"THE TABLE" THURSDAYS @ JALISCO

(OTHER PARTY becomes known as THE TABLE)

we are every thursday except the 2nd thursday of every month - because of some art walk thingy - otherwise see you dere... slowly taking shape.

GETTING READY FOR MAYDAY

A.N.S.W.E.R. LA (ACT NOW TO STOP WAR AND END RACISM) COALITION

IS ORGANIZING MAYDAY THIS YEAR - CALLING FOR 100,000

BAYAN-USA, International Action Center, Union del Barrio, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, SEIU Local 721 Latino Caucus, Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition, Korean Resource Center, Multi-ethnic Immigrant Worker Organizing Network, Peace and Justice Committee of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Reform Immigration for America and Hermandad Mexicana.

(IMAGE FROM LAST YEAR'S IMPRENTA ACTION)

SEE YOU DERE...

open til 4am

GROWN WEDNESDAYS BY TOTAL FREEDOM & SFV ACID - DINNER HOUSE M

the cost of art

sorry for the slow down in posts. i had kind of a quiet, reflective weekend. i think OTHER PARTY was a great success in terms of people partying and having a good time, and also a lot to process - the newness inside of an expectation of oldness. ashland daniel and asma and i all met up and discussed sunday night. there will be some changes. our main thing being that we don't want this to just be like WILDNESS part 2... a lot of people still calling it wildness... which isn't a bad thing at all - but we just want to take care to keep it something we can be genuinely inspired about, feel good about offering, hope to be enjoyed etc. so CHANGE. including NAME. but still thursdays. looking forward to the thing taking shape. always most important in mah mind is wanting to keep it real and respectful. JALISCO owners rosa and maria garcia are super hott sweethearts and seem genuinely excited to extend their welcome beyond koky and javier to include us. it's such a massive feeling to be invited behind the bar, where i work all night - i felt deeply honored by their trust in letting me work the cash register and stuff. openness is a good sign. keeping alert...

TODAY I'M INSTALLING AN ART EXHIBITION

video art installation version of Damelo Todo (graduating from school!)... edited by Alex Segade. STARRING Yesenia Gaitan, Alexis Giraldo, Antonio V. Guerrero, and Raquel Gutierrez. it's a short, 20 min thing - more abstract, experimental (whatever that means?) version. basically stuff i want to explore that i ultimately won't be able to with the documentary.

hardware - 28.07
more hardware - 19.65
wood - 105.58
more wood - 212.32
cargo van - 66.25
food - 23.37
more food - 19.33
projection screen - 603.63
museum bench - borrowed
light box - 433.29

TOTAL COST OF ART FOR TODAY = $1,511.49

ART AIN'T CHEAP

artists & macarthur park, los angeles

michelle dizon and camilo ontiveros are two artists that co-founded IMPRENTA... they are off doing other things now - including a new video work that explores the westlake theater in macarthur park. here's a quote from their artist statement:

The question of immigration policy and immigrant rights is inseparable from any discussion of Mac Arthur Park. Directly in front of the Westlake Theater is the park itself, where some of the most visible displays of solidarity among immigrant communities have taken place. In 2006, approximately 500,000 people marched in the streets of Los Angeles and gathered in Mac Arthur Park to protest H.R. 4437 and the criminalization of immigrants in the United States. Such shows of solidarity and political agency would be quelled one year later when at the same site an immigrant rights protest was violently repressed as police shot rubber bullets at thousands of peaceful protesters.

Our interest in the Westlake Theater lies not in a restoration of its architecture, but rather in its ruins. The theater's repurposing by the immigrant community provides a glimpse of a palimpsest in which the co-existence of past and present reveals culture as historically dynamic. In the Westlake stood a rare instance in which this transformation was not erased but rather shown for what it is-- as the ruins of one space and the life of another. As we pass into an era of the rapid development of this area, we have to ask for whom and on whose terms such development is being realized. The discourse of development is one that applies not only to processes of local gentrification but also to global discourses of the World Bank and IMF. On the margins of all these discourses of development lie the people who inhabit these formerly colonized locales, shuttled in the impossibility of contemporary globalization. Westlake Theater suspends a moment of transition and is an invitation to consider the affect that fills its process of erasure.  

-Michelle Dizon and Camilo Ontiveros

OPENING AT REDCAT WEDNESDAY NIGHT

as part of a group show called 'never very far apart' curated by IMPRENTA organizer ryan innoye

NOT READY

UGHH

new extreme anti-immigrant legislation in arizona

the LA Times reported on april 13th that a new law called SB 1070 has just passed the AZ state house of reps, which REQUIRES police stop anyone with "reasonable suspicion" of being an illegal immigrant, to determine that person's immgiration status. furthermore it makes not having proper immigration paperwork a misdemeanor. this basically amounts racial profiling, by making it illegal for all brown people to walk around without being able to prove their status. beyond the obvious anti-immigrant sentiment, this law has sweeping affects on people's civil rights in general. the Times reports:

"A lot of U.S. citizens are going to be swept up in the application of this law for something as simple as having an accent and leaving their wallet at home," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.

the bill has yet to be signed into law by gov jan brewer, and there is a heated protest mounting amongst immigrant rights organizers, who are says this law basically turns AZ into a "police state." READ MORE.

other party

tonight

other party starts this thursday!!!

back in LA now and trying to decompress from a seriously intense week in nyc participating in the IFP rough cut documentary lab. rundown in 3 sentences? basically the movie industry (ie festival circuit + distribution marketing landscape) is a craycray capitalist beast, and the IFP lab is a rad little safe zone, where organizers milton talbot and rose vincelli try to create a space of creativity and questioning. the purpose of the lab is to demystify the whole post-production process (techincally, financially, socially etc), in order to empower young filmmakers to be able to survive - cause it ain't easy. after having sat through a week of presentations and resource-sharing, i can officially say that putting a feature film out into the world is kind of an insanely diffcult feat (so difficult i feel blessed by my previous ignorance for having gotten me this far) but it gives me a hell of a lot of knoweldge and understanding that inspires me to wanna think, write, and create more in general.

IFP had many glamorous highlights - including getting to work with the editor of paris is burning! johnathan oppenheim. extremely MIND OPENING. and my new dad (mentor) ira sachs killin it with creative commentary and taking me to gay bars and stuff.

it was an amazing thing for the project - but also KIND OF wreaked havoc on me personally, because it caused me to question fundamental stuff. like even just- what is a movie really? a 'movie' as being distinct from a long film or video that could or could not have a storyline - but a thing that ultimately is commercially accessible through either theater, television, or dvd or some kind of streaming netflix thing. to have to think through these realities was a difficult but necessary confrontation. it requires a kind of objectification of your subject matter- by objectify i mean like simply putting something outside of yourself, giving up control. in movie terms, the avenues spread pretty far and wide. i am more used to art avenues, where you can have more control of your context by communicating through a more narrow, coded language. when you're making a movie, you almost have to be more careful and precise with your language because it becomes subject to a wider range of interpretation. and when you are queer and trans person of color this is really scary. for example i met a lot of people last week who are pretty high up in their field - and let's just say i was reminded that the movie industry, like all major cultural industries, is disappointingly racist and transphobic. and i say that not to shy away from it, i say that because i am engaged. (addendum: actually, i think the word "disappointing" is unfair to use here, because it implies that there is some kind of standard existing elsewhere, whereas in reality, racism and transphobia are so pervasive in everything that i question whether it is productive to point this out at all - particularly at the cost of alienating people... so while i can't take it back, i'm at least gonna think hard to figure out what i really mean...)

ideally i would love to work in a creative vaccuum and just like 'make the movie i want to make' - and ultimately i will DO that - but it feels important to hold these realities as a kind of CHECK. i'm interested to see how they weigh in on the creative outcome, cause they OBVZ affect the production.

in other wordz

$$$

photo by nan goldin.

tonight los angeles

tonight is quentin's birthday!!! en route to LA at last... (sorry for silence, been LIVING nyc) processing now and much much to report about IFP soon kissy

OTHER PARTY STARTS THIS THURSDAY

@ JALISCO DOWNTOWN

this is something i really can't wait for

NAO BUSTAMANTE 

ON NATIONAL TELEVISION

"WORK OF ART: THE NEXT GREAT ARTIST"

PREMIERS ON BRAVO JUNE 2010

tonight in los angeles

fancinesssssss!!! WE ARE THE WORLD with NGUZUNGUZU & TOTAL FREEDOM... warms my heart to remember their first show eva at wildness 2 years ago... and look what they born NOW.

Damelo Todo Participating in IFP Doc Lab 2010

FINALEEEY.
proud to announce that damelo todo was accepted into the IFP (independent feature projects) documentary lab!!! we were one of 10 amazing projects accepted, check out da press release. BRAIN EXPANDING.

it's a major opportunity for our film to crack into shape, professionally so to speak... kind of like a foot forward in dealing with the movie industry, which is something i'm learning about for the first time. i've never made a movie before - my background is visual art - so my creative "career" life has so far has existed within a much smaller scale economy and audience. movies deal with bigger econmies and wider more general audiences, whereas galleries and museums deal with *relatively* more specialized audiences. there's crossover obviously, and more and more these days, but general speaking, we can think about them as different worlds. at the very least they FEEL like REALLY different worlds. especially the way people TALK and umm ultimately how we are required to perform. which has EVERYTHING to do with what we make, and how it finally comes to exist in the world... i have been slowly venturing down this path for a while, questioning how it might affect the project... not that damelo todo was ever like a visual art thing - but rather - i'm super interested in how the modes of production determine the possibilities of what something can be... etc etc. i feel like i blab about this a lot, so i will try to use my experiences this week to come up with more interesting examples... so MORE SOON. but in a nutshell thinking more about how capitalism, ie the BIZNESS side of thing plays into the creativity. yessir

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

ALL GIRL LINE UP! SO EXCITED FOR THIS! SEE YOU THERE!!!

mob

sorry for the lack of posts! in new york now- and my computer totally melted. last night IRA SACHS and DEAN DADERKO took me to JULIUS and then the midnight monday drag show in the basement of monster in the west village. it was a super sweet (packed!) laid back scene - brown queers and chelsea muscles so delicious.

more soon when I have an actual keyboard. also I'm working on something exciting but I'm not allowed to talk about it yet!! T.B.A. makaay

Damelo Todo partners with Silvia Rivera Law Project

Damelo Todo is super honored to announce its first official partnership - with NYC-based Silvia Rivera Law Project!!! that means future love-sessioning, resource-sharing, and more! stay tuned...

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence. SRLP is a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social and economic justice. Therefore, we seek to increase the political voice and visibility of low-income people and people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming. SRLP works to improve access to respectful and affirming social, health, and legal services for our communities. We believe that in order to create meaningful political participation and leadership, we must have access to basic means of survival and safety from violence.

(photo: Sylvia speaking in front of the Stonewall Bar, 2002)

cobra thursdays

getting ready for an interview with SAUL SARABIA tomorrow morning for damelo todo... thrill!!! and then going out to the COBRA with mah girlfriends mariana and zackary. THURSDAYS AT THE COBRA you hear me. revisiting a really important touchstone article, "death on terminal island" published by LA Mag in 2008 - brilliant analysis of the transgender/immigrant rights debate... 

in my preparations i was struck by this basic question - "can you identify some of the major legal issues for the transgender community in LA?" and it made me kind of trip out wondering if anyone can. or realize that we all can. i mean no one is the singular authority voice. for so long i've had this belief that somewhere in LA there is this group of like other people who are the authorites on trans/legal/organizing. but lately it's all becoming demystified. like there are amazing people doing this work. but it's like all of us. and there is no central database or anything. but it is actually quantifiable - in a really cool way - cause that means it's expandable...

just to spout off a few in no particular order... there's Gender Justice LA... Bienestar... Bamby Salcedo at Children's Hospital... Jake Finney and Drian Juarez & Trans Economic Empowerment at LA Gay and Lesbian... Victoria Ortego and West Hollywood Royal Court... QTEAM... Alexis Rivera at TLC-LA... Incite LA... Sex Workers Outreach Program... Community Friends... B.A.A.R.T. Clinic... Transgender Service Provider Network... Transgender Taskforce... and that's just like some of LA - then we got all of OC etc. see? we are all so plugged in already! see no mystery. love it.

grown tonight

TOTAL FREEDOM'S YOUNG ADULT CONTEMPORY JAZZ CLUB EVERY WEDNESDAY

some of what i cared/concerned about today

(photos by ashley love n crew)

i might have already mentioned i disagree with boycotting... but wantin to keep track...

ASHLAND AND I ARE ON OUR WAY TO JALISCO 

TO DO AN ENERGY READ

OTHER PARTY STARTS APRIL 22

what we are up against (racist transphobic pro-gentrificatory capitalist media)

(angeleno magazine 2008)

hmmmm

my friendz are getting famous which is super fucking rad for them

READ

NEW YORK. SEE YOU APRIL 11-19. (CAN'T SAY WHY YET BUT WILL SOON)

RENEE GREEN KILLIN IT WITH LANGUAGE AND IDEAS TONIGHT AT DA MAK

 

more of the same... looks

LGL to sign letter to transgender roundtable and i got a new coat

in its first collective smoov move LGL has voted unanimously to ENDORSE THE COMMUNITY LETTER TO THE TRANSGENDER ROUND TABLE.

PRETTY COOL RIGHT.

what's that you ask?

the transgender roundtable is an annual meeting, first proposed 3 years ago by the gay and lesbian advocates and defenders (GLAD) to replace the "LGBT litigators roundtable" - which is a very exclusive, "lawyers only" elite meeting organized by lambda legal, GLAD, the national center for lesbian rights (NCLR) and the ACLU, where legal issues that are seen as particularly urgent (mostly marriage) are discussed. basically it's like a backroom members-only group - where lawyers set the policies for the national gay and lesbian agenda. and the transgender roundtable is trying to replicate this structure. so this year, silvia rivera law project (SRLP) and several other super rad community-based legal and direct services orgs are officially protesting - in the form of a letter that challenges the exclusivity of this processs and demands an alternative structure that is more accountable. i could go on about the fuckedupness of how this structure plays out in terms of squashing important voices of the actual community - but lets just say DRAMA IS DEEP.

here's a quote from the letter:

We are writing to you about an issue that we think is of great importance to the developing movement(s) for trans liberation.  We are writing because we are organizations and individuals concerned with ensuring that trans movements are developed in ways that center racial and economic justice and the leadership of poor people and people of color.  We come to this work with a critique of how as lesbian and gay rights has developed over the last 30 years, it has centered the experiences and leadership of white upper class people and its agenda has come to focus on narrow legal equality gains that have little to offer the people who face the worst consequences of homophobia.  We believe that part of why that has occurred is that the movement professionalized, and the agenda increasingly was produced in backroom meetings by executive directors, lawyers and funders, with communities facing the worst marginalization (POC, people with disabilities, poor people, immigrants, criminalized people) unrepresented in those discussions. We want to stop the replication of these mistakes in emerging trans activism.

basically by signing the letter LGL is coming out in solidarity with these demands. it was a pretty cool experience to put our first consensus decision into effect... because our core members comprise a diverse group who don't all neceassrily share "critiques" or even politics, part of our project is about working to all get on the same page together. therefore in signing to letter, we are committing to educating ourselves about the background of its contents - such as what is the lgbt roundtable and what does it have to do with the history of the lgbt movement? why don't we want only lawyers deciding on how the national trans movemet is shaped? etc. in other wordz so that not just saying our org is in solidarity - but that WE as individiuals moving towards more solidarity with each other.

I GOT A NEW COAT. GIFT FROM REN'YO <3 THE OTHER NIGHT AT DA CLUB. PERSONAL SHOPPING SPREADING WEALTH. IT MAKES MANY COOL SHAPES. AAAAND THE DESIGNER IS CALLED "TRASTEVERINE." get itt? TRANSVESTITE. yeauh.

other party delayz

UPDATE

OTHER PARTY IS BEING DELAYED FOR A COUPLE WEEKS DUE TO SCHEDULING CONFLICTS... STAY TUNED.

in the meantime here is ridiculously killer 19yrold RYE RYE rapper that NGUZUNGUZU are workin with...

catchin up

been wanting to address this "ticked off trannies with knives" (TOTWK) movie that is being shown at Tribecca this year. i'm actually trying to work right now with some folks to organize a public discussion here in LA - seeing as we're like the movie-making capital of the world or something - this directly concerns both the moviemaking and trans communites here.

for those of you who haven't been following any of the DRZAMA, basically the movie, directed by Dallas-based gay poc director Isreal Luna, was billed as a comedy/thriller/‘transploitation’ and programmed in a midnight cult section of big ballz Tribecca Film Festival. when news of it broke, the online trans community instantaneously reacted, infuraiated by the movie's blantant exploitation of violence against trans women. GLAAD released a statement officially demanding Tribecca pull it from the festival. all over facebook people are calling for a boycott. several fierce individuals including the amazing Ashley Love, are spearheading the campaign.

you can read about why the trans community on a whole has been grievously offended by this movie by following the above links, but also just watching the TRAILER on youtube will probably give you enough fodder to form your own opinion...

regardless of whether the movie SHOULD have been programmed, it's in the festival now. so what to do about it? because negative publicity is still publicity - and moreorless no different from any other publicity a self-proclaimed exploitation movie like this might get...

so...

i totally disagree that we should boycott this movie. it seems like REALLY a problem to argue that things that have fucked up politics that we don't agree with should be turned off, censored. if we don't agree with it, we should use it as an opportunity to hash out why, and enable more people to encounter this process. within such a mainstream context as Tribecca, i actually don't think transphobia needs to be a tragedy - it's like an opportunity to push consciousness. generally it seems that while rage is necessary and natural, that energy shouldn't be spent trying to limit other stuff.

i've also seen this movie classified as a "cinematic hate crime" - which troubles me on 2 fronts. 1, it collapses the difference between representations of violence and violent acts (obvz a dangerous road) and 2, it aligns our cause with crimininalization. again, the thing worth fighting for, to me, should not be the right to turn something into a crime. the criminal/prison industrial complex is not a friend to the trans community, particularly the for trans communities of color, or people of color and poor people in general. so it seems weird to wanna fight for that or use that as our battle cry or whatever.

now that it's out there TOTWK possibly raises some interesting issues. like SO MANY. the issue of movies made about trans stuff by non-trans directors- there is a lot of that going on now everywhere. particularly gay men depicting trans women, and the history of that old bone. trans directors making movies about non-trans stuff! trans actors playing trans and non-trans characters... trans folks inhabiting slasher genre or performing slasher characters... etc. exploitation. REPRESENTATION. of who by whom. positive vs. negative etc.

so at this point why not watch it and discuss? let people air their grievances. let more people develop personal transphobia critiques. let's obligate the broader moviemaking community in this discussion. at least that's what we're thinking over here in LA - can anyone get a hold of a screener?? i hear it's kinda hard to reach the director right now...

on a personal note, i'm also deeply inspired by all the powerful solidarity springing up. would love to harness it towards more creativity and away from reactionism...

ps. love that i PRETEND i have time to blog right now. secretly i'm editing damelo todo 24hrs around the clock (NEWZZZ SOOOON)

HOW ABOUT AN OL' CLUB LOOK

photo by the amazing japanese lezzie fashion photog yuri manabe!