THASWASSUP.: Blue Scholars article, 2004

Added on by Alexei Mohajerjasbi.

daps1:

I was at the Seattle Public Library this afternoon and discovered an ethnic media search engine that allowed me to find 130+ articles that I wrote when I was the assistant editor at a local Asian Pacific Islander newspaper. Fittingly, my last ever article at the paper was this one (circa July…

::M∆DE::IN::HEIGHTS:: Presents WINTER PIGEONS

Added on by Alexei Mohajerjasbi.

Running out of hours/cash to get something for that special someone for the holidays? Or don’t particularly observe nor care about the holidays but are down for some free music? Suffice to say, we’ve got the solution. Click the image above for a free download of Winter Pigeons (Songs To Raise Your Dead Spirits), the four-song debut EP by ::M∆DE::IN::HEIGHTS::, Sabzi’s new project in collaboration with vocalist Kelsey. As Sabzi wrote on townfo.lk,

a little while ago my friend Kelsey and I started talking about forming a group together and making some music. last week it finally happened for really real sugar hill mint’n’dill when we got together in SEA and knocked out a little EP in time to offer it to you all as a seasonal gift.

It describes itself as pop and filth; we’ll let you decipher the rest on your own. (NB: Definitely keep the ::M∆DE::IN::HEIGHTS:: tumblr handy as you listen along.) Enjoy, and do let us know what you think.

Hari Kondabolu Storms the Pacific Northwest

Added on by Alexei Mohajerjasbi.

Weather’s been acting crazy lately, huh? Hail, thunder, lightening… and we know why. A force of nature is imminently descending upon our region. Our hilarious homie Hari Kondabolu, who recently filmed an upcoming Comedy Central Presents special to be debuted in February, will be kicking it (read: headlining shows) in Portland and Seattle this week. We highly, highly recommend Hari live, as he wields a comedic veracity unique to a dude from Queens that holds a Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics.

(And for those not in the know, Hari’s kid brother is Das Racist’s hypeman Dapwell; they also perform together as the Untitled Kondabolu Brothers Project back in NYC when they’re not globetrotting.)

Check out the clip below, and rally your friends this weekend to see Hari in action.

 

PORTLAND

WEDNESDAY, DEC 15

Curious Comedy Theatre (5225 NE MLK Blvd)

Doors at 730pm, ALL AGES $12 ($10 Advance)

Click here to purchase tickets

SEATTLE

THURSDAY DEC 16 through SATURDAY DEC 18

Comedy Underground (109 S. Washington Street)

Dec 16th, 8pm, ALL AGES, $12 ($10 Advance)

Dec 17th, 8pm and 1030pm, 21+, $20 ($15 Advance)

Dec 18th, 8pm and 1030pm, 21+, $20 ($15 Advance)

(Doors open 30 minutes before showtime)

Click here to purchase tickets

Life & Debt & Fresh-Ass Kicks

Added on by Alexei Mohajerjasbi.

Thanks to the good people at IHeartBlueScholars (we see you!), we just got hip to these customized quilted Nike Blazers inspired by our cut “Life & Debt.”  Mister Danny P, the mastermind behind these here kicks, explains:

“Life and Debt” is one of my favorite tracks from Blue Scholars. I listened to this song EVERYDAY for two years when I was away at college. Although it was a love song, the melody put my soul at peace during my rough two years at college, so I wanted a pair that incorporated the words “Life” and “Debt.”

Check out more work by FalseQuest, whose designs across the board are clean and subtly subversive. And a shoutout to the documentary Life & Debt (Stephanie Black, 2001), which examines Jamaica’s neocolonial economic quandary at the mercy of international lending. Watch it if you haven’t yet, and go fight globalization by supporting local artisans and getting your kicks customized using our song titles. (Yes, we know Nike is a globalization-benefitting multinational corporation. And so is the supplier of the computer you’re reading this blog post on.)

N30: A Personal History by Geo

Added on by Alexei Mohajerjasbi.

I celebrate November 30th for hella reasons.

First and foremost, everywhere Filipinos and real friends of Filipinos are, you’ll find people celebrating the anniversary of revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio’s birthday (1863). For this reason, on this day in 1964, the national democratic youth organization Kabataang Makabayan was founded at the University of the Philippines, relaunching a movement that saw itself as a continuation of Bonifacio’s unfinished revolution to get the Philippines free from foreign domination.

[read the rest of this post at bluescholars.com]

Jean Quan: From Cal Activist to Mayor of Oakland

Added on by Alexei Mohajerjasbi.

Amidst all of the W’s and L’s in this past election cycle, we wanted to single out someone in particular whose election made history in all sorts of ways. Jean Quan, now the mayor-elect of Oakland, will be 1) the first female mayor of Oakland 2) the first Asian-American female mayor of a major U.S. city 3) the first Chinese-American mayor of a major U.S. city. She is also, at the time of this writing, following both Sabzi and Geo on Twitter. BIG TINGS.

As a student at UC Berkeley, Jean Quan was one of several students whose sit-ins and demonstrations—a movement labeled the Third World Liberation Front of 1969—rallied for and created the college’s Ethnic Studies Department, which would become a hallmark program and eventually an established discipline across the country, academically dignifying the histories and experiences of the marginalized and people of color. (Shoutout to all y’all Ethnic Studies majors, and boo to the State of Arizona for outlawing Ethnic Studies programs earlier this year.)

She became a union organizer, and was catalyzed to jump into politics when the city of Oakland was proposing to cut music and arts programs in public schools. She’s been on the Oakland City Council for the last eight years, and will now get a chance to lead a city that’s historically been the crucible for progressive politics and radical organizing. (And conflict. The same week Jean was elected, Oakland residents took to the streets to protest the killing of an unarmed barbershop-owner by police. That fatal shooting happened three days after the contentious sentencing of BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle, responsible for the death of Oscar Grant.)

This article by the East Bay Express does a good job illustrating Quan’s for-real grassroots mayoral campaign strategy against the moneyed and established Don Perata, and below is a short narrative on Jean Quan’s path to being mayor-elect. Congratulations, Jean! Follow her here on Twitter; we also highly recommend Fake Jean Quan.