Don Palabraz

LA-based activists have long been organizing annual ‘anti-malls’ around Christmas as artivists and musicians come together for a day conscious consuming. Now, finally, ‘Anti-Mall’ is coming to SanTana by way of El Centro Cultural de Mexico and El Puente Hacia la Esperanza!  I’ll have more on this later, but in the meantime, as the flyer states, save the date!

The Anaheim-based Access California Services, which has its office nestled on Brookhurst Street in Little Arabia–a neighborhood profiled in the Weekly’s current cover story–has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1998. Originally bearing the name Care ‘R’ Us, Access started out with a small office, one phone line, a shoddy desk and a $2,000 advance from Judy Mader of OC’s Healthy Families Task Force Committee. They have since grown over the years, most recently receiving a Refugee Social Services contract from the OC Social Services Agency last September.  Helping to finance all of their work is the organization’s annual “Every Person Counts” gala. The featured guest of the night is history-making Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Read more about Access and the fundraising event happening this Saturday in Anaheim on my latest OC Weekly Navel Gazing Blog post:

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/01/access_california_services.php

It was one year ago today that the Egyptian uprising began. People power would ultimately force President Hosni Mubarak to resign after nearly three decades in power. The Narcicyst, who was a featured MC last year on a hip-hop track in solidarity with the protests, has released a song and video for “Fly Over Egypt” today. On Facebook, the rapper had the following, in part, to say:

This song is dedicated to those who have lost their lives all over the world, standing up for OUR rights. Arabs showed the world this year, enough is enough. Stop bombarding us. Stop holding us back. I asked some of my closest friends, and some of my listeners, to tell me how they felt about Egypt. I was blown away by their responses. Our youth are ready for the next; they deserve it more than we do. Our children need an earth to live on in peace and equality. And we will have that, in our hands, very soon.

Download the track for free on Soundcloud and bump this through whatever speakers are nearest to you! Learn more about ‘Narcy,’ and Iraqi MC based in Montreal, Canada at: www.narcy.net

Looking back on 2011, I posted my top five hip-hop albums of the year for Heard Mentality readers to check out. Had the scope been broader to include more albums and different genres, I definitely would have shown love to a lot of artists featured on Nacional Records most recent iTunes download card. The Latin Alternative label is giving away 24 songs released last year for free featuring musicians like Diego Garcia, Hello Seahorse!, Latin Bitman and Ana Tijoux (whose superb album La Bala dropped worldwide yesterday). If those names ring familiar, it’s because I’ve covered and interviewed them last year for the Weekly as the links go to show.

Check the streaming player on my latest OC Weekly Heard Mentality Blog post to sample the offerings of what amounts to a double-album’s worth of material and follow the online download link if you like what you hear!

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/2012/01/nacional_records_24_song_givea.php