Purchase Earth Amplified and Support Green Youth Arts
http://seasunz-and-jbless.bandcamp.com/
Earth Amplified, the new full-length release from Seasunz + J.Bless, is set to drop for the summer of 2010. This seminal Green Hip Hop album features lyrics that touch on many of the environmental and socio-political issues of the day, highlighted by Oakland-based frontman Seasunz, who uses his virtuoso vocals to move effortlessly between melodic narratives, hardcore rap, double-time flow, reggae, and blues styles. Produced by Brooklyn-based J.Bless and multi-instrumentalist Golden Horns, the organic sound of Earth Amplified’s heavy, layered beats blend influences ranging from afrobeat, dancehall, funk and old school soul with the jazz vibes of Golden Era Hip Hop.
The album features guest appearances from stic.man (dead prez), Killah Priest (Wu-Tang), Zumbi (Zion I), Wes Restless (The Gents, Dynamic Vibrations), Rocker T (Jah-Warrior Shelter) and Jahiti (Brownfish), among others.
The City Slickers truck arrived exactly at 11 AM laden with a huge pile of fresh steaming compost, a wheel barrow, and a pile of tools. The garden at the Oakland Green Youth Arts and Media Center had fallen into neglect and was looking shabby. Center staff arrived at the same time with a soft rumble of discontent, reflecting that it was an hour earlier than their normal schedule. “I’m here because he [Galen Peterson, OGYAMC Co-Director], made me show up,” said performing artist and youth staff member, Olondis “O-zone” Walker.
The morning was still overcast as Julie Pavuk of City Slickers Farms began to explain the goals for the day. The entire garden was getting a face lift. Each of the 13 raised beds would be given a fresh layer of compost, new starters would be planted, and the group would build a worm bin. Within a few weeks, the garden would be producing fresh organic vegetables ready to eat. Julie introduced Joseph, who will mentor the group and oversee support for the center’s young gardeners throughout the year.
Access to healthy food has burgeoned into a major issue throughout Oakland’s flatland’s, such as west Oakland, home to City Slickers, where there is one grocery store to serve over 25,000 people. Health food has been a particular challenge, because mono-cropped produce grown with pesticides are consistently being sold at below market rates while organic produce has remained expensive and is looked at as an exclusive product for a new population of wealthy residents. Breaking down these barriers, both real and perceptual, has been an impressive challenge for food-justice advocates. Probably the clearest example of this phenomenon is in West Oakland, where the Mandela Marketplace was recently opened next to the 99 Cent store. Despite having competitive prices for healthy alternatives, Mandela Marketplace has struggled to gain a foothold with longtime residents. However, many white West Oakland recent transplants, a symbol for many of the neighborhood’s gentrification, have already begun frequenting the store.
The sun came out shortly before Matthew Linzner arrived with two youth from his Love Cultivating Schoolyards program. Matthew has been working at Ascend k-8 School and Urban Promise Academy through Oakland Leaf for the past 5 years. The youth that joined him were both Interns of the youth leadership program and ready to bring their knowledge back to the community. “Both of these guys have the skills to take over and manage a garden. They are ready to train and mentor aspiring farmers.” The two young men busied themselves by drilling drainage holes for the new worm bin.
Earlier the same day, on the KPFA morning show, Jason Harvey, founder of the Oakland Food Connection, estimated that 30 – 40% of Oakland’s produce could be grown locally, if its abandoned lots were used for localized gardens. OFC has been supporting local gardens in east Oakland in a similar way that City Slickers has been in the west. In some cases, this includes reclaiming some of the abandoned lots left vacant by their owners for many years. Cultivating food locally is the one of the ways to reduce the cost of healthy produce and since the lots are not being used for anything, they provide the perfect locations for local gardens.
Back at the Oakland Green Youth Arts and Media center, an hour’s worth of work produced a notable difference. The youth’s grumbles have been replaced by the steady banter of people deeply engaged in their work. City Slickers produces dozens of starters cultivated in their greenhouse from the back of their truck and the young men carefully loosen the sod around their roots as they place them in shallow holes in the raised beds. Joseph guides them and explains that the plants will need to drenched in water once a day for the next two weeks if they are to survive. Several questions are raised about proper care for the young plants and the youth seem genuinely engaged in their new project.
Its garden education programs like this that make local urban farms sustainable. Like the plants themselves, it takes time for the programs to take root. The Community Rejuvenation Project recently reclaimed an abandoned lot by Mills College on the corner of Seminary and MacArthur. The newly renamed Life Garden was started by youth in CRP’s Arrow-Soul Council, an after-school program at Unity High School, along with Oakland activists and artists from the collective. CRP recognized immediately that maintaining the garden was beyond their capacity and turned the space over to nearby neighbors. However, reclaiming space is central to the collective’s mission and their appetite for transforming lots was not satisfied. CRP has reached out to several food-justice organizations to build a support network of farmers to help train local residents in community gardening as more sites are reclaimed. They are applying for funding to bring together the aforementioned groups along with other like minded organizations such as Grind for the Green, Women’s Earth Alliance, and the Land and Life Garden to support an ongoing collaboration. They intend to start with a food justice mural on People’s Grocery and continue with a series of projects to bring awareness to urban gardens and food equity.
Back at the center, just after 1 pm, the group quickly circled up to review plans for watering and garden maintenance. Food justice begins in these humble spaces with just few raised beds, new starts nestled in some fresh compost and a small cohort of fledgling gardeners.
Where: Mosswood Park (MacArthur Blvd & Broadway Ave.) Oakland, California
Who: Hip-hop competition and concert; Youth Champion Awards; solar-powered DJ set by Pete Rock; live performances by Erk Da Jerk, Nu Dekades, Do D.A.T., and Holly Saucy; hosted by Boots Riley (The Coup/Street Sweeper Social Club); eco-friendly clothing, food, and career fair; much more!
Annual Turf Unity music showcase: A Black Carpet Event – Thursday July 22nd, 2010
The show will bring together rappers and musicians from neighborhoods throughout the Bay Area to promote unity and peace this summer. Go to www.turfunity.com for more information (the flier is above).
The event is the kick-off for the Silence the Violence National Day of Action on July 24th. Community groups, that work on urban peace across the country, are organizing events to Silence The Violence from Houston to Detroit to Baltimore and of course the Bay Area! Go to http://urbanpeacemovement.org/national-day-of-action for more information.
National Day of Action – Saturday July 24th @ 10am in San Francisco
On July 24th, United Playaz of San Francisco is hosting the official Bay Area Day of Action to Silence The Violence with a peace march starting at 10AM at Victoria Manalo Draves Park on Folsom St., between 6th and 7th Streets. We will be marching to city hall for a Silence The Violence Day program from 12-2pm. March with us!
The Turf Unity Music Project is a National Movement bringing together artists from rival neighborhoods to create music with a positive message – a message to “Silence The Violence” in urban communities. Turf Unity gives young artists a platform to showcase their talent and the skills to lead a movement for Urban Peace!! On June 5-6th at the Oakland Green Youth Arts & Media Center, young people together with artists from turfs all over the Bay Area united to create a weekend of uplifting music for the streets. Check out the video for a sneak peak into this amazing weekend and project:
For more info check out: www.turfunity.org (http://urbanpeacemovement.org/turf-unity)
On Saturday August 29th 2009, lead sponsors will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas and representatives from the Peapod Foundation, Entertainment Industry Foundation, and Adobe Foundation flew to Oakland to meet the Center’s staff and youth team and tour the facilities. The Oakland Peapod Adobe Youth Voices Academy is housed at Green Youth Arts & Media Center.
The Adobe Foundation and The Black Eyed Peas Peapod Foundation will unveil two new state-of-the-art music and multi-media academies for youth in Oakland and Redwood City, Calif. (more…)
