70s, he broke down barriers in the publishing world with his use of bilingual and multilingual writings in Spanish, English, Nahuatl and Maya. A scholar, activist, editor, organizer and philosopher, he holds a Ph.D in Spanish and Latin American Literature from the University of California in San Diego and is the author of ten books including Floricanto en Aztlán (1971), Timespace Huracán (1976), Spik in Glyph? (1981) and Z Eros (1995). His book, Et Tú Raza?, won the Before Columbus Foundation National Book Award in Poetry in 1996. Author of El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, he is a key figure in the reclaiming of the MeXicano cultural identity, history and heritage through his integration of American Indian language, symbols and spirituality in his writings.

Tunaluna is classic alurista: passionate, sensuous, and political. alurista’s tenth book of poetry is a collection of 52 poems that takes us on a time trip through the first decade of the 21st century where he bears witness to the “Dubya” wars, terrorism, oil and $4 gallons of gas, slavery, and ultimately spiritual transformation and salvation. The “Word Wizard of Aztlan” is at his razor-sharp best, playing with his palabras as well as with our senses and sensibilities. alurista is a Xicano poet for the ages and a chronicler of la Nueva Raza Cózmica. With Tunaluna he trumpets the return of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered-serpent of Aztec and Mayan prophecy, and helps to lead us out of war and into the dawn of a new consciousness and sun, el Sexto Sol, nahuicoatl, cuatro serpiente, the sun of justice.

“alurista experiments on the edge, thickly layers multiple meanings onto each cryptic line through language play, brilliant code-switching (‘tu mellow dia’) and love songs to la raza. A statement of survival, he confronts the politics and the hypocrisy of ‘the estados undidos de angloamérica’ with an irrepressible rhythm, with the ‘slingshots in our hands’ of pre-Columbian truths, and with the ability to craft real words from our unreal world of avarice and oppression. alurista’s tenth book holds many spirit treasures calling out to us from between the lines. Con razón k he hears the haunting spirits beneath the surface—‘ayer pasé x tu casa/y me ladra/ron/los libros.’” (Carmen Tafolla, Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy, poet and Visiting Faculty, University of Texas at San Antonio)

“Tunaluna is a work of hope, humor, outrage, and beauty by one of our most notable Chicano bards. alurista reminds his readers of the political possibilities of the poetic; in his poems, we hear the song of a people.” (Cristina Beltrán, Associate Professor of Political Science at Haverford College and author of The Trouble with Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity)

ISBN-13: 978-0-9844415-0-1 * $15.00 * 76 pages * Trade Paperback * Publication: October 2010 For more information, or to purchase Tunaluna, click on www.aztlanlibrepress.com, or contact the Publishers/Editors, Juan Tejeda or Anisa Onofre at the telephone number or e-mail address below.

302 Stratford Ct. | San Antonio, TX 78223 | 210.531.9505 | aztlanlibrepress.com | editors@aztlanlibrepress.com

CHILE HARVEST FESTIVAL

[announcement from the CHAC website]

Late summer brings freshly harvested chiles to Colorado, and with them, the aromas of chile roasting and authentic Chicano cuisine. This year, the Colorado tradition continues at Lakewood’s Heritage Center. The Chile Harvest Festival celebrates contemporary Chicano art, traditional Spanish Colonial art, music, food and of course chiles, with beautiful views of the Rocky Mountain foothills as a backdrop.

Thanks to a partnership between the City of Lakewood and the Chicano Humanities & Arts Council (CHAC), the Chile Harvest Festival will be in full swing Aug 28 & 29.

The Chile Harvest Festival is an outreach effort to educate, enlighten and entertain the community with the many different facets of Chicano and Latino culture. Its goal is to give people a well-rounded cultural experience.

The festival will feature up to 75 artists, showcasing both contemporary and traditional art forms. There will also be music, dancing and storytelling as well as many other cultural and art activities for kids.

Several local restaurants will be on site, serving authentic Mexican cuisine along with other specialty foods featuring chiles. And of course, there will be nonstop chile roasting, so stock up your freezer with chiles for the winter. Demonstrators will be showcasing the art of making traditional chile ristras: dried chiles, strung together to be used in cooking throughout the year or just for decoration.

Bring the whole family to shop, eat and soak up a cultural experience. Tickets will be $5 for adults, $2 for children, and $1 off coupons are available at CHAC Gallery.

By the way - I'll be signing copies of King of the Chicanos at the Cultural Legacy booth on August 28 at 1:00 PM. Come on by, we can talk about chile.

THE LATIN SIDE OF KUVO - TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Click on the image for details of KUVO's 25th anniversary party that also celebrates 25 years of Cancíon Mexicana and the final show for the long-time host, Flo.

HILARY DePOLO

Poetry and Performance

BEAT the heat with cool words

Join me for two performances this month (Denver):

(Third) Thursday August 19th ¤ Forza Coffee ¤

104th and Federal ¤ 7 pm

followed by an open mic

Saturday August 21st ¤ Ice Cube Gallery ¤ 3320 Walnut ¤

7 pm ¤ with Jeff Wittig on guitar

followed by an open mic on the theme of LIGHT

www.artconsultation.com

Poetry is the tunnel at the end of the light.~ J. Patrick Lewis

Hilary DePolo is a friend and a poet whose work I have admired for a long time. She's often done readings and created poems in conjunction with visual artists like Carlos Fresquez and Tony Ortega (whose painting Western Union Baker served as the inspiration for one of Hilary's poems.) I checked out her reading last night at the coffee shop where the emotions ran the gamut from sad reflections on a dying mother to whimsical odes to the seasons to a touching tribute to the Mexican immigrant baker and his lonely life in los estados unidos. You should try to make it to the event tomorrow night at the Ice Cube Gallery.

ALBUQUERQUE CULTURAL CONFERENCE

[website announcement]

September 3-6, 2010
We're holding our third Albuquerque Cultural Conference, titled Crisis, Community, and Performance: Building a Resilient Society. This event is full of performances, panels, report backs, and evening discussion. It reflects the state of heightened political, economic, social, and environmental crisis in the United States in the year 2010.

The Albuquerque Cultural Conference was first convened on Labor Day weekend 2007. Below is a portion of the original conference call.

We call upon organizers, writers and artists, and progressive journalists, teachers, and dreamers from all cultures to join us in building a new society while addressing the failures of the old. We will take up the vital issues of creating a just world through hard work, alternative forms of education, and new images of cultural transformation. Political, social, class, “race,” and gender issues will be addressed. Attention will be paid to critical topics including nuclear establishment, the people and the land, border crossings, cultural memory, and festivals of the oppressed.


Keep on readin'.

Later.

Things that make me go ¡híjole!

How about those talk show hosts and bloggers who compare the Henry Louis Gates incident with the questioning of Bob Dylan, and conclude that Dylan knew how to behave himself but Gates pulled the "race card"? Is white privilege so blind that the differences between the two situations aren't readily apparent, even to right-wing agitators?

Or the health reform"protester" on NPR who said that in the old days at the emergency room you either paid for your care or you died and "that seemed to work okay"? Pay or die – sounds like a bad Tarantino flick.

Common Dreams reports: "Proving that Taiwan is not America, Taiwanese leaders are facing a political firestorm for their inadequate response to a natural disaster - Typhoon Morakot, which killed hundreds and did massive damage. Blasted by critics, facing the resignation of senior officials and promising an investigation, President Ma Ying-jeou began a press conference by bowing in apology to the people." Katrina? George Bush bowing in apology to the American people? Yeah, right.

The Denver Post says: "Colorado's lowest-paid workers could make even less money next year. That's because the state has an adjustable minimum wage that may become the first in the nation to drop slightly along with the cost of living. Colorado is one of 10 states where the minimum wage is tied to inflation. The indexing is thought to protect low-wage workers from having flat wages as the cost of living goes up. But because Colorado's provision allows wage declines, the minimum wage could actually drop 3 cents an hour next year. If the wage is reduced by state labor officials in September as expected, it would be the first minimum wage decrease in any state since the federal minimum wage law was passed in 1938." The rich get richer and …

Meanwhile, Colorado casinos reported $76.1 million in adjusted gross proceeds in July, the second best month in Colorado gaming history, trailing only the $76.5 million recorded in July 2007. … the poor get fleeced.

Police in Ohio say officers using a new Taser stun gun briefly set a homeless man on fire while trying to subdue him. The police chief said his officers acted appropriately. The homeless man was charged with abusing harmful intoxicants and other counts. There's something really wrong with that picture.

You've got to see this to believe it: Woman at Vegas town hall yells "Heil Hitler" at Jewish man. We are on the brink.

CHILE HARVEST FESTIVAL

Thanks to a partnership between the City of Lakewood and the Chicano Humanities & Arts Council, the Chile Harvest Festival will be in full swing August 29 & 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m . at Lakewood’s Heritage Center (Wadsworth and Ohio), 801 S. Yarrow Street. Tickets are $6 for adults, $3 for children (ages 3-12). With plenty of free parking available.

The festival will feature up to 65 artists, showcasing both contemporary and traditional art forms including music, dancing and storytelling as well as many other cultural and art activities for the kids. Several local restaurants will be on site, serving authentic Mexican cuisine along with other specialty foods featuring chiles. And of course, there will be nonstop chile roasting, so stock-up your freezer with chiles for the winter. Demonstrators will be showcasing the art of making traditional chile ristras: dried chiles strung together to be used in cooking throughout the year or just for decoration. The Chile Harvest Festival is an outreach effort to educate, enlighten and entertain the community with the many different facets of Chicano and Latino culture. Its goal is to give people a well-rounded cultural experience. Proceeds from the event support HCA and CHAC programs.

Read then lead.

Later.