The People's Poets

What music are you listening to/art are you checking out these days?

DAM from Palestine, we hosted them in Edmonton this past April and both of their performances were killer! Always bumping Mos Def, KRS 1, Victor Jara from Chile (where 3 of us are from) is always in regular rotation. His music along with that of Violeta Parra and Quilapayun from Chile and Silvio Rodriguez from Cuba continually offer inspiration as well as a connection to our America Latina.

We were just on the road through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and we listened to a lot of Bob Marley, Dead Prez, K’Naan, Dilated Peoples. 
Edmonton hip hop as well as hip hop from Canada, Brazil and Chile.

In terms of art, we have been really inspired by the graffiti art and murals that are now being seen all over Canadian cities. Another Chilean-Canadian named Elisa Monreal has been involved in some powerful murals in Montreal (Norte-Sur and I am Hip Hop, amongst others). It is amazing work so check her out at http://shalak.blogspot.com/.

What music are you listening to/art are you checking out these days?

DAM from Palestine, we hosted them in Edmonton this past April and both of their performances were killer! Always bumping Mos Def, KRS 1, Victor Jara from Chile (where 3 of us are from) is always in regular rotation. His music along with that of Violeta Parra and Quilapayun from Chile and Silvio Rodriguez from Cuba continually offer inspiration as well as a connection to our America Latina.

We were just on the road through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and we listened to a lot of Bob Marley, Dead Prez, K’Naan, Dilated Peoples. 
Edmonton hip hop as well as hip hop from Canada, Brazil and Chile.

In terms of art, we have been really inspired by the graffiti art and murals that are now being seen all over Canadian cities. Another Chilean-Canadian named Elisa Monreal has been involved in some powerful murals in Montreal (Norte-Sur and I am Hip Hop, amongst others). It is amazing work so check her out at http://shalak.blogspot.com/.

What music are you listening to / art are you checking out these days?


DAM from Palestine, we hosted them in Edmonton this past April and both of their performances were killer! Always bumping Mos Def, KRS 1, Victor Jara from Chile (where 3 of us are from) is always in regular rotation. His music along with that of Violeta Parra and Quilapayun from Chile and Silvio Rodriguez from Cuba continually offer inspiration as well as a connection to our America Latina.

We were just on the road through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and we listened to a lot of Bob Marley, Dead Prez, K’Naan, Dilated Peoples.
 Edmonton hip hop as well as hip hop from Canada, Brazil and Chile.

In terms of art, we have been really inspired by the graffiti art and murals that are now being seen all over Canadian cities. Another Chilean-Canadian named Elisa Monreal has been involved in some powerful murals in Montreal (Norte-Sur and I am Hip Hop, amongst others). It is amazing work so check her out at http://shalak.blogspot.com/.

Why should people, especially youth, vote?

Everyone needs to use every avenue available that enables participation in levels of society. The lack of representation of women, aboriginal people and racialized groups is one of the reasons why youth from many groups may not vote. When people do not feel represented they are further marginalized from a system that is supposed to be all-inclusive and representative but in reality, is just perpetuating the status quo power structure.

Aside from voting which has an age requirement, youth can also participate in community and cultural associations in order to increase and expand their level of participation. These are critical steps in community building. Youth have a role to play in every level of their community no matter what age they may be.

Education, access and inclusion in decision-making at these levels is important.

For you, is there a connection between art and democracy? What is it?



Art expresses and represents culture and experience whether individual or shared. Art is accessible and democratic as it can be your truest form of expressing your ideals and philosophy. Art has been used as a tool to resist in cases where expression has been limited. The challenge is what kind of art is valued by the mainstream and dominant and whose art or what kind of art is ignored or “whited out” as some of the campaigns against graffiti are called.

Why do you care about community when it is so easy not to?

It is a duty and it is the main source of inspiration and strength for the members of our group. We all came here when we were young as a result of circumstances beyond our control. We grew up seeing our parents struggle as immigrants and refugees in a new land with a new language and completely different culture.

At the same time we were raised with a strong connection to our roots and histories that were not discussed in the K-12 system. We have a duty to continue to pass that on to future generations of Latino-Canadians. It is in this context that our hyphenated Latino–Canadian communities developed. There are communities like ours all over Canada with roots from many parts of the world. We are working to define ourselves within Canada and changing the face of Canada and that needs to be represented in representative levels of government.

It is important for our crew to be involved not only in our cultural communities but arts and activist networks as well. We have met extraordinary people along the way who inspire us to do more.

What do you look for in a politician? What do you expect from your MP?

Someone who talks the talk and is active and accessible. A person who develops links with all groups not just same old boys' clubs and cliques. An individual who has developed relationships with multicultural constituencies and who makes an effort to access and engage youth not only at election time but during their whole term.