el año viejo

ay yo no olvido al año viejo
porque me ha dejado cosas muy buenas...
¡mira!
me dejo una chiva,
una burra negra,
una yegua blanca,
y una buena suegra...
ay me dejo una chivita,
una burra muy negrita,
una yegua muy blanquita
y una buena suegra...

**

oh, i don't forget the old year
because it's left me many good things...
look!
it left me a goat,
a black donkey,
a white mare,
a good mother-in-law...
oh, a little goat,
a very black little donkey,
a very white little mare,
and a good mother-in law...


tony camargo : el año viejo



ok, how cool is this video? i love the absentminded cinematography (um, uh-oh, that foliage is kind of getting in the way...). and how tony camargo spends lots of time wandering around with his back to the camera, like he forgot he's being filmed and then suddenly remembers. also, what are those golden pyramids? and who is that random guy that walks by at the beginning??

:) feliz año...

asesinos

update : demo last night in sf had at least 1000, maybe 2000 people. the sf chronicle posted a few fotos.

**

demonstration against the ongoing israeli massacre of palestinians in gaza

today, tuesday, 30 december @ 5pm
israeli consulate : 456 montgomery street, sf

from the guardian :

a relative carries the body of Dina Balousha during her funeral

The family house was small: three rooms, a tiny kitchen and bathroom, built of poor-quality concrete bricks with a corrugated asbestos roof, in block four of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. There are hundreds of similar homes crammed into the overcrowded streets, filled with some of the poorest and most vulnerable families in the Gaza Strip.

But it was this house, where Anwar and Samira Balousha lived with their nine children, that had the misfortune to be built next to what became late on Sunday night another target in Israel's devastating bombing campaign of Gaza.

An Israeli bomb struck the refugee camp's Imad Aqil mosque around midnight, destroying the building and collapsing several shops and a pharmacy nearby. The force of the blast was so massive it also brought down the Balousha family's house, which yesterday lay in ruins. The seven eldest girls were asleep together on mattresses in one bedroom and they bore the brunt of the explosion. Five were killed where they lay: Tahrir, 17, Ikram 15, Samer, 13, Dina, eight and Jawahar, four...

la misma porquería (ii)

update:

the airstrikes continue and a land invasion is being prepared. palestinian deaths and injuries are at 325 dead and over 1400 injured and increasing.

demonstrations in sf against israel's ongoing massacre of palestinians in gaza:

tonight, monday, 29 december @ 5pm
feinstein's office : montgomery & market

tomorrow, tuesday, 30 december @ 5pm
israeli consulate : 456 montgomery street




foto by getty, posted on al-jazeera

***

the murderous israeli state has begun a(nother) massive airstrike campaign against gaza. as of now, more than 210 are counted as dead and several hundred injured.



: foto by afp


some of the missiles crashed into civilian neighborhoods as the school day was ending and continued falling as desperate parents rushed into the streets seeking their children...

: from today's l.a. times


seems like a good time to post this song, which anyways is always timely.

intifada : ska-p



¡que viva la resistencia palestina! ¡abajo los asesinos zionistas!


today on electronic intifada...

palestine diaries : the rains of death in gaza

gaza massacres must spur us to action

stop the massacre in gaza : boycott israel now!

eartha kitt

eartha kitt

17 january 1927 – 25 december 2008

from today's democracy now:

And the singer and actress Eartha Kitt has died at the age of eighty-one. She was blacklisted in 1968 after she spoke out against the Vietnam War at a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson. When Johnson asked her about the Vietnam War, Kitt replied, “You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They don’t want to go to school because they’re going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam.” The First Lady reportedly burst into tears. For four years afterward, Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas and was investigated by the FBI and CIA.

here's eartha kitt's version of a turkish standard, üsküdar'a giderken.

eartha kitt : uska dara-- a turkish tale

fridita

me regalaron un libro de frida kahlo bien lindo. it's from the homenaje nacional : 1907-2007 exibit last year at bellas artes in mexico. he estado pensando en ella.





ah, i love this scene from the salma hayek frida film, the tango with tina modotti ;)




that's lila downs singing alcoba azul in the background.

la noche ira sin prisa de nostalgia
habrá de ser un tango nuestra herida
un acordeón sangriento nuestas almas
seremos esta noche todo el día...

Enrique Bunbury returns to the solo life with Hellville de Luxe

Released in September, the latest studio album from the ex-vocalista de los Héroes del Silencio marks, as some critics have written, Enrique Bunbury’s return to rock ‘n’ roll. It's true. The first thing La Cumbiambera noticed about Hellville de Luxe is that the album features lots and lots of guitars. Electric, acoustic, steel—you name it, they all feature prominently in Hellville. The global instrumentation of some previous Bunbury albums has been set aside here, although the pulse of Cuban rhythms can still be felt in tracks such as “Porque las cosas cambian” and “Inrremediablemente cotidiano.” Otherwise, what you’ll find in this album is a collection of songs whose sounds range from to the electrified urgency of “Brujías Para El Dolor” to the folksy saunter of the closing track “Aqui.”

The lyrics represent the best of Bunbury, with some tracks focusing on the timeless themes of amor y desamor, while other tracks take a broader view of life’s twists and turns. All of the songs are penned with a fresh dose of poesía-a-la-Bunbury:


“Docientos huesos y un collar de calaveras”

“Tus docientos huesos y un collar de calaveras
para que sepa volver y volverte a encontrar...
Cada palabra tuya cual imagen de bota
y la lluvia cayendo por el borde de mi sombrero
y empapandote todita en tu camiseta.
Un buen verso quizá sea el lado valiente de un cobarde…
Mis pensamientos paralizan mi voluntad
y tú regando mi jardín un día de lluvia torrencial
la mejor compañia para estados de animo peligrosos…
Y yo que he dormido a tu lado puedo afirmar
que hasta las pequeñas discusiones
fueron contigo algo estupendo…”

__

“Your two hundred bones and a necklace of skulls
so that I might know how to return and find you again...
Each of your words like the image of a boot
and the rain falling from the edge of my hat
and entirely moistening your shirt.
A good verse might be the brave side of a coward…
My thoughts paralyze my will
and you, watering my garden on the day of a torrential rain,
the best company for a dangerous mood…
And I who have slept at your side can affirm
that even the smallest arguments
were with you something stupendous…”

__

With the Héroes del Silencio renuion tour just a year behind him, Bunbury wasted no time in taking his new album to the road and, having completed the Spanish leg of the tour, will be heading this way for his U.S./Mexico tour beginning in February. He’ll make one California stop in L.A. (although La Cumbiambera dreams of one day being able to add a Bunbury concert date to our very own Bay Area concert calendar).

As far as packaging, Bunbury’s team has gone for a country western theme, complete with a sepia toned album cover and publicity materials in which he sports not a guitar but a rifle. La Cumbiambera finds this both strange (there is no old west in Spain) and annoying given the imperialist origins of such imagery.

Nevertheless, La Cumbiambera remains a diehard fan of Bunbury’s musical versatility and lyrical genius. As Bunbury puts it—“No importa que hagas rock o rumba de Barcelona. El futuro no es la música electronica o el mestizaje. El futuro es hacer una buena puta canción.”

With Hellville de Luxe, Bunbury has done just that.

asalto navideño

christmas time in the united states is so irritating for so many reasons. high on my list of seasonal allergies is the music. ugh, english-language christmas songs, i hate them almost all. and they come at you from all directions in public places, no escape. christmas music in spanish definitely varies, but is better.

the puerto ricans in particular have a very developed christmas music tradition and like many puerto rican things, for having such a small island, they do it real big. i'm not exactly sure what all it involves but there is something about an asalto navideño (¡¿?!) and more traditional jíbaro-style music than is generally appreciated at other times of year. sounds good.

la banda : héctor lavoe & willie colón (from asalto navideño, vol. 2)




amadito's favorite holiday song is the one about the burrito sabanero, which he calls de belén. he would play it 24 hours/day year-round if we allowed him to...



oh! i guess amado isn't the only one who likes this song. here is a version by juanes...



and this version comes with some pretty cool shepherd dance moves...




jeje, how was that for an asalto navideño? or maybe asalto burrito de belén ;)

argentina, a 7 años de la rebelión popular

we are approaching the 7th anniversary of argentina's popular uprising which, beginning in 2001, unleashed the fury of an entire population on the ruling class. as a christmas / new year's / reyes present the good people of argentina chased out of office 5 presidents in less than two weeks and smashed the windows of virtually all banks in the downtown areas of buenos aires and other cities.

here's a nice little tango about the economic crisis and popular revolt, interspersed with interviews with schoolchildren about those same events...

el tango de los 4 vampiros banqueros / the tango of the 4 vampire-bankers : las muñecas



and here's an announcement for a celebration of 7 years of popular rebellion to take place in parque centenario in buenos aires, sent along by héctor & gabriel. ¡saludos desde la área de la bahía, compañeros!



for a beautiful retelling of the events of 2001-2, please see fernando pino solanas' la dignidad de los nadies. ¡bravo, solanas! and for the perspective of argentine leftist economists, please see this 2004 document by economistas de izquierda reprinted in monthly review, and in argentina stop by el museo de la deuda externa / museum of the foreign debt at the school of economics at the university of buenos aires.

Amandititita takes it there...again

Checka Amandititita y Don Cheto call out the malinchistas y vendidos to the tune of "La Muy Muy" con sabor a banda. No te creas tanto (and for God's sake don't join the Minutemen) or else they just might call you out, too!

this guy is my hero!

finally someone threw their shoe at a sitting u.s. president! how cool is that? and not just once but twice! hurray for a journalist putting his close proximity to george bush to good use! of course in the world of u.s. imperialism, no good deed goes unpunished, so he's been beaten & is currently detained. sign a petition for the immediate release of muntather al-zeidi here.

this is a translation of the reporter's words as he aimed for bush's head, just narrowly missing it:

this is a farewell kiss, you dog...this is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in iraq.

and here is a tribute that found it's way to youtube about an hour ago. you will notice that the 2nd half is appropriately set to calle 13's los de atrás vienen conmigo (the ones left behind are coming with me)* ...




conmigo vienen, vienen los de atrás (duro!!)...
sin mirar pa´tras vienen los de atrás
mirando pal´frente vienen los de atrás...
los de atrás vienen conmigo
vienen los de atrás, hey!

**

they're coming with me, the ones left behind...
without looking back they're coming
looking straight ahead they're coming...
they're coming with me
the ones from behind are coming, hey!

: calle 13

* more about this song another time for sure (includes shout-outs to argentina's villa 31 + venezuela's barrio 23 de enero, among others!)...

el rock nacional

oh my goodness, had quite a time trying to see a rock en español concert in argentina! first, divididos. the singer called in sick, show was postponed. then ska-p. after all these days of south american summertime heat, out of nowhere came all this rain, an electrical storm complete with flooding on that exact night. umm, no concerts in outdoor ampitheaters :(

so our last chance was to see attaque 77 in temperley, about 45 minutes outside buenos aires. we had to go to three different roquero ticket outlets before we found one with tickets for that show. on the day of the concert we were convinced that the forces of the universe really were conspiring against us because, while the singer was in good health and the skies were clear, there was a nationwide one-day paro of gas station workers (¡adelante, compañeros!), resulting in almost no available fuel for 24 hours. the car we were planning to take, of course, had an almost empty tank. mariana's tío negro to the rescue! he's very sweet, resourceful, and a mechanic. luckily, he was working on a friend's car with a full tank of gas. off we went!

so the show... was great!! the audience was filled with super-fanáticos de attaque. i think probably 75% of people who attended were wearing attaque t-shirts or had attaque tattoos. it was one of those very affectionate latin american audiences that sings along with every song. my favorite was this little boy who spent most of the evening perched on his parents' shoulders, arms outstretched, singing at the top of his lungs. something particularly delightful about a tiny roquero reciting...

¿ellos o nosotros?
¿quién es más criminal?
¡policía federal... la vergüenza nacional!

;) have to teach them young! in between songs, the audience would start up these futból-style chants to the band:

¡soy de attaque!
olé olé olé. olé olé olé alá,
olé olé olé cada día te quiero más
yooo soy de attaque,
es un sentimiento...¡no puedo parar!

jaja, sweet. and so much better than the tendency around here to fill up any silences with calls of "culero". for their part attaque 77 responded to all that love with lots of noisy affection of their own. i believe this is their que 21 años no es nada tour. but 21 years is actually quite something! musically they're maybe a little less punk, but they still play hard and their lyrics are politically relevant as ever. throw in some of those rock en español tormented love songs which i so adore, plus an encore with the guy from ska-p joining them on stage to sing a cover of i fought the law / yo combatí la ley and really what more could you ask for? thanks to attaque for an excellent recital! and victory to the gas station workers!

here's a video from that night that someone posted on youtube:



on a side note: one thing i noticed about the rock en español situation in argentina was it's availability via tv. similar to mexico (or lots of other places i imagine) there is actually still music on their music-television channels. here's a good one we came across while watching videos with the abuelitas... hurray for rock + cumbia villera!

fabulosos cadillacs : padre nuestro

Aterciopelados keeps it flowing with Río

I finally got around to downloading the new Aterciopelados album Rio. The album contains thirteen songs that feature familiar Atercios sounds (a mixture of rock, electronic, and folk beats) as well as the predictable Atercios themes of peace, love, and Mother Earth. But lest one forget what it takes for peace and love to flourish on the planet, the eighth track, entitled “Bandera,” offers a reminder that the world’s social and spiritual ills exist within a political context.

"Bandera" - Los Aterciopelados

Quién dice cuál es la bandera que sobre un pedazo de tierra ondea
Quién decide quien tiene el poder de limitar mi caminar, dime quién

Quién dijo que un trozo de tela encierra las puertas y las fronteras
Quién me limita este mi planeta si soy tercermundista y empaco mis maletas

Cómo te vas a aprovechar de que no tengo papeles, de que soy ilegal
Mi trabajo humilde y tenaz vale lo mismo que el tuyo o quizá mas

(Who says which flag will wave over a piece of earth
Who decides who has the power to limit my path, tell me who
Who said that a piece of cloth closes the doors and the borders
Who limits this, my planet, if I’m from the third world and I pack my bags
How are you going to take advantage of the fact that I don’t have papers, that I’m illegal
My humble and tenacious work is worth the same as yours or perhaps more...)

Instead of being just another anti-border song (can there ever be enough?), "Bandera" is characterized by los Atercios’ global perspective. It’s refreshing to hear an anti-border song in a woman’s voice and in Andrea Echeverri’s root-deep tones no-less. It’s also a grounding listen in the face of this disturbing bit of news.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here is the video from the album’s title song. The images of Echeverrí pregnant, the swimming baby, and the flow of city traffic give the impression that this song is not just about clean water but is a metaphor for larger-scale enfermedades both social and spiritual as well as structural. Rezos para el río indeed.

victor jara

te recuerdo, amanda,
la calle mojada
corriendo a la fábrica
donde trabajaba manuel.

la sonrisa ancha,
la lluvia en el pelo...

**

i remember, amanda
the street wet,
you running to the factory
where miguel worked.

the wide smile
the rain in your hair...


luís sent along this beautiful video, created for victor jara's te recuerdo amanda. jara was a favorite of the chilean working class in the 60s & 70s. he regularly performed at demonstrations and marches, and his songs came to be anthems for unidad popular, the coalition of left organizations & parties that brought socialist salvador allende to the chilean presidency in 1970. in 1973 allende was overthrown by a cia-sponsored coup orchestrated by fascist augusto pinochet, and a dirty war was unleashed on chilean workers, organizers, activists, students, left intellectuals, cultural workers, and others. victor jara was arrested with thousands of suspected dissidents the day after the coup, taken to the chile stadium, tortured, and executed three days later. he was defiant throughout, writing poems and singing songs of resistence until his last moments.

jara's mother's name was amanda, and his father's manuel. this is an approximate translation of his introduction to the song: this song is called te recuerdo amanda (i remember you, amanda), and it talks about the love between two workers... the same ones seen on the street, sometimes without realizing what exists in their souls... two workers, in any factory, in any city, in whichever place in our continent.


te recuerdo amanda : victor jara




gracias, luís, for sending this :)

la argentinidad

aahh, buenos aires. ¡¡¡a mi me encanta!!!

the tiny cups of café with medialunas, balconies & central courtyards, abuelitas that bring you mate in the morning :) oh and also: las madres in the plaza on thursdays, the fábricas recuperadas, the daily manifestaciones, & el museo de la deuda externa!! so lovely. i was talking to my family today and teasing them que aquí me quedo.

last midnight we went to have dinner at the river, río de la plata, which according to the argentines es el río más ancho del mundo. we were having a conversation about it, and of course this bersuit song came up...

bersuit : la argentinidad



... not just the widest river, but also the longest street?! and cinco presidentes en una semana... jaja! 5 presidents in one week. that should definitely be a record of some kind, said my dinner companion.

el dulce de leche, el gran colectivo,
alpargatas, soda y alfajores... las huellas
digitales, los dibujos animados, las jeringas
descartables, la birome... la transfusión
sanguínea, el seis a cero a perú, y
muchas otras cosas más...

gracias, pato, por acordarme de esta canción, y a todos por hacerme reir tan fuerte anoche ;) pasamos un tiempo, como dicen acá, "re-lindo" (is that how you spell that?).

El Gran Silencio 11.21.08

Bueno, como diaboloca y la cumbiambera han mencionado, fuimos a ver a El Gran Silencio en Sunnyvale. Este show fue uno atendido por las tres colaboradoras de Rockeras sin Fronteras, mas nuestra buena amiga Andrea quien sacrifico la oportunidad de tomar unas chelas para manejar (¡gracias!) El Gran Silencio cumplió con la parte de su titulo de “gran”, pero afortunadamente no cumplieron con la parte de “silencio”. Su mezcla de reggae, ska, cumbia, punk tenía a todo el lugar brincando, bailando, y cantando con una energía que pocos grupos pueden crear. Los miembros del grupo nunca dejaron que el ambiente se bajara y siempre se veían que se estaban divirtiendo en el escenario. Tocaron canciones muy conocidas como Chuntaro Style, Dormir Soñando, y Tonta Canción de Amo. Al final cantaron una versión de Pobre de Ti por ¡Tijuana No!

Nos divertimos muchísimo. Aunque yo termine en le suelo mientras estaba en el moshpit. Todavía estoy un poco mayugada.

¡Aquí esta un poco de video del show para todos!

Punk/Ska in Solidarity with Venezuela! New song from SKA-P!

The great Anti-imperialist punk/ska/reggae band SKA-P has written a song “El Liberador” in homage to the Bolivarian Revolution on their new CD, Lagrimas y Gozos. It is great! Here are the song, the words, and as a bonus a video of the song with some great pictures of the struggle in Venezuela. Enjoy!!

Many thanks to Sarah J. and Dana C. for sharing the song and words.¡Que viva Venezuela libre!

El grupo punk/ska/reggae anti-imperialista SKA-P ha escrito una canción, “El Liberador” en homenaje a la Revolución Bolivariana en su nuevo CD. Lágrimas y Gozos. ¡Esta súper chida! Aquí esta la canción, la letra, y como un bono un video de la canción con unas lindas imagines de la lucha en Venezuela. ¡Que disfruten!

Muchas gracias a Sarah J. y a Dana C. por compartir la canción y la letra. ¡Que viva Venezuela libre!



El Libertador

Entre miseria, hambre y desolación, en el fango alguien planto una flor
Un tal Bolívar, le dicen el libertador, el libertador

Gritos de justicia, tierra y libertad vuelven a resonar en Sudamérica
Ha comenzado una nueva revolución y esta vez avanza con convicción

Reforma agraria y justa redistribución, sanidad, cultura y buena educación
Respeto y dignidad al indígena, al indígena

Socializar y no a la privatización!, mejoras laborales "pal" trabajador
Lo que la tierra ofrece es de la población, contra la oligarquía y el explotador

Una guerra de medios manipula la verdad
ho ho ho Enséñale los dientes a la cara al tio sam
ho ho Sin dar un paso atrás.

Adelante comandante, ponte al frente con honestidad
Comienza a amanecer en Latinoamérica
Paso firme hacia delante, pisa fuerte con rotundidad
Cuando un pueblo se sabe organizar
Es un pueblo sabio y libre

Oh oh oh oh! lejos de la perfección
Se avanza al caminar cuando se tiene ilusión

Una guerra de medios manipula la verdad...

Adelante comandante, ponte al frente con honestidad...

Oh oh oh oh! aires de rebelión en Latinoamérica
Oh oh oh oh! tiempo de transición en toda america

Adelante comandante, ponte al frente, comandante
Oh oh oh! de Latinoamérica
Paso firme hacia delante, pisa fuerte, comandante
Oh oh oh! en Latinoamérica

Chúntaro Style

La Cumbiambera can't restrain herself. Obviously our mutual admiration of El Gran Silencio is a point of unity among the blogueras, and I'll add here the video for "Chúntaro Style," which is definitely one of my fav videos of all time what with the dancing cholitas & cholitos and the kids and the Guadalupana boom box and all. Not to mention that this is one of those songs that just keeps you dancing.

tonta canción de amor

las 3 roqueras had a field trip last night to catch el gran silencio in sunnyvale at club barcelona. they double headlined with los angeles azules. ¡cuuuuumbia!

as usual, they kicked ass. those guys are so talented with their rock-cumbia-reggae-vallenato situation, and so endearing on stage it's almost too much to see them live. i believe la pachuquita will be posting a more complete report-back with fotos, but last night in the car on the way home we were talking about their performance of this song at the show, and also this video (reminds me of the good old days of mtv) so in the meantime...

tonta canción de amor : el gran silencio

sam cooke + muhammad ali

it's been a very sam cooke kind of week. sometimes you just need a sweet voice like that singing in your ear, no?

i recently came across this video...

the gang's all here : sam cooke & muhammad ali



from peter guralnick's sam cooke bio:

sam cooke first met cassius clay in 1960, before the boxer changed his name to muhammad ali. he was impressed by clay's burgeoning interest in islam, while the boxer in turn was a fan of his music. at clay's fight with sonny liston in miami on 25 february 1964, cooke was in the audience, just a few seats away from malcolm x. clay won after liston refused to answer the bell for the seventh round, and then interrupted a tv interview in the ring when he spotted cooke, shouting: "this is the world's greatest rock'n'roll singer!"

and this one, i believe, i first saw posted on hossam's 3arabawy. i think it's easily the best recorded version of this song...

blowin' in the wind : sam cooke



ps: ever seen sam cooke cha-cha with jackie wilson? terribly cute.

¡la tierra es para quien la trabaja!

the land belongs to those who work it!


en el campo está el patrón,
los finqueros y asociados,
guardias blancas y matones,
nomás explotando pueblos,
van sacando nuestra tierra.
y allá en las ciudades
los policías corruptos,
los mafiosos y banqueros,
nomás chupando la sange
a la gente, a los obreros.
es por eso que zapata
ahora cabalga de nuevo
la revolución civil
¡viva el autogobierno!

**

in the countryside lives the boss,
the landowners and their associates,
the paramilitaries and thugs,
they go around exploiting people,
and taking away our land.
and over there in the city
live the corrupt police,
mafiosos and bankers,
there to suck the blood
of our people, the workers.
and so zapata mounts again
a revolution against the state
we can govern ourselves!

: el barzón (versión maldita vecindad)




workers in the san joaquin valley, california : 1958
photo by george ballis




clandestine union meeting in the san joaquin valley, california : 1938
photo by dorothea lange




el barzón : amparo ochoa



el barzón : maldita vecindad

baila esta cumbia

ah, cumbia. my favorite. so much to say about this beloved working-class dance, but no time now so i'll just announce a very exciting development... p.o.w.e.r. is hosting a weekly cumbia gathering as a fundraiser.

time to perfect your skills!!


tuesdays : 7-8pm
@ power : 32 7th street, sf
$5-10


and here's a little cumbia-dub to help mover la colita ;)


cumbia sobre el río : celso piña (con pato de control machete & blanquito man de king changó)

A Chicana in China

Two things happened in the past two weeks that inspired me to write this post. Firstly, I accompanied my grandmother on a 9-day trip to China. Secondly, I finally found a recording of this song for which I have been searching for years.

(Photo: La Cumbiambera looking out over the Great Wall of China.)

La Maldición de Malinche – Amparo Ochoa y Gabino Palomares

The China trip was an organized tour which basically consisted of visits to historic sites and an array of state-owned shops specializing in jade, peal, silk, tea, etc. Since we didn’t have much opportunity to wander about on our own or interact with the public, I returned with a feeling that I maybe I hadn’t actually been to China after all. Except, of course, I had been, and even through the windows of a tour bus, there were many things I had the opportunity to observe and reflect on. (Photo: Monday morning rush hour in Beijng)

We began our itinerary at the “Forbidden City,” which is known in Chinese as the “Palace Museum.” This, the old home of the Ming and Qing dynasty emperors, is the largest surviving palace complex in the world and consists of 9,999 rooms. It is 600 years old. Over the next nine days we visited historical sites ranging from a renovated portion of the Great Wall, to the Lingyin Buddhist Temple, which is nearly 1,700 years old and still in active use as a place of prayer. It is most famous for the adjacent mountain into which were originally carved 600 Buddhas (see photo). 300 of these still survive.

As we visited these sites, I was impressed to see how in tact they were. These sites have survived centuries of wars, invasions, and revolution. In the past, most of my travel had been within Latin America. I have been to the stripped-down and now colorless remains of Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, and Monte Albán in México. I have been to similar sites at Machu Picchu and Saqsayhuaman in Perú. I have even been to Spain—to Granada and Sevilla and Madrid—and have seen where a lot of the splendor of our ancient sites has ended up. I have been to the very port on the Río Gualdaquivir where the stolen gold, jewelry, headdresses, etc. were unloaded. (Photo: Gold from the ancient Americas on display in Granda, Spain in 2007) As I toured China, I reflected on that amazing nation which, throughout the turmoil of history, has never lost control of its own people, of it’s own land. Whether governed by an emperor or the Kuomintang or the Communist Party, China has always been in the hands of the Chinese. Whereas Latin America, as we all know, has suffered the consequences of a brutal invasion, an invasion during which our ancient palaces and places of prayer were deliberately destroyed and torn apart by the colonizers.

I say this not to induce nostalgia nor regret nor any other sentiment that might be accompanied by sighs of “if-only”. What I took away from seeing China’s national treasures still in tact was not a sense of self-pity or sadness for my own people, but rather a sense of pride. Because what I realized was that, even though in this day and age we can only imagine the splendor of our ancestor’s creations, our historical sites at one time were as detailed and breathtaking as China’s. But more important than aesthetics is the fact that our sites also held as much symbolism and meaning and were constructed with the same degree of science and thoughtfulness and intent as were those of the Chinese. (Photo: roof detail from the Palace Museum)

I do not, however, intend to glorify indigenous imperial powers or systems of class stratification be they Mexica (Aztec) or Inca or Ming or otherwise. There is something to be said, however, for having one’s national history in tact, for being able to look back on the past and claim it and learn from it, for being able to build on it or change it's trajectory as the people see fit. As indigenous people of the Americas, it goes without saying that much of our past was stolen from us over centuries of intentional suppression and destruction. But this, too, is part of our story. As a Chicana, I feel grateful to have been to China and to have seen the way the Chinese people have cared for their history. I am inspired by their tenacity and by their ability to move forward with new visions of what their future history might be.

Chinese tourist taking a photo of the 600-yr old Temple of Heaven in Beijing

Calaca Rockera

Rockeras Sin Fronteras reader Rick Rivers suggested we check out his ceramic sculpture entitled "Rock-N-Rollero." As it turns out, it features a calaca rockera, which La Cumbaimbera thought was way too cool. To read Rick's explanation of the piece, visit:

http://chican-izmo.blogspot.com/2008/10/rock-n-rollero-rock-n-roller.html


Thanks for sharing, Rick!

¡que viva miriam makeba!

miriam makeba died yesterday :(

may her beautiful voice, and spirit of tireless struggle against the legacies of racism and colonialism, live on...


oxgam : miriam makeba



for more on the music of south africa's fight against apartheid you really must see: amandla! a revolution in four-part harmony.

Los Enanitos Verdes rock the Fillmore

After Wednesday night’s Enanitos Verdes show La Cumbiambera could die happy for three reasons:

Reason 1: The show opened with “Houdini 2”—one of my favorite songs—the haunting experimental tune from Pescado Original that is about a Houdini impersonator who fails to escape his chains and drowns in the bottom of a river. The recorded version also features Orishas rapper Yotuel. I never thought I’d hear this song live.

Reason 2: Felipe Staiti finally brought his son Juan Pablo to Northern California. Juan Pablo has accompanied the band in certain L.A. shows (he lives and studies guitar there) and has played with his dad in some Mendoza shows, but this time Juan Pablo assumed his position as the Tour ‘08 rhythm guitarist. He is a beautiful and talented young man, and besides, what’s more enjoyable than a good family act?

Reason 3: I shared a microphone with Felipe Staiti.

La Cumbiambera singing “Luz de Dia” (photos & video compliments of La Pachuquita)

I won’t go on here about how Felipe is one of the best guitar players on the planet, but I will say that experiencing one his solos live has all the breathtaking emotion and climatic qualities of good sex, but since music lives somewhere both inside and outside of the body, a Felipe solo is a thousand times more intense. Case in point, this solo from the jazz lounge version of Amores Lejanos. At some point (which doesn’t come through well on the video), Felipe made his SG ‘72 sound just like a sax. He once blogged on MySpace that this guitar “es cada vez más un piano...” I can understand why.



But Felipe, of course, is only one third of the band. Felipe, Marciano, and Daniel have been actively making music together for the past three decades, and it shows both in their musicianship and in their on-stage chemistry. At various points in the show, Marciano put Felipe to the challenge by improvising melodies on the mic and then stepping back for Felipe to replicate them on his instrument. Of course Felipe hit the exact notes every time.

The truly amazing thing, though, is that Los Enanitos continue to have successful tours. They come to the U.S. at least once a year, and every show I go to—whether in L.A. or Sunnyvale or Sacramento—is packed. This year they didn’t even have new material, but it didn’t matter. They combined some classics with some lesser known tracks from Pescado Original (their 2006 album) and threw in a resurrection—the 1992 ballad “Amigos,” which Felipe and Marciano performed as a duet. Add to that a bit of improv and Felipe’s constantly changing guitar solos and what you get is a band that, even after nearly thirty years, offers its fans an original show every time.

¡me gustan los estudiantes!

november 1968. today is 40 years since the start of the longest student strike in u.s. history. the third world liberation front strike at san francisco state won a college of ethnic studies at that university, and helped build a national movement for student rights and educational equity. it also helped to establish a proud legacy of militant rebellion by young people of color that continues to inspire...

october 2008. la lucha sigue... last friday immigrant high school & university students here took to the streets against the recent i.c.e. raids. police closed 3 bart stations during the morning rush to keep them from crossing to the other side of the bay, but hundreds of students still made it to the city, lead a march to i.c.e headquarters, and blocked driveways to the detention center for the entire afternoon.




me gustan los estudiantes (i like the students) : ángel parra (original, violeta parra)


¡que vivan los estudiantes,
jardín de las alegrías!
son aves que no se asustan
de animal ni policía,
y no le asustan las balas
ni el ladrar de la jauría...

**

long live the students!
gardens of joy
birds that don't frighten
because of animals or police
not scared of bullets
or packs of barking dogs...


slides of the anti-i.c.e.manifestación here & from the twlf strike in 68 here.

la tita

today is my grandma's birthday! 81 añitos, wow!! feliz cumpleaños!!!!!!!!!















foto 1: chavela (right). tijuana, circa 1941.
foto 2: chavela. chula vista, 2007.


she loves tucanes de tijuana...



el tucanazo : los tucanes de tijuana

nuestros muertos no se olvidan

¡feliz día de muertos!

**

nuestra historia hay que escribir
nuestra vida tiene raíz
desgraciada la nación
sin memoria, sin historia



2 de octubre : maldita vecindad

**

we honor & remember our dead

our antepasados...
our fallen freedom fighters...
our people stolen from us by armies, borders, and wars...



* this illustration by josué, based in méxico, df. see more of his beautiful work here at: el meszcalito. muchísimas gracias, josué ;)

bhagat singh

happy diwali! and thank you, anisha, for pointing out that it is in fact that time of year ;)

in celebration i'm posting this clip from the legend of bhagat singh. too bad there are no leftist rock en español musicals. well, probably the political musicals are best left to the indians & sri lankans anyway. bhagat singh was martyred in 1931 at the age of 23, in the fight against british colonialism. his vision was for a liberated secular & socialist india. the legend of bhagat singh is one of my favorite bollywood films ever!

the legend of bhagat singh:



anecdote from the trial of bhagat singh & his comrades:

on january 21, 1930 [anniversary of the death of lenin] the accused in the lahore conspiracy case appeared in the court wearing red scarves. as soon as the magistrate took his chair they raised slogans "long live socialist revolution", "long live communist international", "long live the people", "lenin's name will never die", and "down with imperialism". bhagat singh then read the text of this telegram in the court and asked the magistrate to send it to the third international:

on lenin day we send hearty greeting to all who are doing something for carrying forward the ideas of the great lenin. we wish success to the great experiment russia is carrying out. we join our voice to that of the international working class movement. the proletariat will win. capitalism will be defeated. death to imperialism.

**

update: oohh, sweet. anisha's dad saw this post and he sends these recommendations: mangal pandey (the rising) & rang de basanti. can't wait to see them. ¡abajo los imperialistas! ¡hasta la victoria!

strange fruit

southern trees bear a strange fruit
blood on the leaves and blood at the root
black body swinging in the southern breeze
strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

**

the state is set to execute another innocent black man.

today is the international day of action for troy anthony davis, who was convicted in 1991 of killing a white police officer at the age of 17. no physical evidence linked mr. davis to the case, and to date seven of nine witnesses against him have recanted their testimonies. all requests for a new trial have been rejected and his legal appeals have been exhausted. the execution has been set for october 27th.

this can really only be described as legalized lynching. send an email to the georgia state board of pardons & paroles here.

update: the 11th circuit federal court of appeals has issued a(nother) stay of execution. 140,000 signatures in support of mr. davis have been delivered to the georgia state board of pardons and paroles.


strange fruit : billie holiday