Tuneskis: Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All

A while back my homie Chantz showed me this rap crew called Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA). I’ve been listening to Tyler the Creator’s album “Bastard” a lot as I cruise around the backwoods of West Marin. They are a group from Los Angeles, none of the member are older than 20. Their lyrics are incredibly violent, misogynistic, and homophobic,yet there is an intelligence and emotional rawness to them that has made them one of my favorite new groups.

I think back to when NWA first came out, how they created a huge controversy. How their lyrics brought to life many of the daily challenges, frustrations people in Compton faced. Rap used to be a form of protest music, a provocative way of conveying what was happening to the people who had nothing, no future, no escape

Now look at what rap has come to. What was once subversive, a voice for the degraded and excluded has now been co-opted. Lil’ Wayne and Gucci Mane rap about how they do a lot of drugs, how much money they have, how they can just kill a man with no thought, about being the biggest baddest gangsta. There is Kid Cudi whining about how he smokes too much weed. The jerkin movement in Southern California promoting conspicuous consumption. What’s there to identify with that actually has any weight, any deep meaning? There all in pursuit of something tangible, something material.

What I like about OFWGKTA is that their is a humanity,a rawness to them that many mainstream musicians lack. A perfect example is Tyler the Creator’s “Bastard.” The first song on his album, the song is framed as a discussion between Tyler and a therapist. He’s a smart kid, he writes his own music, takes AP and honor classes, but his intelligence and talents hasn’t gotten him anywhere. His peers make fun of him. Rap blogs like 2dopeboyz won’t post his music because they think he’s a just a kid. Despite his smarts, after highschool he’s going to a jc. He is written off as nothing more than a troubled adolescent black bastard, “an ignorant hood-rat.”

Perhaps I'm being an idealistic upper middle class Mexican white boy, but OFWGKTA's horrifically explicit lyrics bring to light the groups deeper emotional trauma. While there’s absolutely nothing good about things like homophobia and rape, I think the lyrics come out of there the inability to put into words the problems they face. For example, Tyler the Creator is a bastard. Abandoned by his father, without a past to model his future on. He has to live with the knowledge that his dad, his creator, never wanted him. How can that anger, that helplessness, be articulated? I think the lyrics evoke that inexpressible pain. Although it may seem like Tyler’s situation and anger is unique, he notes in “Inglorious“ that he knows he’s not the only bastard. He’s just one of many.

Here is the link to their blog:

http:/www.oddfuture.com/

Listen, make your own opinions, do whatever.

and also

FUCK STEVE HARVEY!

Books: Paradise in Ashes

Here is a response paper I wrote for one of my classes. The book I'm writing about is called "Paradise in Ashes: A Guatemalan Journey of Courage, Terror, and Hope". The book is a about the Guatemalan genocide, and focuses on the experience of Santa María Tzejá.

The campesino’s need for land is what stuck with me in the reading. I thought about identity and (once again) drew connections with struggles happening in my hometown. The need for land, in my mind, is a fundamental part of the individual’s humanity. In terms of the reading, the campesinos in Guatemala are dehumanized beyond belief. They are treated as beasts of burden, as tools. They are in this place because they lack land to support themselves, raise a family, to have a community, to live a dignified life as human beings. Having land gains them what has been denied them and their ancestors for thousands of years. The settlers have a small scrap of land that belongs to them, that they call home. They’ve worked for it, the products of their labor belong to them.

I see a similar struggle in my hometown of Point Reyes. The town has a big agricultural and tourist economy. The base of the labor force on the ranches and farms is made of displaced campesinos primarily from Jalostitlan in Mexico. Many of the workers were originally farmers and had land in Mexico. Thanks to the invisible hand, they’ve lost their land and livelihood and been forced to seek it the U.S. in places like Point Reyes. The work the land, but don’t own it. They live in cramped trailers, some lacking basic utilities like hot water. Although they work in the production of food, many have to take food from the community pantry. They are dehumanized by the way our government's laws and economic system has treated them

Based on my experiences living and volunteering in the community, I’ve seen that these workers want their own farms and ranches. This is denied them not through state violence as in Guatemala, but through economic and political means. Many are undocumented, and live in terror of being ripped from their families simply because they lack papers. Land itself in the town is expensive, as many plots in the town have been purchase by wealthy “weekenders.”

The Guatemalan and Point Reyes campesinos live in different places and face vastly different challenges. However, they both have the same need for land, for recognition and dignity as human beings.

Dance of the Soldiers

One day, I will have mastered this dance.

Tuneskis: What do I get?

Books: The Devil's Highway

I read this for my class "Culture, Power and Violence in Latin America" last semester. The author is Luis Alberto Urrea, from Tijuana. Sophomore year I saw him speak with my pa in Berkeley. He's a funny guy and a great writer.

The book is about the Yuma 14/Wellstone 26, a group of people who attempted to cross the "Devil's Highway" desert of the U.S. Mexico border. Their death caused a controversy around the world, yet did not inspire much change in U.S. immigration policy. He writes the story from a literary liminal space, weaving fiction and non fiction to tell the story of all those involved- the migrant, the coyotes, the gangsters, the border patrol, the desert itself. Urrea captures the simple human aspects of immigration. The coyote who wanted to build a house for his mom, the Wellton Border Patrol that raised money to build safety stations, the migrant who's wife made sure her husband wore green socks to match his green slacks in order to look good for his job interview.

It really cut me up inside when I thought about how easy it was for my levi's skinny jeans to cross the border from Mexico, but hundreds of people die trying to cross just so they can build a house or send their kids to school.

Soviet Swag

Dispatches/ Tuneskis: Veterans Day

Veterans day was Thursday, November 11th. Honestly, I didn't do anything to commemorate the day, I forgot about it, which I regret. I wished I'd lit a candle, taken a moment of silence, done something to commemorate the sacrifice of our troops. To me, veterans day is not about politics or patriotism, but simply acknowledging the sacrifice soldiers make. The sacrifice of their lives, their humanity, their youth in war. What really cuts me up is that it's so easy for me to forget about this. I get to talk about avant garde films and celebrate Thirsty Thursday at the most expensive liberal arts school in the country while kids my age are fighting and dying needlessly over in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I ask that you take a moment to ponder the sacrifice our veterans have made. Maybe this song will help. It's Joe Strummer's version of "The Minstrel Boy," a song written by Thomas Moore in remembrance of his friends killed in the 1798 Irish Uprising.

Dispatches: Halloween

So my last minute halloween costume turned into "camo wearing guy drinking 40s."

Originally, I intended to put together a costume of Subcomandante Marcos. Subcomandante Marcos is a figure of the Zapatista struggle in Chiapas mexico. I don't really know how to explain the Zapatistas and Marcos, so peep this interview:

or, if you prefer something shorter or wish to gain further information, peep this

(2:05)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxRDwA9SXbw

or this:

(2:59)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlW9sS7CSAc

This is their official web site:

http://www.ezln.org.mx/

Film/ Roots: The Bicycle Thieves

Recently, I had the pleasure of watching "The Bicycle Thieves" in my film class. It's an Italian movie, filmed in 1948 during Italy's post-war economic depression. The film and the plot reflect the terrible poverty and desperate situation many working class Italians experienced at the time. I couldn't find a good english trailer on youtube, so this is just one of my favorite scenes from the film.

"The Bicycle Thieves" made me reflect on my connection to my Italian heritage. It's very important for me to be connected with the culture and heritage of my ancestors. The struggle and sacrifice of my family's past is what has made me.

If I don't have respect for my roots, do I have respect for myself?

My Mayan/Mexican heritage has always been questioned and doubted because of the color of my skin, leading me to put more time investigating this part of me. At the same time, I really haven't explored my roots in Italy and Ireland.

¡Ya basta!

I'm tired. I think I'll go get a cappuccino, sit back, and read some James Joyce.

"This Racism is killing me inside!"

Art: Cannon Dill

The following art is by Cannon Dill, an artists from Mill Valley, California. We got off to a bit of a bad start when I met him. I was booking "The Hideout" at the Dance Palace and he and his friend Bendix were doing the poster art. They basically booked the show themselves without telling me, which caused a stir. It all worked out for the best though, as it was the first time I saw Jughead and I caught the only performance of "The Yeggs." I hope to collaborate with him on another show.In the meantime, enjoy these:

Tuneskis: Cumbia

I've been listening to a lot of Cumbia lately. It's a style of music which came out of the Caribbean coast of Colombia*. I like to listen before I go it, as I find the beat makes me feel all nice and mischievous. This is a nice version of Cumbia del Monte by Ska Cubano.Enjoy!

*(Shout out to my #1 Colombian homie Carlo Berg)

Shenanigans: Crystal Necklace

Shout out to my homies Mojdeh and Mia. Also Mick for the Newcastle.

Tuneskis: "A Real Apache"

This is Boe Titla, a "real Apache indian" as he introduced himself. He is a country singer on a tour of the east coast right now, it's his first time outside of Arizona. He learned guitar by watching his brother's hand movements when he was a kid- Boe doesn't actually know the names of the chords, he just plays. The songs and stories he told about his life and the experience of Apaches living on the reservation was moving. His performance will be one of my most cherished memories of Sarah Lawrence

You can listen to a couple of his tunsekis here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/titlaboe

Spot the Racism: Fiorina + Whitman

http://www.hulu.com/watch/184595/decision-2010-tequila-whitman-fiorina-do-shots-in-appeal-to-latinos

El Barzón

El Barzón is a Mexican folk song dating back to the time of the revolutionary period in 1910 and means "yoke" in spanish. In this version, we hear the perspective of the a campesina telling her husband to throw off the yolk of the rich and powerful. The campesino is just supporting the rich, they're dragging him down, taking from his labor. He gets nothing in return, why put up with them anymore?

This song is as true today as it was in that time. The poor are still dragging the rich on their backs, and the rich still steal from them. What has effected and distressed me the most, currently, is that I see the wealthy stealing from the poor culturally.

Cultural appropriation.

You'll read more about this in the future.