forWord Feature TONIGHT: “Pass the Mic: Reclaim Your Roots” at UC Irvine

The Asian Pacific Student Association (APSA) is presenting an annual spoken word and hip hop showcase/workshop event called, “ Pass the Mic: Reclaim Your Roots.” Through a fusion of spoken word pieces and hip hop, we hope that participants and the audience will be reminded of their roots and we hope to give them a space where they can reclaim their identity as Asian Pacific Islanders or People of Color. In addition, we look forward to collaborating with spoken word and hiphop artists from different areas of California. This event is free and APSA invites all students and the community to come out to witness the raw power of self-expression.

In addition we will also have a mini workshop on how to get into spoken word and hip-hop by our special guests and collaboration with Uncultivated Rabbits and Hip Hop Congress.

Special Guests: forWord, Hoodini and King, and many more!

GOING DOWN TONIGHT, APSA of UCI has invited us back to our alma mater! Stephanie and Eddy will be holding it down for forWord. We will be sharing the stage with the one and only spoken word organization that brought us altogether, Uncultivated Rabbits. Previously from APAAC earlier this year, Hoodini and King are back to show y’all their love for Hip Hop!

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/374572835915410/

Free event at the UCI Cross-Cultural Center from 8 to 10 PM!

Last forWord Events for April!

04.27.12
Pass the Mic: Reclaim Your Roots
Sponsored by the Asian Pacific Student Association
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Show starts at 8pm

04.28.12
Spring Social Mixer
Sponsored by the California Medical Association’s Ethnic Medical Organization Section and Orange County Medical Association
17322 Murphy Ave.
Irvine, CA
Event starts at 6pm

Let’s end NaPoWriMo with a BANG!

Reflection: The 27th Annual Asian Pacific American Awareness Conference

So back on January 28, 2012, Forword got a chance to perform at APAAC at our Alma matter, UCIrvine.  The event was held APSA UCIrvine.  We performed alongside fellow artists: Andrew Figueroa Chiang, Beau Sia, Justin Hamady, and many more.

First off, I gotta say it was an honor to be invited and perform in front of our fellow APIA people, so much so that we even wrote a new piece specifically for this event entitled: “Metta World Piece” (okay, honestly, we’re still working on a title). 

It had been a while since we wrote a new group piece, but we were motivated to write a poem about being a part of this community, address the misconceptions of “being asian”, and maybe even provide a new way of looking at things.  It took us a total of 2 weeks to write and rehearse it.  Because of our busy schedules and where we all lived (OC, different parts of LA), we took advantage of 21st Century technology and practiced over Google+ Hangout.  Given the time crunch, we weren’t able to memorize the piece, but we were able to get our timing down and just polish the piece.

When we got to the stage, we did a little blocking and mic checks to make sure everything was working fine.  We also ran into our good friend and AMAZING singer, Andrew Figueroa Chiang, we exchanged hugs and handshakes and sat down to watch his mic check.  And woo, what a mic check it was.  It goes without saying, that the audience would not be prepared for the kind of soulful ride that Mr. Chiang would be taking them that evening.  I even joked around (but serious) with Stephanie that we’d need to get a couple mops out here to soak up all the melted hearts after his set.

A few minutes before the show started we took pictures with the APSA staff and greeted some familiar faces: from the Tuesday Night Project, Common Ground, Beau Sia, and Justin Hamady of Uncultivated Rabbits.  After the photo, we all sort of dispersed and tried to find a bit relaxation before we had to go up. 

First one up was Justin, who set the tone for the evening with his poetry AND mastery of the mic (spitting).  When it came time for our set, we had 10 minutes so we performed “Writer’s Block” and then premiered the new piece, “Metta World Piece”.  I thought it went pretty well (sans a little flub on my part in “Writer’s Block”).  After our set, we sat down and enjoyed the rest of the show.

I’d like to say thank you to Beau Sia for sharing new pieces.  It was just great to be a part of the audience and listen to some raw and personal pieces.

Overall, it was an awesome show.  Thanks to APSA Irvine for organizing the event and inviting us to perform.  It was a great way to kick-off 2012.

- Mark

Updates, Updates, Updates!

Hello World!

Aside from a few posts here and there, it has been awhile since you all have heard from us.

Good news: We are still alive and well.
Better news: We have new content for you!
Bad news: There is none so keep smiling. =).

VIDEOS
As you can see with our most recent post of “The Movement” by Susan, we are finally following through with what we said we would do months ago: new videos are on the way! We sincerely apologize for the delay! Real life can get in the way sometimes, but we’re pulling through this time! Check out our youtube: www.youtube.com/forwordcollection.

OPEN MICS AND PERFORMANCES
With regard to the open mic scene, we will be doing our best to pick up where we last left off. Next stop for us: the definitive soapbox (TDSB) featuring Ashley Catharine! At the last TDSB, 3/4Word got SOAP’d, SOAP’d, and SPIT’ed on. Have no idea what that means? Check out TDSB on Friday, February 10th at the Royal Cup Cafe in Long Beach!

We would also like to take this time to thank APSA at UC Irvine for organizing an amazing APAAC last weekend! We had attended APAAC in the past, and this by sure was one of the best conferences to date. With a passionate young group of undergrad students behind APSA at UC Irvine this year, it will only get better! Keep building, keep organizing!

CHAPBOOKS AND CD’S
We ran out a couple months ago. So it’s about freakin’ time we printed out some more chapbooks and burned a couple more CD’s. This chapbook entitled, “Feel What We’re Saying,” is our first compilation of poems ever. The CD entitled, “Hear What We’re Saying,” contains both live and in-studio audio recordings of our poetry. Unfortunately we do not have an Amazon or PayPal account, but feel free to message us or visit us at one of our performances to learn how you can own a copy! Grassroots style.

SESAME STREET HAIKU

Yes, I typed that. Yes, you read that correctly. We will be posting up some haiku about some of your most beloved and sometimes forgotten characters of Sesame Street. Starting THIS Wednesday and every Wednesday afterward! Why are we doing this? Why not.

- Eddy M. Gana Jr.