When I moved to Central Square four years ago, I found myself 10 minutes away from East Meets West Bookstore which is home to Boston Progress, Boston's Asian American Arts Collective. As a Pinay American looking for spaces for Asian Americans, East Meets West was the perfect place to connect with other progressive Asian Americans doing good work in Boston and in the country. It was here that I met some of Boston's artistic heavy hitters such as Sahra Nguyen, Pen Khek, Giles Li, Dave Kong, Pedro Magni, Leona Merk, Theresa Hwang, Chucky Kim, Maanav Thakore, Brownstar, Jen Lin, and other fabulous folks.
Every second Friday of the month, Boston Progress holds an Open Mic series at EMW featuring a headliner from in or out of town. It was where I first saw Yellow Rage, Magnetic North, Kay Ulanday Barrett, Adeeba Rana, Vudoo Soul perform.I will never forget when I stood in the packed bookstore, all the way to the back with my friend Nora and watched Catzie Vilayphonh and Michelle Myers of Yellow Rage perform I'm a Woman, Not a Flava, yelling, "I'm a woman not a flava, not the flava of a woman! I will knock the taste out yo mothaf*ckin mouth if I don't like your behavior! I'm not a flava, I'm a woman!!" Nora and screamed those words to each other for the rest of that summer.
or when I died laughing watching Brownstar perform Ode to the Squat Toilet and the Kal Penn 15 (I'm literally in the front row dying laughing in these videos):
or when we would freestyle and jam with the houseband at Open Orchestra which also happens once a month.
Yes, it was and is a beautiful place to enjoy the talents and gifts of folks in the community. It cultivates a lot of love and while I will miss all the talent and the fun parties and performances, what I will miss the most are the DOPE and BEAUTIFUL people I met while I was there. Many folks are like family and I'm so grateful to be connected to a network of amazing artists because of East Meets West and Boston Progress.
1 comment:
hahah just reading some of your old posts and had a nostalgic moment from Yellow rage! Love it. I'm luck to have someone like you constantly expanding my horizons!
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