Looky what I found...

So I am going through my camera looking at pictures I took this weekend, and as I keep going back on the playback screen I stumble upon these photos I took when I crashed ECAASU at Penn because our friends Ill Literacy, Magnetic North, Taiyo Na, and Kelly Tsai were all either performing or facilitating a workshop. This was like back in early March... Oh well better late than never right?

The adventure begins with picking up my friend and former Ill Literacy Tour Manager Jon De Castro. Taking a break from booking artists, he and I scheme together to crash ECAASU because if there's anything we've learned in the spoken word business it's that there's power in numbers.
And you can't deny a baby... although Jon thinks all I have to say is "Don't you know who I am"?

Of course Jon requests that we fill up on cheesesteaks before heading out to the show, so I take him to Dalessandro's, which is technically in Roxborough, but my fave Philly spot for cheesesteaks, Jon's Pork Sandwiches, was already closed.

After having our fill we managed to sneak into the artist's Green Room where we meet up with Derek from Magnetic North and Taiyo getting ready for their set. Derek's other half Theresa was running late so we didn't get to take a picture with her, but be on the lookout as they are dropping a new album soon.

If you have a guitar my child will find you. Good thing Taiyo is welcoming of babies!

This could be an album cover! Taiyo and Aditi's greatest hits, haha...

This is Hari Kondabolu. Even though he was quiet and very isolated from the rest of the room, we found out later he was just really trying to get his comedy routine down, and killed it onstage. Originally from Queens, Hari is making a name for himself as a comedian, and I am all about supporting comedians of color who do not sell out to get a laugh. Click here to see a clip of Hari at work.

Spoken word artists are normally not that excited about keynote speeches but when the special invited gust is none other than Helen Zia, aka the Godmother of Asian American consciousness and identity (okay I made that up, that's not her real title but if you study Asian American culture her writings will definitely be a part of your reading). Of course EVERYONE ELSE showed up so the artist groupies friends got stuck with these high ass far ass balcony seats and I could not get a clear picture of Helen. But it all ended up being worth seeing her speak as she mentioned Laos and I got to shout out "Laos in the House" in response. Ha!

The next day I visited Ill Literacy in their workshop on how to be a better activist on your campus.
And then to Kelly's workshop on writing spoken word poetry, which was also very physically interactive.
Aditi got to play too, which was fun for her but stressful for me as I was worried about her being accidentally stepped on and eating random skittles on the floor. Afterwards what was left of the Spoken Word forces joined together and ate a nice dinner at Bubble House.


And my child ate sweet potato fries for the first time. Yay. Anyway be sure to catch me and Kelly at this week's and next week's Home: Far and Near shows at the Asian Arts Initiative.