Ellen Choy brings us her exclusive interview with Elmer Labog, prominent labor leader from the Philippines. Then, we have highlights from the discussion about a proposal to change the name of Occupy Oakland to Decolonize Oakland produced by Karl Jagbandhansingh. And finally, we are joined live in the studio by Nomi, who is part of the hip hop group Power Struggle and an organizer with the Filipino Community Center. He’ll be talking with Marie Choi about his music and his organizing, and the upcoming Beatrock Anniversary Party.
Songs and video featured in tonight’s show include:
Highlights from the Decolonize Oakland discussion at the General Assembly
We also have some concert tickets which we’ll be giving away later in tonight’s show, thanks to the San Francisco Arts Commission. We’ll be giving away two pairs of tickets to next week’s Colors of Christmas Concert featuring Filipina Broadway musical legend Lea Salonga.
This week we bring you another packed show featuring powerful community voices: Police Brutality in Oakland: While we continue to heal from the murder of Oscar Grant, Oakland youth of color continue to be targeted by racial profiling and police brutality. This week we bring you a dynamic interview with Sarn Saechao, a Mien youth and high school student and member of AYPAL, to speak on his experience with racial profiling, his thoughts on the Oakland gang injunctions and what him and other Oakland API youth are doing to combat injustices in their hood. Also, we bring you sounds from February’s “People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence,” featuring community leaders Eddy Zheng and Rachel Jackson.
Hopie Spitshard: We sat down for a special interview with Hopie Spitshard, a young hip hop artist originally from the Philippines and San Francisco-raised. As the inaugural segment of a series we’ll be collecting of interviews with API womyn in hip hop, this week we bring you an intimate look at who Hopie Spitshard is, and what has inspired her to blaze through hip hop’s boundaries and stay grounded by family, culture and what’s real.
Community Calendar:
From Thursday, April 7 to Saturday, April 9, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents Samoan choreographer Lemi Ponfasio’s Tempest Without a Body. www.ybca.org
On Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9, Karl Evangelista and the Grex Quintet perform their special blend of jazz at the Bayanihan Community Center in San Francisco. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172259806154392
On Saturday, April 9, author Cecilia Gaerlan reads from her debut novel, In Her Mother’s Image. Her book chronicles the story of a family’s ordeal during World War II in the Philippines and the fall of Bataan. www.asiabookcenter.com
Sunday, April 10, join the Bay Area Committee to Stop FBI Repression’s contingent at the anti-war rally in Dolores Park, and call-in on April 12 to support activists like Anh Pham in resisting the FBI’s harassment of activists. www.stopfbi.net
Next Thursday, April 14, four Asian American rock bands perform at the Submission Gallery in San Francisco for Ring the Alarm, a benefit for communities in the Philippines. Entry is $5-8. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137342599672988
On Saturday, April 16, API musicians, dancers, and performers come together for Japan Restart, a benefit concert for the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. japanrestart.eventbrite.com
This week, as a premium for a pledge of $60, we’re featuring the ground-breaking documentary DVD “Hawaii – A Voice for Sovereignty,” by award-winning director Catherine Bauknight, telling the real story and issues facing Native Hawaiians.
“Hawaii – A Voice for Sovereignty” is a documentary film by photojournalist Catherine Bauknight that explores the culture of the Native Hawaiians and their connection to the land. At the forefront of the film are social, economic, and ecological issues that have developed in Hawaii since the takeover by the U.S. in 1893, revealed in interviews with grassroots indigenous people and scholars such as author, Haunani-Kay Trask.
We have an exclusive interview with Yukimi Nagano of Swedish electronic music band Little Dragon! They recently stopped on tour to San Francisco’s venue, the Independent, and had a chance to sit down with Apex Express Producer, Renee Yang Geesler. Special thanks to Mandana Modfidi and Mr. Okay for their technical support, and also special thanks to Ester Manilla and Genevieve Harder for their production support.
We’ll hear sounds from the recent protest in front of the Indian Consulate to free Dr. Binayak Sen, human rights activist. He was arrested in 2007 for protecting the right of Adivasi people, India’s indigenous people. Produced by Vstar with special thanks to Preeti Shekar. For more information on Dr. Sen, visit www.freebinayaksen.org
And, Masao Suzuki, economics professor and long-time activist, talks about his run-in with a FBI agent. On September 24, 2010, several anti-war and international solidarity activists were issued subpoenas to appear before a grand jury in Chicago. He believes that his encounter with the FBI was part of that nationwide sweep. The Committee to Stop FBI Repression will be having an organizing conference at the Humanist Hall, located at 390 27th Street in Oakland.
photo by Shirley Nakao, courtesy of the Korematsu Institute
A report from the Sunday inauguration of Fred Korematsu Day, the first day ever to celebrate the life of an Asian American. Fred T. Korematsu was a national civil rights hero. In 1942, at the age of 23, he refused to go to the government’s incarceration camps for Japanese Americans. After he was arrested and convicted of defying the government’s order, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled against him, arguing that the incarceration was justified due to military necessity.
In 1998, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Bill Clinton. And, last September, Governor Schwarzenegger proclaimed January 30th Fred Korematsu Day. For more information or to donate a Korematsu teaching kit to a classroom visit korematsuinstitute.org
photo courtesy of shakuhachi.com
Also, live in the studio, Masayuki Koga plays the shakuhachi and discusses the art of Japanese flute playing. In 1981, Masayuki Koga founded the Japanese Music Institute of America (JMI) to introduce the highest-quality Japanese classical music to an American audience. Currently Masayuki Koga is the general director and principal shakuhachi instructor.
APEX Express is a proud member of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, or AACRE. AACRE is a network of Asian American social justice groups with shared values that are working to create positive change.
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