"Dame dame dame, que te voy a dar ... una guayabita de mi guayabal."

10.31.2009

hey mr bombo, el pueblo ta bien cabriao



DJ BLACK CHUCHA DE SU MADRE LYRICS
tiempo del pique
hey mr bombo, el pueblo ta bien cabriao
de este negro... black wutan clan!

coro
esta es la cancion del xuxa de su madre
dedicado pa los xuxa de su madre
pa q lo suenen como xuxa de su madre
y se pege de aki hasta la xuxa de su madre
(bis2)

dice letra..

En el pais hay un problema bn xuxa de su madre
que nos tiene hasta la xuxa de se madre
y trabajamos como xuxa de su madre
pa resivir un sueldo bien xuxa de su madre
y cada 4 años se aparece un xuxa de su madre
prometiendo como xuxa de su madre
pidiendo voto como xuxa de su madre
VOTEN POR MI!.. xuxa de su madre
pero en la asamblea si hay xuxa de su madre
que no hacen na x ningun xuxa de su madre
se olvido de todos los xuxa de su madre´
y se roba la plata hey xuxa de su madre


coro
esta es la cancion del xuxa de su madre
dedicado pa los xuxa de su madre
pa q lo suenen como xuxa de su madre
y se pege de aki hasta la xuxa de su madre

oye lo q me paso a la 1 de la mañana

espero taxi como un mismo xuxa de su madre
y x se negro no me llevan los xuxa de su madre
y a los lejos se me acercan los xuxa de su madre
CEDULA CIUDADANO xuxa de su madre
me llevan pa el cuartel los xuxa de su madre
me sueltan a las 4 los xuxa de su madre
llego a mi ksa y la xuxa de su madre
de mi mujer tu tabas con una xuxa de su madre

coro
esta es la cancion del xuxa de su madre
dedicado pa los xuxa de su madre
pa q lo suenen como xuxa de su madre
y se pege de aki hasta la xuxa de su madre

en el pais hay un problema bn xuxa de su madrE
el seguro hasta la xuxa de su madre
los doctores asiendo huelga los xuxa de su madre
dietilendlicol xuxa de su madre
mato un poco de viejo el xuxa de su madre
y los taxi hasta la xuxa de su madre
hasta los buses se prenden xuxa de su madre
hay no meten preso a nigun xuxa de su madre
sige el transporte hasta la xuxa de su madre
gasolina hasta la xuxa de su madre
la comida hasta la xuxa de su madre
y el salario del ghetto! hasta la xuxa de su madre

coro
esta es la cancion del xuxa de su madre
dedicado pa los xuxa de su madre
pa q lo suenen como xuxa de su madre
y se pege de aki hasta la xuxa de su madre
(bis2)

el pais esta creciendo hasta la xuxa de su madre
rantan de edificio como la xuxa de su madre
q lindo q bonito los xuxa de su madre
y kien va a vivi hay? los xuxa de su madre brother
esto ta hasta la xuxa de su madre
to mundo sufre como un xuxa de su madre
el pobre mas pobre hasta la xuxa de su madre
justica pa el pueblo!! xuxa de su madre
tamos kabriao hasta la xuxa de su madre
sufriendo como xuxa de su madre
llorando como la xuxa de su madre
trabajando como xuxa de su madre
echando pa lante como un xuxa de su madre

ya tu sabes..
y si te menciono en todas las listas
de lo malo q pasa
una lista q ta mas larga q xuxa de su madre

el mismo black
el negro del sason

10.28.2009

LUCIA PULIDO ENSEMBLE - Tour en Europa

Red:
Global
Hora de inicio:
El Viernes, 30 de octubre de 2009 a las 20:30
Hora de finalización:
El jueves, 05 de noviembre de 2009 a las 19:00
Lugar:
Holanda, Belgica, Suecia, Finlandia

Descripción

- OCTOBER 30th at 8:30 pm - QUINTET

Antwerp - BELGIUM
@ ZUIDERPERSHUIS
http://www.zuiderpershuis.be/events.php?id=772&parent=3&cat_id=1

- OCTOBER 31st at 8:30 pm - QUINTET

Utrecht - NETHERLANDS
@ RASA
http://www.rasa.nl/agenda21.asp?MenuID=1142865530671&theDate2=31-10-2009&Display=thisDate#?MenuID=1142865688140

- NOVEMBER 1st at 3:00 pm - QUINTET

Amsterdam - NETHERLANDS
@ TROPENTHEATER - Kleine Zaal
Location: 2 Linnaeusstraat - Amsterdam
http://www.tropentheater.nl/smartsite.shtml?ch=FAB&id=10474&ActiviteitID=5801&BeginDatum=11/1/2009%203:00:00%20PM

QUINTET:
Sebastian Cruz, guitar
Sam Sadigursky, clarinet
Ruben Samama, contrabass
Richie Barshay, drums
Lucia Pulido, voice

- NOVEMBER 4th at 7:00 pm - TRIO

Helsinki - FINLAND
@ International Cultural Center CAISA
- Free concert
Organized by the Colombian Embassy
http://www.caisa.fi/ohjelma/tapahtumahaku?GroupClass=-1

- NOVEMBER 5th at 7:00 pm - TRIO

Stockholm - SWEDEN
@ SCANDIC MALMEN HOTEL
-Free concert
Organized by the Colombian Embassy

Scandic Malmen Hotel:
Götgatan 49–51
102 66 Stockholm
+46 (0)8 5173 4700

TRIO:
Sebastian Cruz, guitar
Ruben Samama, contrabass
Lucia Pulido, voice

10.21.2009

Music and Violence Bibliography

Matthew Sumera, Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology at U. Wisconsin - Madison, has posted a bibliography on music and violence on his blog, here. In related news, the Music and Violence sub-group or special section or whatever it is of the Society for Ethnomusicology will be meeting at the annual meeting in Mexico.

10.19.2009

GRAMMY NOMINATED MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA directed by BOBBY SANABRIA to honor
MAESTRO RAY SANTOS: A LIFE IN LATIN MUSIC
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the School’s BORDEN AUDITORIUM
Concert to feature Ray Santos’s
Suite for Puerto Rico
The recently Grammy nominated
Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra directed by Maestro Bobby Sanabria honors another Maestro, the legendary composer, arranger Ray Santos on Friday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the School’s John C. Borden Auditorium. That evening, showcased will be music that will span Maestro Santos’s entire prolific career. Performed will be specific pieces that he either composed and/or arranged for such legends as Machito & The Afro-Cubans, Tito Puente, Mario Bauza’ as well as his work for the soundtrack of the Mambo Kings and vocalist Linda Rondstat. A program highlight will include Ray Santos’s Suite for Puerto Rico. Bobby Sanabria says, "Maestro Santos’s Suite for Puerto Rico traces the imaginary journey of a native Puerto Rican with his folk music traditions from the mountainside to the modern urban environment of New York City where jazz and mambo rule."
Tickets, priced at $5 are required. They are available at the Manhattan School of Music Concert Office by visiting www.msmnyc.edu or by calling 917 493 4428.
RAY SANTOS -
Born of Puerto Rican parents in New York City where he was raised 80 years ago, is a legendary, four-time Grammy Award winner for Latin music, and Academy Award nominee for Best Song in a Motion Picture - "The Mambo Kings." A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, Ray Santos has played, recorded, composed and arranged for front line orchestras throughout the Latin music industry for more than 50 years. He has collaborated with artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Julio Iglesias, Tito Rodriguez, Tito Puente, and Dizzy Gillespie to name a few. Hailed "El Maestro" by those who have known, worked and studied with him, Santos is considered to be one of the most prodigious contributors to Latin music for the last half-century.
Ray Santos reveled in the atmosphere of the Big Band Era. During this period he absorbed the popular music of his folk traditions from the Caribbean and the Swing Music of the 1930’s and 1940’s. In 1948, while listening to Symphony Sid on the radio, he heard Charlie Parker soloing with Machito and His Afro-Cubans. The thrill of that moment still in his voice, Ray excitedly describes his reaction, "WOW, This is it! This is the real meeting between Jazz and Afro-Cuban Music."
Creative determination compelled the young saxophonist of the 1950’s to arrange and compose music that captured the incessant rhythmic drive of the Afro-Cuban Sound fused with the power and sonority of Big Band Jazz. The ace arranger penned an extensive output of charts, recorded by two generations of the most influential musical figures in contemporary American and Caribbean music, such as Machito, Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez. His career from the 1960’s into the early 1980’s matured in Puerto Rico where he wrote and directed music for television, produced recordings for established and emerging Salsa Bands, and played for many top stars in the business. Upon returning to New York, Santos contributed several arrangements to Eddie Palmieri’s 1986 Grammy-winning album in the Latin Music category. His career as a music educator at City College of New York has established him as an authority on Caribbean music, teaching a new generation of musicians. Media and film producers have contracted him as an arranger and music consultant and he remains an artistic innovator in the field.
In 1999 Ray collaborated with Paquito D’Rivera in the production of Maestro D’Rivera’s album, "Tropicana Nights" that was awarded a Tropical Latin Grammy. In December 1999 he co-produced, with David Chesky, the CD titled "The Conga Kings" featuring Candido Camero, Carlos "Patato" Valdes and Giovanni Hidalgo, three world-class exponents of conga drumming. In 2000, Ray Santos did arranging for the "Masterpiece" production with Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri. This CD was awarded a Grammy. A second CD "Conga Kings Jazz Descargas" with Alto Saxophonist Phil Woods, has been recorded and released in July 2001 on Chesky Records.

* * * * *

BOBBY SANABRIA -
Multiple Grammy nominated as a leader and on numerous other projects as a sideman - drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, conductor, producer, educator, film-maker, bandleader, and multi-cultural warrior, Bobby Sanabria has performed and recorded with such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaráa, Paquito D’Rivera, Ray Barretto, Candido, Henry Threadgill, Larry Harlow, and Afro-Cuban jazz Godfather, Mario Bauzá. His first solo recording, N.Y.C. Aché’ has been become a cult classic. His first big band recording, Live & in Clave!!!, was nominated for a mainstream Grammy in 2001. In 2003 he was nominated for a Latin Grammy for, "50 Years of Mambo", A Tribute to Damaso Perez Prado. His 2005 Quarteto Aché’ disc was hailed by the critics as giving a new vision to the standard jazz quartet. The readers of DRUM! magazine named him Percussionist of the Year in 2006. His 2007 recording "Big Band Urban Folktales" on the Jazzheads label was a 2008 Grammy nominee. This South Bronx native of Puerto Rican parentage is a 2006 inductee into the Bronx Walk of Fame where he has a street named after him. His latest release, the 2009 "Kenya Revisited Live!!!" on the Jazzheads label is a re-imagining of the legendary "Kenya" album by the Machito Afro-Cubans with incredible new arrangements with Bobby conducting an incredible big band of young lions from Manhattan School of Music that has astounded critics and fans has just been nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Latin Jazz recording of 2009.
He holds a BM from the Berklee College of Music and is on the faculty of the New School and Manhattan School of Music where he conducts Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Bands at both schools. He leads his own Quarteto Aché’, nonet Ascensión, and his multiple Grammy nominated big band. He was associate producer of the TV documentaries "The Palladium: Where Mambo Was King" shown on BRAVO, winner of the IMAGINE award for best TV documentary of 2003 and "From Mambo to Hip Hop", ALMA award, best documentary for TV which was shown on PBS in 2007. He is the author of the acclaimed video series, Getting Started on Congas and he is a featured performer on the DVD, Modern Drummer Festival 2006, from Hudson Music. Mr. Sanabria is featured in the upcoming documentary, LATIN MUSIC USA, which airs on PBS in October 2009.

* * * * *

The recently Grammy-nominated
Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra was established in 2000 by Bobby Sanabria and is made up of an international ensemble of student musicians from both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra has reached international acclaim by performing to standing room only audiences at the 2001 International Association of Jazz Educators Conference (IAJE) as well as other New York City venues such as Birdland, the Jazz Standard and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In October 2007, they performed an outdoor concert with Candido Camero on the plaza of the Harlem State Office Building located on 125th Street, as part of MSM’s 90th anniversary celebration. The MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra is dedicated to performing the music of ‘la traditión’ and pays homage to these legends while continuing to pass on and advance the tradition to the next generation by also premiering new works. Jazz artists who have been guest performers with the ensemble include Tom Harrell, David Sanchez, Dave Valentine, Arturo O’Farrill, Hilton Ruiz, Ronnie Cuber, Conrad Herwig, among others.
"Kenya Revisited Live!!!",
featuring Bobby Sanabria and the Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra has been nominated for 2009 Best Latin Jazz Album in the Latin Grammys. This recording also features NEA Jazz Master and Living Legend Candido Camero as guest artist. Kenya Revisited Live!!! was recently released on the Jazzheads label, and was recorded at a historic concert held at Manhattan School of Music on April 1, 2008 titled Kenya Revisited. The concert celebrated the 50th anniversary of Machito & The Afro-Cubans 1957 Jazz Masterwork, Kenya, and showcased the legendary recording in its first-ever live performance, in its entirety with updated new arrangements.
Bobby Sanabria says about the recording of
Kenya Revisited Live!!!, "Now 50 years after it was released to the public, we honor Mario Bauzá, Machito, and all of the musicians who participated on the original recording with KENYA REVISITED LIVE!!!! Recorded live in concert, you’ll hear a new generation of players tackle this incredible music as it is re-worked with new progressive arrangements that reflect the current state of jazz virtuosity. Rejoice as the torch is passed to these young fire breathing dragons who have dedicated their lives to America’s greatest art form jazz, and the branch of that art form that represents all of the America’s, Latin jazz."

Geneder and Yoruba Scholarship at NYU

10.16.2009

Sorry ASCAP, a ringtone is not a performance :-(

Says ASCAP: "AT&T has gone much further than Napster ever did."
Says US District Judge Denise Cote: "Puh-leaze." (Not in so many words).
Say the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, and the Center for Democracy & Technology: "This ruling should also protect consumers who roll down their car windows with the radio on, who take a radio to the beach, or who sing "Happy Birthday" to their children in a public park (remember, ASCAP once demanded royalties from Girl Scouts for singing around the camp fire!)."

10.15.2009

Nuevo Mural en Washington, un Homenaje a la Fortaleza del Pueblo

Jueves, 15 de Octubre de 2009 15:02
Por: Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, Titular para Colombia, Oficina sobre asuntos latinoamericanos en Washington (WOLA).

Durante las últimas décadas Washington, D. C. se convirtió en uno de los lugares principales de recepción de refugiados Latinoamericanos que huyen de conflictos sociales y políticos en países Centroamericanos, pero también de las guerras y desastres naturales en Etiopia, Somalia, Eritrea y otros países africanos.

mural_EEUUHoy en día se ha vista un crecimiento número de afro descendientes- colombianos que también llegan a DC huyendo, principalmente y en su gran mayoría del conflicto interno armado que vive Colombia por más de 40 años. Muchos de ellos han sido víctimas de la crisis de desplazamiento interno como consecuencia de dicho conflicto, las guerras entre los narcotraficantes y por la situación general de pobreza que genera desempleo y pocas oportunidades para la mayoría de los colombianos, pero que afecta principalmente a las comunidades afrocolombianos.

Este número creciente de afro-colombianos en DC han venido construyendo sus proyectos de vida y estableciendo raíces en su nueva ciudad adoptiva. Varios de estos afrodescendientes han mantenido su cultura viva con el establecimiento de un grupo de baile y danza tradicional del pacifico llamado Tangaré. El propósito de ese grupo es promover la riqueza de las tradiciones afrocolombianas, aumentar el conocimiento cultural y demostrar su aporte pacifico en una guerra que destruye su proyecto de vida y los somete día a día a una situación de violación de sus derechos humanos y el derecho internacional humanitario.

Para corroborar esa trágica realidad y educar a los ciudadanos del común y corriente en la Capital de Estados Unidos, un artista amigo de los afrocolombianos, llamado Joel Bergner, pintó un Mural Afrocolombiano en la calle “U’ de Washington DC. Esta calle es un símbolo de la lucha de los afro-estadounidenses de la ciudad, conocido también por su contribución a la música jazz y como un sitio de rumba para locales en las noches y fines de semana, donde también se encuentran varios restaurantes africanos etíopes y somalíes. Este es un homenaje a los afrocolombianos que han llegado en tiempos más recientes, por eso este mural será una linda obra de arte que se suma a esa lucha. Este mural fue inaugurado el 12 de septiembre de este ano, con el apoyo de la Comisión de Artes de la Capital, el Consejal de Ward 1 de la ciudad Jim Graham, TransAfrica Forum y la Red de Defensa en Solidaridad con las Comunidades de Base Afro-Colombianas (NASGACC). Roland Roebuck, un activista afro-puertorriqueño nota que "el área donde está ubicado el mural es muy importante porque es un sitio que es un corredor cultural de mayor importancia para un gran sector de la comunidad multi-étnica en DC."

Joel Bergner, un reconocido muralista originalmente de Chicago, cuyo sitio web es: www.joelsmurals.com, ha dedicado su vida a pintar las experiencias de vida de inmigrantes, refugiados y personas en los Estados Unidos que han formado parte de la cultura multi-étnica de este país. El artista Joel fue inspirado por los testimonios personales de varios afrodescendientes en DC quienes le contaron de las experiencias de guerra y violencia que ellos vivieron y de la belleza ambiental que se encuentra en los territorios colectivos ancestrales.

Los relatos personales de dichas personas llevaron al artista a visitar Colombia, en particular Buenaventura y las comunidades de Timbiquí. Durante su tiempo en Colombia, Joel conoció los familiares de sus amigos afrodescendientes en DC, estudio la cultura tradicional afrocolombiana y empezó a desarrollar imagines visuales de las experiencias cotidianas de personas en el Pacifico.

De un lado, el mural contiene imágenes de dos gigantescos bailarines afrocolombianos bailando el currulao y un hombre tocando la marimba. Del otro lado, la mural muestra la belleza natural de lugares como las tierras colectivas de Timbiquí y la vida cotidiana de la gente. También muestra el sufrimiento y fortaleza de muchos afrodescendientes que han tenido que huir debido a la violencia generada por los diferentes actores armados (paramilitares, guerrillas y ejercito nacional de Colombia) y las fumigaciones aéreas financiadas por el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. En el mural se ven árboles de palma aceitera y el rostro de industrialistas quienes han pagado a grupos paramilitares para que mediante su poder armado y usando la fuerza desplacen violentamente e ilegalmente a los propietarios de sus tierras para luego usurpar las tierras de los afro descendientes y pasar a manos de terratenientes y compañías que cultivan palma aceitera en esa región. Aunque las imágenes conflicto representado por el desplazamiento forzado y los actores armados es muy tristes, el mural, en general, es un homenaje a la resistencia del pueblo afrocolombiano y su capacidad de seguir adelante a pesar de su historia tan trágica. En el mural se ve el triunfo de la cultura y alegría de música y danza pese a estos problemas tan graves y generalmente desconocidos para muchos que no conocen Colombia.

Para los bailarines del grupo Tangaré, como Yensy Cundumi que es originaria de Buenaventura, “el mural es un sueño” y dice estar muy agradecida de Joel por su trabajo tan importante. Para ellos el mural es un recordatorio al mundo que ellos - afrocolombianos- existen y tienen su cultura propia. Wilder Pena, originario de Jamundí, agrega que "una de las cosas que confrontamos mucho cuando recién llegamos a DC es que muchos en los Estados Unidos no saben que existen afro descendientes en Colombia" y que nosotros tenemos tradiciones ancestrales. Ambos mencionan que ellos y sus familias han sufrido debido a la situación del conflicto y al racismo estructural en Colombia y que lo más importante es que se conozca la cultura de los afrocolombianos y las tradiciones que tienen. Otoniel Paz, refugiado de Santa Barbara de Iscuandé agrega que, el mural muestra el problema que hemos vivido los afrocolombianos, muestra que no permite que estemos tranquilos en nuestro territorio…significa saqueo, pobreza, muerte y falta de atención gubernamental hacia nuestra comunidad." Para el activista Marino Córdoba de AFRODES USA y sobreviviente de la Operación Génesis en Riosucio, una operación militar y paramilitar que inicio varias olas de desplazamiento masivo en el Chocó desde 1996, el mural es una "herramienta importante para educar a los estadounidenses sobre la diversidad que existe en Colombia y la lucha de las personas afrocolombianas en medio del conflicto por sobrevivir."

Para muchas de las ONGs en Estados Unidos, esta es una obra que nos recuerda diariamente de la gravedad de la situación en Colombia y nos invita a luchar día a día para lograr cambios positivos en la política de los Estados Unidos hacia Colombia, queremos aumentar el apoyo político internacional en favor de los derechos territoriales y de DD.HH de los afrocolombianos e indígenas que son los más afectados por la degradación del conflicto. Las fumigaciones que han resultado en la pérdida del pan coger de muchos afrocolombianos, problemas de salud en niños, contaminación de los ríos donde la mayoría de afrocolombianos en zonas rurales beben consumir las aguas de cómo agua potable, han contribuido al aumento significativo de una gran mayoría de la población campesina y afro descendientes que ingresan a las filas del fenómeno del desplazamiento interno y refugiados fuera del país.

Las fumigaciones tampoco han logrado su objetivo de disminuir la producción de coca en el país y de reducir el tráfico de cocaína a los Estados Unidos. Por el contrario, las fumigaciones han resultado en la dispersión de coca dentro de territorios afrocolombianos e indígenas en el Pacifico y ha aumentado la presencia de actores ilegales en el pacifico quienes amenazan, asesinan y desplazan a miembros de las comunidades étnicas. El mural es también un recordatorio a la comunidad internacional para que tomar acciones que ayuden a proteger la diversidad cultural y biodiversidad en los territorios afrocolombianos y que hay que asegurar que las inversiones económicas a Colombia y futuros acuerdos comerciales como el TLC no deben agudizar la situación de desterritorialización y practicas industriales sin éticas que enseñan al desplazamiento interno y violencia contra esta población.

Adicionalmente, la mural ahora forma parte de la historia de la diáspora africana en los Estados Unidos. La directora para Latinoamérica de la ONG Africana Americana, TransAfrica Forum, Nnenna Ozobia, resalta que “el mural que pintó Joel no solamente es una obra impresionante sino que es un homenaje digno a la lucha afrocolombiana para los derechos humanos y culturales. Hay que aplaudir también el coraje artístico de parte de Joel en integrar imágenes claves sobre el conflicto armado y la crisis humanitaria en Colombia y los actores responsables.” Ella agrega que: “la ubicación estratégica en el barrio de la calle U en Washington, D.C., un barrio de mucho significado para la comunidad afroamericana en D.C. y en el país, es muy importante. Antes de los 1920s, era el barrio en los Estados Unidos con la mayor concentración urbana de afroamericanos. Hoy en día, la diáspora africana sigue enfrentando profundos retos socio-económicos tanto en áreas rurales que urbanas. El mural es un recordatorio importante de los nexos importantes entre nuestras comunidades y del espíritu vencedor de nuestra gente.”

Vean el video de Carlos Quiroz, Blog Peruanista en el web en el siguiente link: http://carlosqc.blogspot.com/2009/09/inauguration-ceremony-of-afro-colombian.html

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Peace Brigades International (PBI) Colombia Project, The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), TransAfrica Forum, AFRODES USA and the
Network for Advocacy in Solidarity with Grassroots Afro-Colombian Communities (NASGACC)
cordially invite you to a workshop on

Afro-descendant and Mestizo Rural Farmers' Efforts to Prevent Further Displacement and to Improve Human Rights and Self-Sufficiency for their Communities

with

Bernardo Vivas, Community Council Member
Cacarica Community for Self-Determination, Life, and Dignity (CAVIDA), Chocó

Álvaro Manzano, Executive Board Member
Peasant Farmer Association of the Cimitarra River (ACVC), Magdalena Medio

Fabián Laverde García, Director
Social Corporation for Community Advisory and Training Services (COS-PACC)

There are a host of problems facing Colombia's rural Afro-Colombian and mestizo farmers, many of whom must confront these difficult issues with few resources and from very remote areas of the country. CAVIDA, the ACVC, and COS-PACC work in different regions of Colombia facing varied challenges, however, the mechanisms they utilize to confront these situations are similar. All three of these rural farmer movements will present their situations and provide recommendations for how U.S. organizations and policymakers can assist them with seeking protection for their members and improvement in the human rights situations in their regions. They will share their experiences organizing their respective communities in confronting the internal armed conflict, violence, persecution of their leaders, the effects of the international food crisis on their region, and other challenges faced in their territories. All three organizations are accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

Saturday, November 14, 2009
2:00 PM - 6:00 PM

WOLA
1666 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009

Refreshments and Spanish translation will be provided.

Space for this workshop is limited. Please RSVP to Rachel Robb at (202) 797-2171 or rrobb@wola.org by November 1.

Further details on these three organizations is provided below:

Cacarica Community for Self-Determination, Life, and Dignity (CAVIDA)
CAVIDA is a community of 1,200 rural farmers, the majority of whom are of African ancestry, who became internally displaced in February 1997, as part of Operation Genesis, a joint military and paramilitary operation that was implemented in the northwestern part of Chocó Department. After much suffering and living in a gymnasium in the town of Turbo, this community organized itself and decided to return to their collective territories. In 2000 the IDPs from Cacarica organized themselves into the group CAVIDA and began their return process to their homes located in collective territories in the Cacarica river basin. This brave effort has become a model of pacifistic resistance for internally displaced persons worldwide who choose to return home in spite of on-going conflict in their areas of origin. CAVIDA pioneered the use of humanitarian and biodiversity zones as a tool to distance the civilian population from the conflict and to support the sustainable use of land in biodiverse areas. As an organization CAVIDA is based on the principles of life, liberty, justice, fraternity, and solidarity. The community remains at risk due to the presence of illegal armed actors including non-demobilized or rearmed paramilitaries and guerrilla groups who operate in the peripheries of their territories. The northwestern part of Chocó remains a highly militarized region whereby armed groups continue combat operations and violent activity in order to control drug trafficking routes and access and use of natural resources in the area for economic interests.

Peasant Farmer Association of the Cimitarra River (ACVC)
The ACVC is a rural farmer IDP association that works to promote the human rights, sustainable agriculture and community building through workshops, development planning and cooperation with rural communities in the Magdalena Medio region. Magdalena Medio is a region that continues to be negatively affected by Colombia's internal armed conflict. In this region, there is a high rate of extrajudicial executions of civilians committed by the Colombian security forces. The ACVC's membership consists of internally displaced rural farmers that became displaced due to the violence committed by the armed groups. The ACVC has developed various community organizational mechanisms to resist further displacement of its members. As part of this organization's effort to prevent displacement, it pioneered the concept of a Campesino Reservation Zone as a means of distancing civilians from the conflict and protecting their economic and social rights. In 2007- 2008, 12 arrest warrants were issued against ACVC members, and six members of their board of directors were detained. After international concern was raised about the case, the warrants were rescinded and all but five of the detainees were released when the evidence against them was shown to be baseless charges. Despite security concerns and baseless prosecution of its members, the ACVC continues to work for the promotion of peace, justice, sustainability for farmers and human rights in the Magdalena Region.

Social Corporation for Community Advisory and Training Services (COS-PACC)
COS-PACC is a grassroots organization that was formed in Bogotá in 2002. It is an organization dedicated to supporting victims of the internal armed conflict with a view towards rebuilding the social fabric of communities by emphasizing psycho-social support of these communities. COS-PACC works in the departments of Casanare, Boyacá, Arauca, Tolima and Cundinamarca. It works on documenting and reporting human rights violations, and provides legal, and organizational, support and accompaniment to victims; promotes food sovereignty through agro-ecological programs and works on organizational capacity-building. COS-PACC works with IDPs, political prisoners, families of the disappeared, families of victims of extrajudicial executions, youth movements, and women. COS-PACC has done extensive research on the impacts of British Petroleum's oil extraction practices in Casanare, and the effects of these practices on the environment and human rights in the region.

Washington Office on Latin America
1666 Connecticut Ave, NW
Suite 400
Washington, District of Columbia 20009
US

Flushing Town Hall 2009-2010 Season

Pablo Mayor's Folklore Urbano

"...authentic and refreshing ...taking Latin music to an entirely new dimension."
(Latin Beat Magazine)

Pablo Mayor Folklore Urbano

SUNDAY, October 18, 2009

Public Performance @ 2PM
Tickets: Adults- $12 / $10 members& students; Children- $8 / $6 members
A proud leader in the realm of "contemporary folkloric" music, Pablo Mayor's Folklore Urbano performs Mayor's compositions that are deeply rooted in centuries of Colombian culture. The high-energy, danceable, wildly fun 12-piece ensemble offers lively traditional rhythms, paired with jazz harmonies and orchestrations, reminiscent of Frank Zappa and Gil Evans.

Interactive Arts @ 1PM
Tickets: $4 Adults / $2 Children / free for members with ticket purchase to 2 pm show
Interactive Dance Workshop featuring Colombian rhythms & dances.

Save 50%!
Buy one ticket, get one FREE ticket of equal or lesser value.
Mention the code "PM50TMD" when ordering by phone, (718-463-7700 x222) or bring a printout of this offer to the
Flushing Town Hall box office.


Learn More / Buy Tickets

10.08.2009

AFRODES USA Strongly Condemns Armed Groups’ Violations of Afro-Colombian Rights and International Humanitarian Law Violations in Timbiquí (Cauca)

AFRODES USA condemns the violent actions committed by the guerrilla groups against civilians in Timbiquí (Cauca) on October 2nd. It also condemns the indiscriminate use of force applied by members of the Infantry of the Marines that resulted in injuries of civilians in living in these communities. AFRODES USA wishes to remind all of the parties to the internal armed conflict that these actions armed groups currently based in Cauca that these actions violate international humanitarian law. According to theGeneva Conventions, combatants must distinguish between combatants and “to limit and avoid human suffering during the times of armed conflict” (Article 3). Also the Colombian armed forces that they are obliged to protect the rights of Afro-Colombian civilians living in this area. We remind the Colombian government that placing military bases in the community centers utilized by the civilian populations, as is the case in Timbiqui, is a violation of Condition F, the human rights condition pertaining to Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities of the foreign appropriations act of the United States.

Given the above, AFRODES USA:

-Demands that the Colombian authorities respect and apply IHL and the human rights of the Afro-Colombian communities. They should take steps to ensure the following:

  • Recognition of the existence of an internal armed conflict in Colombia, the persistence of illegal armed groups (both paramilitary and guerrilla) operating in areas of the country inhabited by Afro-Colombians. Recognition of the problem is required in order to implement the legitimate demands of these communities for protection and respect of their fundamental rights. If the State does not recognize the problem then it cannot provide the adequate solution to the problem.
  • Dismantle military bases that violate IHL. For example, move the current military installations that are located near Afro-Colombian civilian settlements (town centers, riverbanks near houses and schools, farms, etc) that endanger the lives of civilians including women and children. Violations of this IHL principle lead to civilians being caught in the crossfire between the warring groups and to their deaths, physical injury and internal displacement.
  • Implement Colombian Constitutional Court Order 005 of 2009, which orders Colombian officials to take a number of steps to protect Afro-Colombian communities at high risk of displacement and to protect the rights of those already internally displaced.
  • Increase its political will to take steps towards a politically negotiated settlement to the internal armed conflict that is having devastating consequences for Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities.

-Demands that the guerrilla groups respect Afro-Colombian communities’ territorial rights and respect IHL. They should:

  • Cease and refrain from engaging in violent activities against civilian Afro-Colombian persons, community leaders and their organizations, goods and services.
  • Refrain from engaging violent activity in city centers and areas inhabited by Afro-Colombians.

-Urges civil society and the international community to take steps to ensure the following:

  • Denounce violent acts that convert communities into human shields, such as the latest actions in Timbiqui.
  • Demand the removal of all military bases from areas in close proximity to civilians, such as town centers, riverbanks, zones of cultivation, etc.
  • Advocate a for a peaceful resolution to Colombia’s internal armed conflict, which is now concentrated in areas populated by Afro-Colombians and indigenous communities, and is the underlying cause of the worst humanitarian crisis in the hemisphere.

In solidarity with the community of Timbiqui.

Respectfully yours,

AFRODES USA

For more information, please contact Charo Mina Rojas at (434) 760-0663 or Marino Córdoba (240) 350-2903

10.06.2009

*Two Post-Doctoral Fellowships in Music at Columbia University *

The Department of Music at Columbia University is pleased to announce two
Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowships, to begin in September 2010. We seek
scholars or composers in the early stages of their academic careers
(with doctorates received after June 30, 2007 or with all requirements
completed by June 30, 2010) whose research, creative work, and teaching will
add to the intellectual vigor and diversity of musical life at Columbia. In
each semester of a two-year appointment, a Fellow will teach one course. At
least three of these four courses will be in Columbia's Core Curriculum:
either Music Humanities (Masterpieces of Western Music) or a comparable
course in Major Cultures (such as Asian Music Humanities). A fourth course
may be on a subject chosen by the Fellow, in consultation with the
Department. (For information about the
Core Curriculum, visit http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/classes/.)


Fellows will also be encouraged to share their work with the University
community in colloquia and other appropriate presentations. The Fellowship
will bring an initial salary of $52,250, with an increase
anticipated in the second year. Research expenses will be reimbursed up to
$1,000 annually. A letter of application should be accompanied by: (1) a
curriculum vitae (2) one sample of work: a dissertation chapter or
an article, or a composition (score, recording, or both) (3) a statement of
research or creative plans for the fellowship period (up to 1500 words) (4)
a brief statement of teaching experience and interests (up to
500 words) (5) three letters of recommendation, which may be sent directly
by the writers

After initial review, the committee may request further written or recorded
materials from applicants. Applications MUST BE RECEIVED BY November 9,
2009. Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action
employer. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.

Send applications to: Post-Doctoral Search
Committee Department of Music Columbia University
621 Dodge Hall, MC
1813 2960 Broadway New York, NY 10027.

10.03.2009

!EN ZOZOBRA COMUNIDADES AFROCOLOMBIANAS DEL MUNICIPIO DE TIMBIQUI CAUCA!

En la madrugada del 2 de octubre de 2009, aproximadamente a la 1:30 am se presento por primera vez en la historia del Municipio de Timbiquí un enfrentamiento en la Cabecera Municipal de Timbiquí, entre un frente guerrillero aun sin identificar y un grupo de soldados de la infantería de marina allí asentados en esta localidad.

El enfrentamiento que duro aproximadamente 25 minutos dejo un saldo de dos personas de la comunidad gravemente heridas, los señores Ricardo Rentaría García y Manuel Navarrete Balanta, dos jovencitas desaparecidas hasta el momento, un militar muerto, ocho militares heridos y la comunidad entera en estado de pánico y nerviosismo. Cabe resaltar que en la cabecera Municipal de Timbiquí es la primera vez que se presenta una incursión subversiva.

Los hechos que agravan esta situación y elevan el miedo y la zozobra en la comunidad tienen que ver directamente, con la ubicación de la base militar en el centro del Pueblo, así como, en los tanques del acueducto, los cuales también están en el centro poblado. Esta situación violenta de manera categórica el derecho internacional humanitario, en la medida que coloca a la sociedad civil en altos niveles de riesgo contra sus vidas e integridad.

Resaltamos que estos hechos se presentan, pese a las exigencias de la Corte Constitucional, de establecer mecanismos específicos de protección para estas comunidades en el marco del auto 005 y da responsabilidades específicas a instituciones del estado para que operen dichos mandatos. Enfatizamos el hecho que a menos de un mes del vencimiento del plazo para estos mandatos las comunidades beneficiarias de estos ni siquiera conocen los mismos.

Hacemos un llamado a las autoridades de protección, defensa y promoción de los derechos humanos y el derecho internacional humanitario, para que de forma inmediata, se generen las acciones que posibiliten la reubicación de las bases militares en el Municipio de Timbiquí Cauca, de tal manera que la ubicación de estas no afecte a la comunidad.

Instamos al defensor nacional del pueblo para que conforme al marco jurídico nacional e internacional proteja la integridad de los pobladores del Municipio se Timbiquí y del Territorio Región del Pacifico.

Demandamos del programa presidencial para los derechos humanos, las acciones que revisen y corrijan de forma inmediata, la ubicación de las bases militares en el Municipio de Timbiquí y en los Territorios Ancestrales de Comunidades Negras.

Demandamos del Procurador General de la Nación, actuaciones pertinentes y oportunas que posibiliten la preservación de la integridad cultural de las comunidades Afrocolombianas en el Municipio de Timbiquí y los territorios ancestrales de la región.

Instamos a la oficina en Colombia de la alta comisionada de Naciones Unidas para los derechos humanos, a que intervenga y facilite la reubicación de las bases militares en el Municipio de Timbiquí, así como, hacer seguimiento a la violación sistemática de los derechos humanos y el derecho internacional en esta zona.

Instamos al Comité Internacional de la Cruz Roja CICR a que contribuya con sus buenos oficios ante el gobierno nacional y las fuerzas militares, para la reubicación de las bases militares en el Municipio de Timbiquí y en todas las comunidades y consejos comunitarios del pacifico colombiano.

Llamamos a las organizaciones internacionales y nacionales que trabajan en la protección, defensa y atención en derechos humanos, así como cooperación al desarrollo, a coordinar acciones que posibiliten una mejor atención y acompañamiento a los consejos comunitarios de Timbiquí y la región, los cuales se encuentran en inminentes riesgos de violación a su integridad cultural.

ASOCIACION DE CONSEJOS COMUNITARIOS DE TIMBIQUI
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO NEGROS UNIDOS
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO RENACER NEGRO
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO NEGROS EN ACCION
CONSEJO COMUNITRIO SAN BERNARDO
CONSEJO COMUNITARIO PARTE ALTA SUR DEL SAIJA
CORPORACION ANCESTROS
PROCESO DE COMUNIDADES NEGRA EN COLOMBIA PCN

Article in English (Latin american Herald Tribune)

Artículo en español (El Espectador)

10.01.2009

PAJARILLO PINTA’O

Traditional Colombian folklore and Modern Dance

NEW YORK PREMIERE

Artistic Director DANIEL FETECUA

OCTOBER 4th, 2009

6PM doors open

7PM performance

AUDITORIUM CIRCULO ESPAÑOL

41-01 Broadway at 41st Street, 2nd floor Astoria,Queens NY 11103

R train to Steinway

Admission:

$12 with reservation (pajarillopintao@yahoo.com)$ 15 at the door $7 children up to 14 years old

For more information visit www.pajarillopintao.comor write to pajarillopintao@yahoo.com

The modern dance lives in Colombian traditional music and dance.

Sesame Street / Electric Company composer Joe Raposo

My buddy Dan Neely posted this on Facebook, it's awesome. Talk about music and everyday life, this is the kind of stuff that wires kids' neurons.
http://www.metafilter.com/85487/Sing

LRAD sound cannon - sonority, pain, and control

This from NYU ethnomusicologist Ben Taussig's Wierd Vibrations blog, stolen word for word.



In the wake of the first domestic use of sound cannons, against protesters at the recent, sparsely-picketed G20 summit in Pittsburgh, which comes just a few weeks after the same technology was used to suppress protesters at a factory in Bangkok, I want to discuss sound as an absolute phenomenon – that is, at the point where a human listener experiences acute physical harm through exposure, where sound stops being musical or aesthetic and becomes quite literally indistinguishable from a blunt object or explosive device.

First, for the uninitiated, sound cannons (or LRADs) are a new type of crowd control device that riot control officers can shoot at people like a gun. Rather than discrete projectiles, it sends waves of howlingly loud noise, potentially including shrill, siren-like tones or direct verbal messages (”move back” and the like). This video gives a sense of how it works, and especially how loud it can be (fair warning: cover your ears!):

Like teargas, the sound cannon is attractive for use in crowd control because it is non-lethal but immediately effective. Governments can manage discontented people in an absolute fashion without creating martyrs or accruing liability. This is something of a loophole in the ethical treatment of protesters – the human body cannot tolerate sound in excess, but exposure leaves no (visible) scars. Perhaps in a wiser moment, we’ll take stock of the emotional distress such conditions can produce, of the long-term hearing loss that can occur with misuse of the machines, of potentially dangerous levels of stress, and of the disturbing political asymmetry such technology facilitates between a government and its citizens. But for now, sound cannons are perfectly legal.

LRADs operate in the threshold between normal listening, where vibration is mild enough that we experience sound as essentially immaterial, and where we can readily pay attention to communicative and aesthetic content (music, language, texture), and extreme sonic exposure, where vibration is felt as a force throughout the body. The sound cannon is far enough along this spectrum that we react involuntarily to its painful volume, but not so far along that we lose life or limb. It’s pretty brilliant, in a mad scientist kind of way.

In any case, it’s fascinating/macabre to consider what various sound levels can to us physically. The hardware manufacturer makeitlouder.com has a whole chart.

(Decibels measure the intensity of a sound wave. They do not measure frequency, so for example knowing that a conversation occurs around 50 dbs does not tell us whether the voices are high or low.)

Here are some choice selections:

13 – Ordinary light bulb hum
30 – Totally quiet nighttime in desert – impossible near city
40 – A whisper
60 – Normal conversation
100 – House or car stereo at maximum volume
116 – Human body begins to perceive vibration at low frequencies (imagine standing in front of a speaker at a concert, for example)
125 – Drum at the moment of being hit
127 – Tinnitus sets in
128 – Human hair will begin to vibrate perceptibly
132 – Eardrum flex becomes noticeable
133 – Gunshot at ear level
135 – The air begins to cool from expansion
137 – The entire human body vibrates
140 – Extreme damage to hearing no matter how short the exposure (this, by the way, is how loud the LRAD can be set)
141 – The human body experiences nausea
142 – Chest pounding is intense
143 – Human body feels as if “someone just football tackled your chest”
145 – Human vision begins to vibrate
153 – Human throat vibrates so hard it is almost impossible to swallow
163 – Minimum glassbreaking level
172 – Fog is created
175 – Equivalent to a quarter stick of dynamite
180 – Damage to structures is catastrophic
186.1 – Equivalent to a pound of TNT at a distance of 10 feet
202 – Immediate human death
220 – Equivalent to the largest bomb used in WWII
257 – Equivalent to 1 megaton nuclear bomb

etc.