#EarthDay2014: Music + Environmental Justice + Social Justice + Poetry + MORE

Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day!

How will you celebrate our Earth? What action will you take? What good will you do?

Tomorrow I am excited about Ventura College’s Earth Day which I am organizing and where I will be performing poetry, doing a living history monologue written by my mom, hosting on the Alive TV Big TV Set, and basically running around like a chicken with my head cut off keeping track of  speakers, performers, Aztec dance, exhibitors, and more!

The event is FREE and family friendly. Ride your bike over or park for FREE in the west lot by the gym. Bring a picnic and relax on the grass. Check out the interactive exhibits or wander over to the library and read a children’s book or two.

While our headliners are Alice Bag (5:30-6:30pm —read  more about her and find links to her blog and her Wikipedia page) and Tony Fletcher (3;15pm and 7:15pm –read his website), from 2-930pm the event is jam packed with great stuff (see schedule below) starting and ending with Abel Garcia who writes, 

“Just give peace a chance,
so civilization can last.
We can’t wash away
the blood that’s on our hands.
The time is now for us
to take a stand.”

A Ventura College and UC Irvine grad, at Ventura College Earth Day, Abel Garcia will be previewing samples of some choice material performed acoustic. A singer/songwriter at heart with a hint of reggae influence,  Abel Garcia hails from Ojai CA. His  first full length studio album “It’s All Good” has  gotten the attention of multi platinum and Grammy nominated producer Ronnie King.

Abel performs his original songs from 2:45-3:15pm and from 8:45-9:15pm.  Check out more of his music here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/im-talking-to-you-ep/id865758762

Here’s the complete schedule:

2pm BLUE GOLD: WORLD WATER  WARS SCI-313 In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth. Corporate giants force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit.

245pm Abel Garcia, VC, UCI grad, reggae influenced singer/songwriter (quad stage)

315pm Tony Fletcher: award winning author of books about REM, The Clash, Keith Moon, The Smiths, autobiography Boy About Town; reading & DJ set (Alive TV stage)

4p Spoken Word/Performance (Alive TV Stage)
“The Flower Wizard of California—
Theodosia Burr Shepherd presented by her daughter Myrtle Shepherd Francis”
Mary Kay Rummel, Ventura County Poet Laureate
F. Albert Salinas, MFA, VC, CSUCI grad
Pat Payne, Taos Poetry Circus Heavy weight champ

445pm Linda Ravenswood, MFA, ABD, The Ravenswood Jones (quad stage)
live performance with discussion of music and social and environmental justice

515pm Danza Kalpulli Kuauhziuatl directed by Ygnacia Gonzalez from Ojai (quad)

530pm Alice Bag, author Violence Girl: A Chicana Punk Story, lead singer of The Bags, reading, discussion, music (accompanied by guitar, Alive TV)

630pm Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc, led by Veronica Xochitl Valadez (quad)

645pm Comedy/Spoken Word (Alive TV)
Pierpont Rats: “Royals/Rested” parenting parody by 9, 10, 11 year old boys
Sharon Gorsch, Eco Standup
Gwendolyn Alley, Pat Payne: commissioned poems on “Water”

715pm Tony Fletcher, author, dj, musician (Alive TV)

8pm Spoken Word/Comedy (TBA)

845-915pm Abel Garcia

+ possibly films