since starting this film, the parallels between the political climate of the late 1960's and today have become more and more apparent. as long as america's foreign policy continues to bully and devastate other countries in order to protect it's economic interests...there will also be voices to protest it.
for the upcoming a song for ourselves mixtape, bambu dropped an exclusive titled "when will the time come?" which samples "jonathan jackson" by chris iijima, nobuko miyamoto and charlie chin. just as chris wrote about the human emotions behind the death of a young black panter on "jonathan jackson", bambu spits the truth about the horror and destruction of the recent attack of the gaza strip by the u.s. funded israeli military.
look out for the whole mixtape produced by dj phatrick to drop at the end of the month.
angry asian man was probably the first blog i ever got into...and now look at me. the premiere fora song for ourselvesgot a big shout on angry asian man last week! if you wanna keep up with any kinda asian american anything in the media, this is the place to go.
daymn, and you thought you got your grustle on over the holidays! blue scholars started off '09 by droppin a new track and video:
like all the scholars' videos, this one was directed and cut by zia mohajerjasbi. i've become a big fan of zia over the last couple of years. his cinematography and production value can't be touched. i've always been up on his music videos but I was blown away when i saw his film manoj. this mockumentary is not only hella funny, but its really smart in the way it unfolds the issue at hand...
manoj - directed by zia mohajerjasbi:
for those who don't know, the rafu shimpo is the main japanese american newspaper here in LA. getting ink in the rafu is huge for me personally because i know my grandma and bachan are gonna see it! i don't know if they really understand what i do, but if my name's in the rafu it's all gravy to them.
"I think it's important to know that there have been successful artists and musicians in our community who have come before. My parallel with what Chris was doing back then is my relationship to hip-hop now."
large up to jordan ikeda from the rafu for the interview and doing a great job of connecting the film with the musicians who are gonna perform at the premiere.
Tadashi Nakamura is a 29 year old , fourth-generation Japanese American and second generation filmmaker.
Following his award-winning films YELLOW BROTHERHOOD and PILGRIMAGE, A SONG FOR OURSELVES is the third installment of his trilogy on the Asian American Movement.