¡La Revolución es Cultural!

IN ALL WAYS it pays every day to turn our backs on the corrupt, corporate, soulless and mediocre messaging being pushed down our throats and into our ears from almost all of the dominant culture’s offerings. Hypnotists and salesmen for the Murkan SleepDream are working fulltime behind the glossy televised scenes, and they can shift from disaster to pablum to syrupycheer quicker than you can move your hands to plug up your ears. And all this presentation and flagellation and pixelporn manipulation of media is devised to take a toll, is constructed unwhole, made to siphon the soul…to push an agenda of commerce or war or profit and control…very rarely is there a drop of water for the soulgarden, very rarely is there a ray of light shone solely for the wide open eyes del alma. More often all this sound and imagery and textual effort is to gain something from us, or to introduce confusion or negativity. 

Support artists, poets, and raza. Support la cultura, support media that feeds you, that seeks to uplift you and irritate your sense of satisfaction, that seeks to undo, to redo, to build anew. With each conscious footstep, create a new path through this half empty lot of sunshine, shattered glass and nascent vine.

And more specifically, if you are in NYC, get ready for mass love warfare waged by poetry guerrillas on your streets! It begins today!

En la semana del 27 de septiembre al 4 de octubre del presente 2008, se llevará a cabo el Quinto Encuentro “Poetas en Nueva York” donde se harán presentes cerca de 50 poetas y otros artistas. Los participantes de diferentes orígenes, en su mayoría son residentes en la ciudad, además de un grupo de poetas que vienen desde la isla Puerto Rico.

Respaldados por el lema: ‘Cultura con Todos’ esta jornada se iniciará –como ya es tradición- con la ‘Masa Alegre’, una caminada con música, cantos y lectura de poemas en las esquinas, por el sector de la ciudad donde se hace el primer evento de la jornada poética. El encuentro se lleva a cabo en español durante ocho días en locaciones de Queens, Brooklyn y Manhattan. En una de las fechas se convoca de forma abierta a “Poesía en todas las lenguas” donde participan poetas de diferentes países del mundo residentes en la ciudad con textos en sus idiomas nativos.

—Poetas se toman a Nueva York

 

Which (roughly) says that during the week of Sept. 27 – Oct. 4 the fifth meeting of Poets in Nueva York will be held, where roughly 50 poets and artists will gather, most NYC residents, and a group of poets who come from the island of Puerto Rico. Unified by the theme of “Cultura con Todos”  the day will begin, as is the tradition, with the “Masa Alegre”, a walk with music, songs, poems read aloud. The event is in Spanish and for eight days in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. 

Visit the page if you can read Spanish to any degree (no translation provided there) and much more is said about the event, who comes together for it, what it means, how it is a multi-lingual, multi-national, multi-ethnic stew, what organizations are involved and supported by this, and what it means in the context of the city, and over the time this event has been held.

Or as La Mala puts it, Poets are bringing a happy mob to Union Square!

Today a mob of poets will descend upon Union Square in NYC, sending their words through the streets of and using verses will bailout the souls of a money driven city. 

 

It sounds fantastic and I wish I could make it! Will you be there? Drop me a line ahead of time, we’ll do a collabo on bringing it back to the UMX masses!

And to all poets and artists who are attending, may the city resonate con tú espiritu y música y color toda semana!