AF3IRM Presents: Ana Tijoux in LA
Well-known Chilean hip-hop artist, Ana Tijoux, performed in Midcity at the Fais Do Do on April 23rd for a benefit show for the LA based transnational feminist organization AF3iRM. The show gave the organization the support to continue organizing and doing community work for the liberation of mujeres and other people in nuestras comunidades. Along with Ana Tijoux, there were various other LA-based female-led artists, including Medusa the Gangsta Goddess (who is highly recognized in underground West Coast hip-hop), Tylana Renga and the Obsidian Flows, a group of violin musicians, and opening group Los Cambalache, which is a Chicano-Jarocho group based in East Los Angeles.
The entire night was meant to connect the art of music-making with political conscious action, as many of the artists present also advocate for a variety of social justice movements such as encouraging us to keep dreaming beyond the struggle. Medusa the Gangsta Goddess raps about female empowerment and the difficulties of being a woman in a male-dominated music scene. She opened up her set by letting the crowd know why she decided to title herself the way she has. Women in the hip-hop scene often have to act “Gangsta” for their position to be validated, while still remaining feminine and ladylike: hence Goddess and Medusa. So she “gangstered” her way to get where she is. Medusa was a inspiring energy on stage as her music focused on human connection, world energy, and spirituality. She also played a song dedicated for men, where she told them to listen up as she guides them through steps on how to get a good woman. This was inspired from seeing her mother date undeserving men, and she wished she could find a man that would treat her like the goddess that Medusa saw her as.
Ana Tijoux is also very well known and popular all over Latin America for her politically conscious music that has messages advocating for the liberation of indigenous Mapuche people in Chile, an end to worldwide corruption, and respect and freedom for immigrant communities, amongst other things. She began her set by dedicating the night to the struggles of immigrant people worldwide, but in specific–those detained in LA awaiting deportation and the separation from their families. She also encouraged everyone to come out the following Sunday morning to Chant Down the Walls: an action at the Metropolitan Detention Center calling for the end of deportations and justice for the hundreds being held there. Ana also made a speech about Latino unification and the ways being in North America is always a surreal and self-mutilating experience, as she finds herself “en las entrañas del monstruo.”
As she ended her last song, I wanted to get a picture with her but I was extremely shy about her presence, so she ended up giving me a hug, instead. I encouraged my sister to go speak to her and tell her about the time she saw her perform two years ago in Santiago, Chile, for an action about housing justice for the Mapuche. I left feeling extremely inspired and empowered to tap into more of my creative energies as an outlet and voice for my personal liberation, and that of my people.
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