This Friday, May 1st, at Embargo Bar downtown FW, Tejas

mic + pOetry=SPOKEN WORD allowed-->PALABRAZOS 5/1/09

Da'Shade Moonbeam - an actual spoken word capoeirista, not a Manga character name...

Natasha Carrizosa - local long-tressed poet of romance and survival, with sabor del Caribe...

Mary Melisse Mier - ex-Caravan of Dreams Theater actress/director and now poet/playwright/director based in Santa Fe (once traveled on a Chinese junk--a ship, y'all--'round the world, performing classical theater works everywhere from Germany to Kathmandu..)...

Angelo Jaramillo - bard and theater performer, teen arts educator and published poet, also from Santa Fe...

Ernesto Abraham Garcia - San Antonio-based writer and emerging filmmaker, is in love with anarchy, netflix, and a baby boy named Samuel (his son)...

All of these folks AND a few others, AND their VIDEO POEMS,
will be presented to you, on Friday, May 1st, in our

2nd Annual PALABRAZOS festival of performance literature.


JOIN US ! BRING $$ FOR BOOKS, RAFFLE TICKETS, T-SHIRTS,
and mojitos/cervezas at the bar.

otherwise, this SHINDIGGITY is FREE of charge. o dollas admission.

love the poetry that unites us. spend a great evening w/ me...
and a few other talents of note.


[thanks to INOPE for the dope flyer design!]

2nd Annual PALABRAZOS Festival of Literary Performance - Friday, May 1st - FW, Tejas

The upcoming PALABRAZOS Festival of Literary Performance
will be taking place this coming Friday, May 1st, 2009,
at Embargo Bar - 210 E. 8th Street - downtown Fort Worth.

Free and Open to the Public.

This is the SECOND annual PALABRAZOS, and we are no less excited this year to present some of the most compelling performing poets of Texas and beyond.

Natasha Carrizosa and Joaquin Zihuatanejo, both based in the DFW Metroplex, will kick off the Festival with their poignant and riveting tales of bicultural life and urban tribulations.

We will also be featuring two poets from Santa Fe, New Mexico: Mary Melisse Mier and Angelo Jaramillo. They are both theater artists, playwrights, and poets.

As well, we are excited to be hosting Da'Shade Moonbeam, an award-winning nationally-ranked slam poet and hiphop performing artist.

Three video poems, by artists from San Antonio and Santa Fe, will be screened as part of the Festival.

We hope you will join us in this exciting display of contemporary performance literature.

PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD -- The event is free and open to the public.

*************

SPECIAL INVITATION!

In order to raise some needed funds to be able to produce
the PALABRAZOS Festival, we are hosting a benefit party
at

The Fox and Hound Pub and Grill
Upstairs Lounge
604 Main Street - downtown Fort Worth
6pm

on THIS COMING TUESDAY, April 28th!!

Come by for complimentary appetizers
and
the opportunity to hear about our
unique literary festival - the one and only
PALABRAZOS Festival of Literary Performance.

Your donations can help support a
grassroots project that encourages
literacy and showcases some of the
finest spoken word artists and
performing poets from Texas and beyond.

Join us this coming Tuesday, April 28th,
for our pre-festival fundraiser!!

Thank you very much for your kind consideration.

para palabras,

Thrills and chills in Austin, Texas this past weekend for Sor Juana Festival

Funky Finds Spring Fling

Event: Funky Finds Spring Fling
When: April 25, 2009 - 10am to 6pm
Where: Will Rogers Memorial Center,
3401 W. Lancaster Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76107
Admission: FREE
Contacts: Jessica & Joe Dougherty
Email: springfling@funkyfinds.us
Website: http://www. funkyfinds. us/springfling. html

Description:

The Funky Finds Spring Fling is an indie craft fair that will showcase the work of over 90 artists, crafters & designers. Funky Finds focuses on promoting those who create funky handmade goods that appeal to a wide variety of shoppers. Participating vendors include those from the DFW Area, South Texas, Oklahoma & more. Our FREE family & pet-friendly event will allow consumers to experience the indie craft scene in Tarrant County. Your support of independent artisans is greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your support!
Jessica & Joe Dougherty
http://funkyfinds. us/springfling

Free supper @ Threadgill's in N. Austin - this week only - at the original restaurant

[Thanks to Carl for the heads-up. Ima be in Austin for the debut performance of a new solo work "Saliendo Abierta", based on the 2.5 days I was trapped in my bedroom closet last May, so i'll probably try to get a free veggie plate @ the original Threadgill's. That's the one where Janis Joplin first started playing publicly, back in the days of the open music jams. Love Threadgill's--an Austin institution. Oh, Jim Hightower--the populist rabblerouser, national radio commentator, and author- was broadcasting his radio commentaries live from Threadgill's downtown for a while. Pretty cool.]

Free supper this week at Old No.
1!

Threadgill's North store only - one per person.


It's true.
Eddie is giving away free meals at the north store this week! Chicken Fried Steak, Chicken Fried Chicken, Fried Mississippi Catfish, or Vegetable Vegetarian with 28 veggies to choose from. April 13-19 from 4pm till close, so come when you're hungry! Limit one per person on the honor system.


Start Time: Monday, April 13, 2009 at 4:00pm
End Time: Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 10:00pm

Threadgill's Old No.
1
6416 North Lamar Boulevard
Austin, TX

Phone: 512-451-5440
Email: north@threadgills.com





http://www.myspace.com/threadgillsaustin

On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=71597053275&ref=mf

My upcoming gigs and current productions - artistic workflow for the moment

Current projects and forthcoming:

uno-
The Second Annual "PALABRAZOS", an annual festival of literary performance poetry, is coming up on Friday, May 1st at Embargo Bar here in downtown Fort Worth. I co-produce this annual festival with Cesar Hernandez (Cara Mia Theatre of Dallas), and a great collective of literature-loving gente. This year we're bringing in for showcase presentations:
LAS KRUDAS (CUBAN FEMALE HIPHOP)
NATASHA CARRIZOSA AND JOAQUIN ZIHUATANEJO, LOCALPOWERHOUSES OF POETRY,
AND FROM SANTA FE: MARY MIER AND ANGELO JARAMILLO.
ALSO: POEM VIDEOS BY CESAR HERNANDEZ AND TREY MOORE.

dos-
Three poems by Tammy Gomez were selected by renowned writer Jimmy Santiago Baca for publication in the Spring 2009 issue of the Yellow Medicine Review, a literary journal of indigenous writing.
http://www.yellowmedicinereview.com/

tres-
I will be performing a new work entitled "Abierta Saliendo" at the upcoming SOR JUANA INES DE LA CRUZ festival of Mexican
American Women Performers on Saturday, April 18th, at the Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin, TX.
Yikes--this is in one more week, and i'm still rehearsing and rewriting the script. My new work, a one-hour one-woman monologue, is based on the 2 and a half days that i spent trapped in my own friggin' bedroom closet. I'm trying to do this experience some justice via a public performance. Wish me luck!
Download the festival brochure: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/macc/downloads/sorjuana.pdf

cuatro-
I was asked, by author Dr. Michelle Vela (TX A&M-Kingsville) to write the preface for her scholarly book on Chicana Autobiography, which will be published by the Edwin Mellen Press later this year. I submitted the preface (last November), and am just waiting to hear when the book is ready for release.

cinco-
I am also currently co-producing, with a collective of artistas and activists, a local television program for cable access. The show, titled "817 FLAVORS" focuses on the arts, culture, and grassroots organizing in the area spanned by the 817 area code. The first episode began airing in February of this year.

seis-
Yo, I still blog at xxcommunicator.blogspot.com. For the latest information about my projects and other things related to cultura and community activism, please check it out.

Cesar Chavez Commemorations and labor organizers training in FW

“All my life, I have been driven by one dream, one goal, one vision: To overthrow a farm labor system in this nation which treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings. Farm workers are not agricultural implements; they are not beasts of burden to be used and discarded." - Cesar Chavez, labor and civil rights leader and founder of the UFW (United Farm Workers)


I've been invited to be one of the speakers at the "Awards Ceremony" happening in the evening, tomorrow, April 4th, at 7pm.

Please come out, especially if you haven't seen the new TCC downtown campus, now housed in what was formerly the Radio Shack building. All events are FREE and open to the public. Here are details for the evening program:

WHAT: The Spirit of Cesar Chavez Awards
WHEN: Saturday, Aprili 4th, 7pm
WHERE: Tarrant County College, Trinity Downtown Campus (formerly the Radio Shack Building), 300 W. Belknap, Fort Worth-
FOURTH FLOOR - ACTION A
(not sure why they call it "Action")


EXCERPT FROM RECENT DALLAS MORNING NEWS ARTICLE:

"In Fort Worth, organizers will hold the 10th annual march and rally for Chávez on April 4. That evening, three Fort Worth recipients who have worked to improve their community will receive Spirit of Chávez awards.

Among the recipients is 71-year-old Elisa Nájera, a longtime volunteer and literacy advocate. Nájera remembers the grape
boycotts and participated in one demonstration outside a local grocery store out of respect for her parents and grandparents, who were migrant workers."

++++++++++

And, speaking of labor rights and organizing, there is a 2-day labor organizing training scheduled for April 4th and 5th, at the 1919 Hemphill community action space in the southside of FW. This training, sponsored by DFW IWW (Industrial Workers of the World, will be conducted by Erik Forman of the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU) and Joe Richards, who is organizing workers at a grocery store in Florida.

What: Labor Organizing Training
When: Saturday and Sunday, April 4 and April 5 - 10am to 6pm (vegan lunch will be provided on-site)
Where: 1919 Hemphill, Fort Worth, TX
Fee: $10-30 sliding scale
More info at: dfw_iww@riseup.net

Palabrazos 09 - coming soon - featuring Las Krudas from Cuba/Austin

More details coming soon. It's the 2nd Annual PALABRAZOS Festival of Multimedia Literary Performance. Acqui en Fort Worth aka "Forte Wes"--like my grandma used to say. Las Krudas are confirmed to close the festival with a set of their slammin' hiphop rhythm and rhymes. Check this video for a spot o' KRUDAS flavor:


Oh--if you want to get involved with promotion, planning, or production of PALABRAZOS 09 (the alliteration was unintended, i assure you), please send me a message via: sound_culture(at)hotmail.com. Gracias.

another great day in world news reporting....april 1, 2009

"One protester dressed as the Easter bunny managed to hop through the police cordon but was stopped before he could reach the Bank of England. Another black-clad demonstrator waved a fake light saber at officers."

--excerpted from an AP article, April 1, 2009