Month: August 2008

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Rock4Rights Hip-Hop Show features the best of the Northwest

Rock4Rights ALL AGES SHOW
Featuring: Animal Farm, Copacrescent, Mic Crenshaw,
Serge Severe, Flatliners, Endr-1
Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th Ave, Portland, OR
August 23, 2008, 8:00 PM
$8 Door

Rock4Rights partnering with Focused Noise Productions arranged an incredible show, featuring many of the Northwest’s best hip-hop acts and at the same time raising awareness and funding for Amnesty International. This Rock4Rights show will be headlined by Animal Farm, one of the hottest groups to burst upon the northwest hip-hop scene. Their new album, “The Unknown”, is currently receiving radio play throughout the country and peaked at #9 on the CMJ Hip-Hop Charts. Animal Farm was also recently praised in Urb Magazine’s Next 1000, which claimed “The animated Animal Farm achieves a classically feel-good tone.”

Also featured will be Copacrescent, a tremendously entertaining live hip-hop band, led by MC Chaucer Barnes, who, according to Willamette Week, “flows gritty and eloquent over precise orchestration that ventures between riff-heavy guitar anthems, Latin jazz, funk, blues, reggae and lounge.”

Mic Crenshaw has long been known as one of the top MCs in the Northwest, and has also been a Portland, Oregon poetry slam champion and national finalist. Crenshaw is also revered for his involvement in the community as a youth mentor, using hip-hop to connect with and inspire the next generation.

Serge Severe is another superb lyricist, whose new album, “Concrete Techniques” will be available in November 2008. Also on the bill is Flatliners, a soulful duo from New England, and Endr-1, a lyrical heavyweight from Eugene, Oregon.

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Rape in Burundi – Demand Justice for 13 year-old Girl Now

Burundi survivors of violence against women

13 year old Kaneza (not her real name) from the province of Bujumbura Rural was raped by a 22-year-old man in September 2007. Kaneza did not tell anyone about the rape until she found that she was pregnant. She told her uncle’s wife, who immediately reported the rape to the police.

The alleged perpetrator was arrested and questioned, and confessed to the rape. Kaneza’s family thought that this would be enough to prosecute the perpetrator, though he was released several days later.

Kaneza recently gave birth to a child. The man who allegedly raped her remains free.

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China RAN action – August 2008

China Regional Action Network – August 2008

Global Online Freedom Act

Concerns: Freedom of expression, imprisonment of prisoners of conscience

Summary:
In many countries, the Internet has given people unprecedented opportunities to communicate with each other and to learn about the outside world. But repressive governments are making Internet and technology companies allies in their repression.

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