Lucha Grande S.F.

San Francisco The New Seattle

2008-09-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

"New demographic figures make clear what a statistical outlier Seattle is, with few families, few kids, high education, and rapid gentrification. Only San Francisco can compare."

Que coño!

Summer Mixer//Convivio En El Barrio

2008-08-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

We are calling friends, activists & allies to join us for some tasty food & drinks as we share our policy demands & strategy for taking back our SF Eastern Neighborhoods. At the same time we are mobilizing to win Prop B (the Affordable Housing Fund) this November, we are also organizing hundreds of people to win thousands of affordable housing units through the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan.

Join us for one these fun political mixers in the barrio...

August 27, 5pm @ PODER
474 Valencia St. #120 (at 16th St.)

-OR-

August 28, 5:30pm @ Le Boheme Cafe
3318 24th St. (at Mission St)

Estamos invitando a nuestros amig@s y aliados a reunirse en una tarde con comida y bebidas en dondoe vamos presentar nuestras demandas y estrategias para retomar Nuestro Ciudad. Ala misma vez que estamos movilizando en favor de la Proposición B (Fondo para Viviendas Accesibles) de este Noviembre, tambien estamos organizando miles de personas para ganar miles de unidades de vivienda accesibles en Los Vecindarios del Este de San Francisco.

27 de Agosto, 5pm en PODER
474 Calle Valencia #120 (acerca la Calle16)

-O-

28 de Agosto, 5:30pm en Le Boheme
3318 Calle 24 (acerca la Calle Mission)

Musica Pa' El Pueblo: Fuga y La Colectiva @ Elbo Room

2008-07-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Pachanga! Eric Quezada For Supervisor

2008-06-10T00:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a minute gente but we are back bringing you some community noticias, politicas, musica and hella flavor from the streets and barrios of the Mission/Excelsior/Citywide. Holla!

This Saturday (yours truly) Lucha Grande will be spinning some boogie-down cumbias along with the amazing local band LOS NADIES, and Bissap Baobab's very own Marco throwing down some firme African rolas.

The party is all to raise some money for our local hero Eric Quezada as he takes on corporate developers & their lobbyists, shady landlords, shady politicos, and your average anti-immigrant nut job who blame us for a shitty economy. Por favor! Click here to order your pre-sale tickets. Don't miss this gente... it's gonna be some real hot shit.

¡Pinche Migra en San Francisco!

2008-05-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

WHACHALE! Check out this article on recent ICE raids in todays SF Chronicle...

"Immigration arrests at homes in Berkeley and Oakland on Tuesday sent a wave of panic among parents in both cities, as authorities mistakenly believed immigration agents were raiding schools.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were in both cities Tuesday, performing routine fugitive operations, spokeswoman Virginia Kice said. Teams go out virtually every day looking for specific "immigration fugitives," she said.

Officers arrested four family members at a Berkeley home and a woman at an Oakland residence. They were not at schools.

Yet, within the next few hours, rumors of raids circulated throughout the communities..." (click for article)

p.s. peep out the comments at the end of the article by some racist-ass people. Gente, be sure to add your own comment and represent the compassionate & lovin' side of Frisco. Holla at yer boy!

Chinga La Migra! Happy 5º de Mayo!

2008-05-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

Emergency Action: No Raids in Our Community!

Monday, May 5th, 12 noon
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office
(630 Sansome Street at Washington, San Francisco)
**Meet at Sansome and Market at 11:40 to march to the office**

On Friday, May 2nd – the day after thousands of Bay Area residents marched for immigrants’ rights – immigration agents arrested about 60 workers at taquerias across San Francisco and the East Bay. Some are still imprisoned. Most of the employees had no criminal records. They were arrested for the crime of working to support their families.

Join unions, faith leaders and community groups in an emergency action outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility. Let ICE know that our community is united for the rights of all workers and human beings, and that we won’t let them punish our co-workers and neighbors for Congress’ failure to fix the immigration system.

Sponsored by: Bay Area Immigrant RIghts Coalition, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, East Bay Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Bay Area Labor Coalition on Immigration, SF Organizing Project, Progressive Jewish Alliance.

For more info, contact Evelyn Sanchez at 415-572-0639

From the Bay to Birzeit! Latino Palestino Unidos!

2008-04-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

Mi pueblo peep game... this Saturday April 26 Pachanga/FUNdraiser for la causa Palestino. Our homegirl Jamie and the rest of the banda over at Break the Silence Mural & Arts Project are throwing down something fierce with a delicious menu of local performers, artistas, dancers and dj's all raising some much needed $$$ for a mural project out in Birzuit- that's occupied Palestine baby!

Your very own "salvaje de la cumbia" dj Lucha Grande will be sharing the bill with notable local legend Cheb I Sabbah and the hardest working peoples band, Brass Liberation Orchestra. You are in for a mouth watering, booty-shaking set of global cumbia riddims, gitano music, south Asian flavors, Italian polka, hip hop, reggae & funky basssss...

Que Viva Cesar Chavez! Let's Organize!

2008-04-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

Mi gente this Saturday thousands of peoples from throughout the Bay will be converging in the Mission District on 24th St. for the 8th Annual Cesar Chavez Holiday Parade & Festival. Peoples will be marching, singing, and spreading the love and the message of unity and fighting for justice in our communities.

Especially exciting will be the contingent of honor role school kids marching con mucho orgullo, showing off their much deserved rewards. Danza Xitlalli will be blessing the event with their powerful danzas and the heart-pounding beat of the drum. Low & slow ranflas, and the vatos & homegirls that drive them, will be delivering estilo and tradición to the festivities. And local bands, Carne Cruda & Conjunto Libertad, will be bringing the heat.

8th Annual Cesar E. Chavez Parade & Festival Saturday, April 19, 11am SF • 24th & Harrison • Cesar Chavez School
Parade begins @ 24th & Harrison 12pm, proceeds up 24th St., ending at the festival site, Cesar Chavez School on Folsom at 23rd.

Our man Chavez was an organizer and it is through those struggles waged that we learn & get inspired to continue our traditions of fighting for justicia. So tomorrow watch for your friendly local organizers getting the word out about 2 important neighborhood campaigns:

• Parents will be in effect passing out flyers about the upcoming April 28th meeting @ Sanchez School with City Supervisors and Mayor Newsom. We need their support to release the Rainy Day Funds (up to $30 million) so we can cover the potential cuts from that tonto Schwarzenegger and don't have to fire teachers and cut programs from our schools.

• Make sure to get with Supervisor candidates and bad-ass organizers, John Avalos District 11 & Eric Quezada District 9. Get down with the campaigns and work towards a strong vision for healthy, affordable & thriving communities.

Holla At Yer Boy: Norman Zelaya Out the Black Hole

2008-04-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

The Mission District's very own talented son Norman Zelaya is back in black. Don't let this queso frito eater catch you slippin' cause he will unleash a lyrical beatdown if you are caught wearing that Target guayabera knock off. And don't try and come at him with some fixed gear bicycle bullshit or some retro 80's throwback cause this bona fide Mission Nicoya is a hipsters worst effin' nightmare.

Here's a lil' taste of his upcoming gig at Galeria de la Raza this Saturday...

Saturday, April 5, 8pm
Out The Black Hole: An Evening with Norman Zelaya

Like a meteor hurtling through the vastness of space, writer and performer, Norman Zelaya found himself caught in the gravitational pull of domestic obligation and the responsibility that comes with age. For three years, he drifted in the celestial ether. Then in April of 2006, a flash was spotted, a speck of brilliance moving slowly towards the nearest mic. Now, Norman is back to shake off the galactic dust and share cosmic tales about running out of fuel, an epic collapse and the journey back to himself.

Special guests include:
Jaime Crespo, cartoonist and poet
Karim Scarlata, filmmaker
Estela de la Cruz, poet

Ethereal soundscape provided by DJ Aztec Parrot

Galeria de la Raza
2857 24TH ST. @ BRYANT
SF, Ca 94110
www.galeriadelaraza.org

¡Se Ve Se Siente, Flynn Esta Presente!

2008-03-15T23:27:00.000-07:00

¡Wachale mi gente! This past Friday children, parents and teachers at Leonard Flynn Elementary School (go eagles!) were out in full effect as they sang, chanted, marched and strutted their might against the governors budget cuts to public education. An awe inspiring crowd of 150 community members marched around the beautifully mural adorned school building on Harrison & Cesar Chavez in La Misión. The united voices of Latino immigrantes, African-american, and white parents and children were heard throughout Bernal and the Mission as they chanted "Se Ve Se Siente, Flynn Esta presente". Several news crews and two helicopters were out there documenting the scene- KRON 4, NBC 11 and Univision canal 14. C'mon now! We know SF schools are in dire shape and those hardest hit (based on academic achievement) are our Latino, Black & Pacific Islander kids (holla at Coleman Advocates). But if that isn't bad enough California's per-student spending is one of the lowest in the nation. Currently, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed slashing $4.8 billion from California public schools, and the San Francisco Unified School District stands to lose $40 million. que coño!

At my daughters school parents and maestras are talking about the lack of leadership and guidance around what to do next or who to target. Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education have no direct power and have all expressed their support for no cuts. Without a state-wide campaign focused on our local communities we can at least write letters/emails to our local state officials: Senator Leland Yee, Senator Carole Migden, Assemblyman Mark Leno and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma. Word has it that Fiona Ma has been hella quiet on this issue.

Pero no te aguites raza! In the face of adversity and rainy days (you know our community knows about tormentas) there is hope and everyday things that everyday peoples can do:

uno) Educate yourself: check out the California Federation of Teachers breakdown of the budget deficit and what to do about it

dos) Get down: organize with the familias, kids and teachers at your school; if you ain't got kids in school then peep the PTA website and write some letters to your state politico

tres) Repeat ese!

muchisimo gracias to my esa Cynthia Meza, teacher at Flynn and jefita to my kids, for the great pictures.

Homes Not Bombs Fiesta: Saturday March 8

2008-03-05T00:41:00.000-08:00

Oye gente! Come invest some of your hard earned feria over at the HOMES NOT BOMBS fiesta benefiting the marvelous work of SF Community Land Trust and Direct Action to Stop the War. As part of the half dozen great performances, The Brass Liberation Orchestra (hands down the peoples champion street band) will be flexing skills and catching wreck on them mean tubas and trumpets (ask 'em to play a lil' cumbia). Yer man dj Lucha Grande will be throwin' down some global cumbiazos to get you moving and grooving. What's a movement without some movimiento!

Salsa Music + Van Halen = PURO FRESH!

2008-03-02T23:49:00.000-08:00

Van Halen reminds me of catholic school beatdowns by nuns, salesian brothers, and crazy-ass white boys in souped up Monte Carlos. But back in the day it was common for Excelsior heads of all stripes to rock a sideways cap listening to Rappin 4-Tay or EPMD while wildn' out on some mean air guitar ala Metallica or Death Angel. Word to my Pinoy metaleros!

Found this wild-ass salsa re-edit of Van Halen's Running w/ the Devil by Big Mono on outside broadcast. Puro fresh? Yes indeed.

VAN HALEN "RUNNING W/ THE DEVIL/CORIENDO CON EL DIABLO" [BIG MONO]

City Livin' & Lovin' / Viva La Gran Ciudad

2008-02-29T01:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend about 70 organizers from Miami, New Orleans, New York, DC, Boston, Providence, LA and the Bay are going to be in town for a gathering of the Right To The City Alliance. These dope-ass organizations and organizers will be in town planning and plotting on how to strengthen our local fights (while getting national attention) to keep our peoples living, working and thriving in the City.

To celebrate this historic gathering join your peoples for a great night of dancing and drinking...

Saturday, March 1
8pm-11:00pm
Balazo 18 Gallery, 2183 Mission St. @ 18th St.
performances by dj Papi Chocolate, KIWI [formerly of Native Guns], Son de Centro [Jarocho]

•••••••••••••••

Este fin de semana 70 companer@s de Miami, Neuvo Orleans, Neuva York, Washington DC, Boston, Providence, Los Angeles y la Bahia de San Francisco vienen por un encuentro de la Alianza Derecho a la Ciudad. Estos chingones organizaciones y organizadores van estar en Oakland plañeando como fortalecer nuestras luchas locales para asegurar que nuestra gente pueden vivir, trabajar y triunfar en la ciudad.

Para celebrar este encuentro muy historico unete con ellos para una noche muy divertido con musica, baile y cocteles...

¡Viva La Gran Ciudad Pachanga!
Sabado 1 de Marzo
8pm-11:00pm
Balazo 18 Gallery, 2183 Calle Mission
presentaciones musicales por dj Papi Chocolate, KIWI [hip hop revolucionario], Son de Centro [Jarocho]

Amnesia! The Hardest Working Band in La Misión

2008-02-16T21:36:00.001-08:00

Every time theres some kind of festival or event going on in the Mission you can be sure that the super Latino trio Amnesia is rockin' the casa. These muchachos have been a favorite at MISBA sponsored events. Their new album Anhelos is a great mix of community-inspired rolas, power rockin' riffs, and Mana-flavored ballads that make you wanna get cheek-to-cheek with your ruca or your viejo.

Check this one out...
AMNESIA: SUENOS

Hey Loco Buy Local

2008-02-12T00:31:00.000-08:00

This past weekend on the 24th & Capp parking lot (known as the MacDonalds lot, but better known as the site of one of the dopest murals depicting peoples in the struggle for a better mundo) local mom & pop merchants were out selling t-shirts, native crafts, mexican silver jewelry and all this other fresh stuff from throughout the americas. Up & coming merchants group MISBA (Mission Small Business Association)led by immigrant & indigenous merchants have been doing it real nice holding monthly events highlighting the one of a kind artisenias, crafts, jewelry and clothing offered in La Mision.

Be sure to drop some monedas this weekend (Feb 16 & 17) cause the MISBA crew will be out on the 24th & 16th Street BART plazas.

Cant Stop Wont Stop! MISBA members, with the support of Mission Economic Development Association, have also been working on legislation and gathering hundreds of signatures to limit the number of chain stores that can impact the Mission District. There was a hearing today at the much hated on Planning Commission- no friend to community- we'll be sure to get some updates over the next few days.

SLAM Slamdunks Towards Victory

2008-02-06T22:31:00.000-08:00

Yea, I know the title is kinda queso, pero tu sabes I'm trying over here. Check out following great news from the compas at POWER...

"...the Stop Lennar Action Movement (SLAM) together with hundreds of volunteers, activists, organizers, low-income folks, students and student organizations across San Francisco made herstory when we collected approximately 11,800 signatures in less than 11 days.

Through the wind, rain, and cold, we came together in a completely grassroots movement to say no to predatory development and yes to development that serves the needs of San Francisco. We braved office break-ins, disbelief, and much more. We united around an issue that affects an incredible number of people across the City. We put action behind the assertion that communities of color in San Francisco must unite in order to assure and achieve our survival. And most of all, we proved that the will of the people is greater than the money, power, and influence of multi-billion dollar corporations.

Although we’re claiming the victory today, the fight is still FAR from over. We’ve already seen the extent to which Lennar is invested in making sure that their $1.4 billion development project moves forward, unhindered. To date, they’ve spent more than $650,000 on high profile political consultants, and we’re sure they won’t stop there. We’re more energized than ever to gather our forces to oppose Lennar’s stadium initiative, and to make sure that any development that happens on Candlestick Point be held to the highest standards of affordable housing allocation and public housing rebuilding, with no displacement"

To get down give Alicia & Jaron a call over at POWER 415-864-8372

Peep it compas...check out these articles and blogs for more info DalyBlog, SFBayview

¡Wacha! Boston Peoples Fightin' back against foreclosures

2008-01-31T22:46:00.001-08:00

came across this article on Boston housing foreclosures on Boston indymedia. Peoples out there are doing it real fresh- organizing eviction blockades to prevent the police & banks from evicting families from their homes. EVICION BLOCKADES! I LOVE IT! These greedy bastardos subprime lenders have been picking on working families and taking us for all we got.

In the US, foreclosures in 2007 were up to 2.2 million, that's a 75% increase from 2006. Here at home in the Bay Area, a total of 11,530 homes were lost to foreclosures in 2007, thats sevenfold the 1,651 foreclosures in 2006. Hijole! When it rains it pours. Does anyone know how many foreclosures or mortgage default notices (when homeowners are several months behind on payments) have taken place out here in the southeast part of SF- Excelsior, Bayview, etc..?

From the Bay to the Big Easy!

2008-01-30T00:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a few pics of familia putting it down at a protest vigil in front of Senator Dianne Feinstein's mansion in the exclusive Pacific Heights. Damn! It puts things in some real perspective being out there in such an upscale neighborhood when only a few miles towards the southeast of town we got gentrification, toxic poisoning, and dead-end jobs. And across the country in New Orleans our government is trying to bulldoze over 5,000 affordable homes.

City peoples, we need to stand up for the Big Easy cause our neighborhoods aren't far behind. Get at Fenstein and let her know she needs to support the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act (SB 1668). Check out the SF Bay View for more info.

Nenes y Nenas keep your game tight! Check out these cumbia moves...

2008-01-26T13:16:00.001-08:00

Coming soon: "Super Poderosa" a monthly cumbia throwdown

2008-01-23T01:43:00.000-08:00

Raza sonidero stay tuned for more information about a monthly cumbia throwdown starting in February @ BALAZO 18 GALLERY...