Last Wednesday, underground MC Immortal Technique (a.k.a. Felipe Coronel) spoke before an assembled group of Los Angeles and Orange County-based community organizations at a panel discussion on immigration and indigenous issues. In his speech, he talked about topics that polarized the country and, specifically, Costa Mesa, such as religion and Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070. A quote: “I remind people that the Constitution itself was written by illegal immigrants. I think that the applications of this law apply to race, they apply to class, but they also apply to the core founding principles of this country. I hear people from one side of the aisle to the other on this so-called spectrum of Republican and Democrat, this spectrum that does not really exist when it comes to our struggle and our people. I see people that hide behind religion when it comes to the question of immigration and use religion as a rallying cry for their political subsection. Because they’re not mad at us wanting to work here! That was never the issue. They’re not mad at having a worker class that continuously flux into the country to provide a service. They’re angry that we want to live here. They’re not mad at our daughters on the corner prostituting themselves, but they are mad at our sons who want to marry into the family.”
“This event with Immortal Technique brought LA and OC folks together, but it wasn’t the first time,” says John Morales, an activist who attended the panel and filmed the activist/rapper’s speech. “The All-Star game in Anaheim had people from LA and OC, as well as the Todos Somos Arizona actions.
“What’s dope about Tech coming through is that his music used to feel like he was telling us the story of someone else as an example,” adds the member of the Boycott Arizona Los Angeles Committee. “Now he’s telling ours.” From an Aug. 27 Heard Mentality post by Gabriel San Roman
NO BULL, JUST BLUES
The First Annual Real Blues Festival of Orange County has big claims with its tagline “No Rock, No Bull, Just BLUES!” Organizer Papa J said in a statement, “In my opinion, most large blues festivals are overpriced, and in many cases, you don’t get ‘real blues.’ . . . I guess a recent festival in Orange County couldn’t find enough blues acts . . . so just to draw in people, Crosby, Stills & Nash were added to the bill.” Hear that, Doheny Blues Festival? They’re calling you out!
The lineup for the Real Blues Festival currently includes the Alastair Greene Band, The Glenn Patrik Band, Papa J (with Kofi Baker, Fran Banish and Doug Lunn), TheP-Cats, The Flames and The Oozie Blues Band. Held on Oct. 3 at the Olde Ship British Pub & Restaurant (1120 W. 17th St., Santa Ana) from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., the festival promises to donate 25 percent of its proceeds to Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Orange for Cancer Prevention & Treatment Center. From an Aug. 24 post.
