#BlocTheJuvie Press Kit
May 1, 2017
Table of Contents
• Press Release
• Artist Bios
• Media Links
• Music/Video Playlist
• Organizations/Collectives
• Additional data/footnotes on Prison Labor
Let the masses understand that these robbers hold this property (which is so much unpaid labor) under the plea of the
laws which they themselves have made … and further, that these so-called laws would not be worth the paper they are
written on, twenty-four hours after the producers of all wealth had willed it otherwise.
--- Lucy Parsons,“On The ‘Harmony’ Between Capital and Labor”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAYDAY! MAYDAY! BLOC THE JUVIE! PRESS RELEASE
PRESS CONTACTS: Bypolar #BlocTheJuvie ([email protected], 206-578-8961); Angelica from NWDC Resistance (646-496-5724)
Seattle, WA (01 May 2017). Hip Hop artists, musicians, educators and community builders will be participating in the global
call-out for a general strike on May 1, 2017 (May Day). In Seattle there will be multiple autonomous actions, marches and
#BlocTheJuvie will be having a pop-up bloc party with Hip Hip artist's Raz Simone, Poesia, Bypolar, Yirim Seck , Julie-C, Black
Magic Noize and many more live performances. We will also have great food, organizations tabling, live-painting, and amazing
speakers that will share information about the juvie, prison industrial complex, prison labor and organizing efforts in Seattle and
the region. We will announce at #BlocTheJuvie hashtag on May 1st, 2017, 3:30pm the location of the bloc party.
May Day is rooted in the resistance of anarchists, workers and organizers in the 1880s who begun organizing in Chicago for the
8-hour workday where 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States went on strike on May 1, 1886. Chicago
was the epicenter of this struggle, where 40,000 workers join with anarchists in the forefront of public's eye, anarchism became
respected and embraced by working class people and despised by the capitalist elite, the general strike faced brutal police
violence infamously known as the Haymarket Martyrs that established May Day as International Workers' Day, officially a
holiday in 66 countries yet unofficially celebrated in the United States, the country where it all begun.
It is in this spirit of global resistance that we join the 2017 May Day General Strike against fascism. In Seattle, May Day is
known as a day of direct action, where social and creative movements of resistance manifest against exploitation and oppression;
students, workers, migrants, and artists will be engaging in a general strike happening in cities across the world. This day the
people will be building community, marches, direct actions and cultural events to participate in global resistance movements.
Additional actions and events happening in Seattle and King County include the March on Amazon-May Day 2017 and the 18 th
Annual May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Rights. We support all people-led movements of resistance and solidarity
amongst those of us most affected and exploited by capitalist white supremacist violence.
Prisoners and migrants, are part of an exploited workforce that is denied human and workers rights. The United States has the
largest incarcerated prison population in the world with 25% of the world's prison population. Over 50 Corporate companies
like Costco Wholesale Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Koch Industries Inc., McDonald's Corporation, Victoria's Secret,
Microsoft Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Starbucks Corporation and many others profit from slavery often referred by
intellectuals and academics as the Private Prison Industrial Complex. The United States of America government claims that
slavery was abolished in 1865,yet within the USA constitution is a loophole in the 13th Amendment that allows for corporations
to invest and exploit prisoners “as a punishment for crimes” in the 21st century. Corporations have lobbied and invested billions
of dollars to use prison labor as a punishment for “crime”. Today Black and Brown peoples are racially profiled, incarcerated and
forced into mandatory, essentially unpaid labor (slavery).
Youth and children are target by the police to be derailed into the prison system of means of becoming an unrecognized
exploited prison labor workforce. The Youth Jail in the Central District is no different in profiting from slavery. It is in this act of
solidarity and resistance with the youth inside the Juvie that we gather to put on a community Hip Hop bloc party to bring light
to how Seattle City Council and King County are complicit in exploitation thru the Prison Industrial Complex by allowing
prisons, detention centers, and Juvenile detention centers in the region. As a community we demand alternatives to
incarceration that are centered in the experiences of the most marginalized youth, migrants, and artists.
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Artists/Performers/Speakers Biographies
Raz Simone is a hip-hop artist from
Seattle, Washington. His inspiration stems
from his diverse life, as opposed to any
musical predecessors. Growing up Raz did
not listen to any music. It wasn’t until he
started writing poetry, then speaking his
powerful words over movie scores that he
realized he was rapping. Mixing creative
foresight with entrepreneurial spirit, Raz
produces, raps, sings, designs graphics, and
directs videos all under his independent
label, Black Umbrella.
www.RazSimone.com
www.twitter.com/RazSimone
www.youtube.com/razpytube
www.soundcloud.com/razsimone
http://blackumbrellamusic.com/
Julie-C passion lies at the many intersections of art, creative
resistance, and community building. Emceeing since her
early teens, Julie-C hails from the legendary Alpha Platoon
crew of Seattle. As she watched the Hip Hop movement
evolve parallel to her own growth, she began organizing in
her early twenties with 206 Zulu. Since then, she has been
blessed to connect with some of Hip Hop's most potent
grassroots organizations, serving as education committee
member of Hip Hop Association, and later as Northwest
Regional Coordinator of Hip Hop Congress. In addition, she
has also served on the board of Reclaim the Media, helped
organize B-Girl Media and Hip Hop Occupies to
Decolonize, and taught Hip Hop and media literacy
through El Centro de La Raza's Hope for Youth Program,
Seattle Urban Debate League, Seattle's Young People's
Project, and Umojafest P.E.A.C.E Center. As a writer, she has served on the editorial board for the People's Tribune,
written for Seaspot Magazine, and contributes as an editor and content developer for Coach Seattle. She is also a proud
family member of Brain Child Learning Center where she has taught, developed curriculum, and fostered academic
excellence for 1st generation Asian American youth for over 10 years. She was recognized as Seattle Sound Music
Award's 2015 honoree for female emcee, and is eager to continue her love work of inspiration, self-determination, and
community empowerment with Hip Hop Bruha,
www.julie-c.com
Yirim Seck is the son of a Senegalese Father and
African American mother. For Yirim growing up in
America as a young black boy with a dual heritage
was a complicated mix of trying to fit in with his
peers and being comfortable with his Senegalese
culture and background. Common myths about
Africa caused him to be teased about everything
from his name, to his hair texture to the color of his
skin. At the same time he was instilled with a deep
knowledge and a sense of pride about his
Senegalese heritage. It wasn’t until he made his first
trip to Senegal at the age of sixteen, that all of his
childhood experiences, good and bad, began to
make sense. This was also the time when he
discovered his love for Hip Hop. While in Senegal,
Yirim underwent a number of deep and
transformative experiences. One of the most
important things he witnessed was the way his
Senegalese regularly turned lack and limitation into infinite possibilities. Senegal is a nation of natural entrepreneurs.
He realize his life in America has taught him more about being a wage slave than being a free and creative human
being. In America, there is the mythology of the hustler, or someone who makes a way out of no way. Yirim realized
that in Senegal, this is a way of life for everyone. As he began to think about his creative voice as an emcee, this spirit of
economic creativity was taking root in him as well. For the past 10 years Yirim Seck has been developing his career as a
hip hop artist. During that time he has developed a growing loyal fan base in the Pacific Northwest.
http://yirimseck.com
Poesi(a) Mari(A)rte is a nomadic Visual Creative thinker
based in Occupied Coast Salish Territory; Manifesting
Creative Rebellion every millisecond reflecting generations
of rebellions, poetically narrating the teachings of ancients.
Born in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero and migrated/ became
displaced in the Northwest in the early 90s. She is a Hip
Hop artist with Batallones Femeninos, a womxn's hip hop
collective based in Mexico and does multi-media
production & autonomous hip hop media/movement
building with Shades of Silence, Hip Hop Bruha Collective
and High Godz Entertainment in Seattle, WA.
www.poesiamariarte.com
www.shadesofsilence.org
BMN
Black Magic Noize is an artist collective based out of Seattle Washington. The four lead members MadShroom Mc,
Araless, DJ Corndogg, and Nocturnal make up the Mushroom Militia. We represent the Triple Rock Movement where
G.O.D. stands for Gift of Decision. Speaking on the pleasures and pain in life. Black Magic Noize has been sponsored
by Cavi Gold Records, and has had their merch carried in Motion Boardshop. They've have been featured on local
radio; podcasts; mixtapes; blogs; and mentioned in local publications like The Stranger, a live recorded performance on
Kexp, and heraldnet.com. As well as playing with notable local acts like Graves 33, Kung Foo Grip, OC Notes, XP and
various members of 206 Zulu; they've also done shows with Crooked I, Myka 9, Elzhi, Blueprint and, Jedi Mind Tricks.
In 2013, they rocked the mainstage at Hempfest. http://blackmagicnoize.com
Born and raised in the evergreen marshlands of Everett Wa
outside Seattle, MadShroom MC is the Executive Producer of the
artist collective Black Magic Noize est. 09. The furious fungus is
also a member/cofounder of the notorious beat crew Filthy
Fingers United comprised of over 30+ producers from all over the
country. When the pissed off portobello isn't writing raps or
making beats, he's hosting a Freestyle Competition known as The
Lyric League currently taking place at The Central Saloon. As an
agitated amanita, pass times include wearing clothing by Concuss
Creations, coughing Kush casually, and writing odes to cougars
and Hulk Booty Princesses. Recently released #MURIKKKA EP
can be found at madshroommc.com, and will be available on
iTunes,spotify, and more. More information on MadShroom Mc
and The Trip Rock Movement can be found
at www.blackmagicnoize.com or madshroommc.com for booking
email: [email protected] Trip Freely and Stay Filthy my
friends.
Araless interweaves sociopolitical, counter-cultural commentary
with grimy boom bap production - his execution is like no other.
You can feel his sense of urgency, prompting the audience to
deconstruct their social conditioning - the underlying tone
implying the necessity for revolutionary action in a society built on
domination, division, and predatory practices. In result, his word
emerges as a vital call to action.
Media:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWkNviE1Kc
http://araless.com/album/proletariat-rock
Bypolar Founder of high gods entertainment network and co
founder of Seattle copwatch, Bypolar is an artist organizer, using
music as a tool of resistance coupled with on the ground direct
action. Coming in to adult hood in the prison system, birthed an
analysis that would later be reflected in Bypolars art, music, and
organizing. That of prison abolition and anti state politics,
searching to build a liberated world. Using their music as a vehicle
to effect the mind of the people and direct action to effect our
material reality.
https://soundcloud.com/bypolar-3/molotov
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOlC2F7wzcg
Instagram/ twitter Bypolar_tc
https://www.facebook.com/Bypolar-404285559750507/
https://www.facebook.com/wizdomimagery/
the sissy bas is an insurgent pretty princess. anti capitalist, not dumb. genderfuxxxd satyrist. cute ukulele playing
singing writing performer. queer witchy visual art maker. crocheting fan girl seeking fans. cabaret wannabe. burlesque
aspirer. was spoken word poet anarchist busker. call me by She/Her or They/them pronouns and don't pet my dog. like
my pages on social media. Petty.
MayDay MayDay #BlocTheJuvi Artist TrackList
Raz Simone
Julie-C
Yirim Seck
Poesia: Xin Fronteras
Bypolar
Black Magic Noize
and more….
Organizations/Collectives
High Godz Entertainment
Black Umbrella
The Village
The Northwest Detention Center Resistance
Shades O' Silence
Rising Tide
Hip Hop Bruha Collective
WestAfriCoast Media
EPIC (Ending the Prison Industrial Complex)
Got Green
stop violia
Additional data/footnotes on Prison Labor and MayDay
Prison Labor in America: How is it Legal?-The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/prison-labor-in-america/406177/
The Brief Origins of May Day
http://www.iww.org/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday
List of Corporations/Companies that Use Prison Labor
http://buycott.com/campaign/companies/504/boycott-companies-that-use-prison-labor