April 24

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2-3:15 PM

3rd Annual SLAM COMPETITION ^{hosted by}GILL SOTU

This event is made possible in part by the generosity of WACC, the World Arts and Cultures Committee of Grossmont College.

Open to all Grossmont College students, poets will battle for the title of Grossmont College Grand SLAM champion with works addressing a range of issues, including social justice, gender, and personal identity. Hosted by writer, musician, dj, and performance poet, Gill Sotu, the competition is limited to ten participants and conducted in two rounds; the six top performers from Round One face off in Round Two.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LAF 23 author Gill Sotu Teacher and social advocate Gill Sotu facilitates poetry workshops within San Diego County’s juvenile detention center, including weekly workshops with local juvenile inmates. Currently a teaching artist with The Old Globe Theatre and Artist In Residence at Makers Church in San Diego, Sotu was Artist In Residency at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation where he was commissioned to write/direct two full length plays. Sotu also composed and performed the poetic segments to Melissa Adao's dance theatre showcase, "Hip-Hop CabHooray!" winner of Outstanding Production at the 2015 Fringe Fest. Featured on NBC 7's Art Pulse TV, Gill Sotu has opened for such artists as Talib Kweli and Grammy-nominated legend Sheila E., performed for the United Way of San Diego and San Diego's Fashion Week, partnered and performed with the San Diego Symphony, and hosted TEDx San Diego in 2017. In addition to being the 2006 Grand Slam Poetry Champion of Ventura County and a three-time winner of the Borders Poetry Slam, he has also been named 2012 and 2013 San Diego Raw Performing Artist of the Year.

RESOURCES

BOOKS and PLAYS

Sotu, Gill and Jerrica Escoto. How To Love Gods and Acrobats. (2014)

The Best Goodbye. Written by Gill Sotu. Directed by Patrick Kelly. (2016)

RECORDINGS

Sotu, Gill and Aaron Evans. Movement: Break, Build, Become (Gill Sotu 2013).			Neo Nostalgia (Gill Sotu 2016).
Elephant Heart (Extrano). (Gill Sotu 2008)			Flawed American Male (CiXi Digital Records 2010).

SELECTED WRITINGS ABOUT GILL SOTU

Deaderick, Lisa. "Crafting a Connection with the Community." The San Diego Union Tribune 6 August 2016. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/people/sdut-crafting-a-connection-with-the-community-2016aug06-htmlstory.html
"Meet Gill Sotu." Interview. SD Voyager 21 June 2018. http://sdvoyager.com/interview/meet-gill-sotu-gill-sotu-lemon-grove/
Morlan, Kinsee. "Culture Report: Gill Sotu Is Having a Moment." Voice of San Diego 2 August 2016. https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/arts/culture-report-gill-sotu-is-having-a-moment/
Taylor, Maleesha Jesse. "Spoken-Word Opera is Born in San Diego." Interview with Ise Lyfe and Gill Sotu. TCV: The Chocolate Voice 24 January 2017. https://www.thechocolatevoice.com/interview-spoken-word-opera-is-born-in-san-diego/

SELECTED MEDIA

"Don't Count Me Out [Official Video from Movement]." Video. YouTube. Posted 11 June 2013. Duration: 04:17. https://youtu.be/geR3q73No5Y

"H.E.R.O.E.S. The Play [trailer]." Video. YouTube. Posted 8 October 2015. Duration: 02:40. https://youtu.be/K15_FuU2QRs

"Nostalgic Introduction [from Neo Nostalgia]." Video. YouTube. Posted 13 July 2016. Duration: 01:27. https://youtu.be/agZ64pYrGN8

"Ordinary Magic." Video. TEDxSanDiego. YouTube. Posted 23 November 2016. Duration: 11:51. https://youtu.be/ycEF_x-VUuI

"Gill Sotu: American Pirate." Audio. Incoming. Host Justin Hudnall. KPBS Radio 5 May 2015. https://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/may/05/gill-sotu-american-pirate/

7-8:15 PM

^{advocacy journalist} JOHN GIBLER

This event is made possible in part by the generosity of WACC, the World Arts and Cultures Committee of Grossmont College.

Journalist, poet, and author John Gibler will present a reading from his latest book release, followed by opportunities for Q&A discussion and book signing. (Copies of John Gibler's books will be available for purchase before and after his reading.)

About the Author

LAF 23 journalist John Gibler

Writing and living in Mexico, author John Gibler writes poetry and journalism-based creative nonfiction through the lens of political history. Gibler’s four English language books from City Lights Press include To Die in Mexico: Dispatches From Inside the Drug War (2011); Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt (2015); I Couldn't Even Imagine That They Would Kill Us (2017), selected Best Book of 2017 by Publishers Weekly; and, his latest release, Torn from the World: A Guerrilla's Escape from a Secret Prison in Mexico (2018). In addition to Spanish language translations of these works, he has also published a volume of poetry, 20 poemas para ser leídos en una balacera [Twenty Poems to Read while Trapped by Gunfire] (Sur+ 2012), containing Gibler’s highly personal collection of verses and ballads about his experiences living and reporting in Mexico.

A Global Exchange Media Fellow, Gibler uses narrative-based writing to humanize the Mexican struggle on many levels. Sujatha Fernandes, author of Curated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling, extols Gibler’s powerful recounting of the forced disappearance of Andrés Tzompaxtle Tecpile for "[unearthing] the brutal machinery of state-sanctioned torture and terrorism in Mexico today. It is also a deeply lyrical story of survival against the odds, enabled by communities of resistance and solidarity. This book must provoke an outcry. We cannot know this story and see the world in the same way."

The New Yorker’s Francisco Goldman praises Gibler’s oral history about Ayotzinapa’s students as "a journalistic masterpiece, an instant classic, and the most powerful indictment available of the devastating state crime committed against the 43 disappeared Ayotzinapa students in Iguala. This meticulous, choral recreation of the events of that night is brilliantly vivid and alive, it will terrify and inspire you and shatter your heart.” Daniel Alarcon hails Gibler’s latest release, Torn from the World, as "harrowing and humane": "John Gibler's wonderful new book shines a light on the darkest corners of the Mexican justice system. We cannot turn away from what we see there. This is a brave, daring book, equal in every way to the extraordinary life it documents."

Gibler and his important work as an investigative journalist have been featured in California Sunday Magazine, NPR's "All Things Considered," and The New Yorker. He has reported for Left Turn, In These Times, Common Dreams, Yes! Magazine, Colorlines, Democracy Now!, Huffington Post, Sierra, Al Jazeera, Pacifica Radio's KPFA in Mexico, and many others.

RESOURCES

BOOKS

Torn from the World: A Guerrilla's Escape from a Secret Prison in Mexico (City Lights Press 2018). ISBN: 978-0872867529			Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt (City Lights Press 2015). ISBN: 978-0872864931
To Die in Mexico: Dispatches from Inside the Drug War (City Lights Press 2010). ISBN: 978-0872865174			Morir en méxico: terror de Estado y mercados de la muerte en la guerra contra el narco (La Oveja Roja 2017). ISBN: 978-8416227167
I Couldn't Even Imagine That They Would Kill Us: An Oral History of the Attacks Against the Students of Ayotzinapa (City Lights Press 2017). ISBN: 978-0872867482			Fue el estado: los ataques contra los estudiantes de Ayotzinapa. (Pepitas del Calabaz 2016). ISBN: 978-8415862666
20 poemas para ser leídos en una balacera (Sur+ 2012).			Tzompaxtle: La fuga de un guerrillero (Tusquets 2014). ISBN: 978-6074215335
Una historia oral de la infamia (Penguin RandomHouse and Sur+ 2016). ISBN: 978-6073141574			Mexico rebelde (Debolsillo Mexico 2013). ISBN: 978-6073113281

SELECTED WORKS BY JOHN GIBLER

"Counterinsurgency in Chiapas." In These Times (Chicago, IL) 23 January 2008. http://inthesetimes.com/article/3490/counterinsurgency_in_chiapas
"Death Squads in Oaxaca: The Mexican Government Ignores the Assassination of Two Community Radio Activists." In These Times (Chicago, IL) 10 June 2008. http://inthesetimes.com/article/3740/death_squads_in_oaxaca
"Honduras: The Deadliest Place on Earth to Defend the Planet." Sierra 2 February 2017. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/green-life/honduras-deadliest-place-earth-defend-planet
"The Disappeared." California Sunday Magazine 4 January 2015. https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-01-04/mexico-the-disappeared-en
"Indigenous Protest and State Violence in the Peruvian Amazon: How the Media Misrepresents." Huffington Post 13 July 2009. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-gibler/indigenous-protest-and-st_b_214901.html
"Justice Is (Partially) Served in Berta Cáceres Murder Trial." Sierra 6 December 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/justice-partially-served-berta-c-ceres-murder-trial
"Lost In the Valley of Excess California’s Wealthiest Growers, Poorest Workers, and the Water Between Them…" Earth Island Journal Winter 2011. http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/lost_in_the_valley_of_excess
"Mexico’s Ghost Towns The Other Side of the Immigration Debate." In These Times (Chicago, IL) 29 May 2008. http://inthesetimes.com/article/3693/
"Militarizing Mexico’s Drug War." In These Times (Chicago, IL) 19 June 2007. http://inthesetimes.com/article/3236/militarizing_mexicos_drug_war
"Murder of Mexican Environmental Activist Isidro Baldenegro Occurred Amid an Atmosphere of Impunity." Sierra 20 January 2017. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/green-life/murder-mexican-environmental-activist-isidro-baldenegro-occurred-amid-atmosphere
"No One Investigates Anything Here In Honduras: Social Activists Are Routinely Murdered." Sierra 15 June 2017. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2017-4-july-august/feature/no-one-investigates-anything-here
"Oaxaca in Crisis." In These Times (Chicago, IL) 1 November 2006. http://inthesetimes.com/article/2878/oaxaca_in_crisis
"Street Battles in Oaxaca." In These Times (Chicago, IL) 27 December 2006. http://inthesetimes.com/article/2970/street_battles_in_oaxaca
"Teacher Rebellion in Oaxaca." In These Times (Chicago, IL) 21 August 2008. http://inthesetimes.com/article/2795/
"Violence in Sinaloa Surges After El Chapo Is Extradited." Al Jazeera (Doha, Qatar) 15 March 2017. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/03/violence-sinaloa-surges-el-chapo-extradited-170315085021060.html

SELECTED WRITINGS ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bricker, Kristin. "Conquering Inevitability: A Review of John Gibler's Mexico Unconquered." Scoop Independent News (Wellington, New Zealand) 31 January 2009. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0902/S00050/a-review-of-john-giblers-mexico-unconquered.htm
Coreno, Annie. "It Was the State: 'PW' Talks with John Gibler." Publishers Weekly 27 October 2017. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/75210-it-was-the-state-pw-talks-with-john-gibler.html
Goodman, Amy. "Amy Goodman Interviews John Gibler on Mexican Power Hand Over." News. LibCom.org 4 December 2006. https://libcom.org/news/amy-goodman-interviews-john-gibler-on-mexican-power-hand-over-04122006
Lettieri, Michael. "The Ironies of Iguala: An Interview with John Gibler." Trans-Border Freedom of Expression Project (University of San Diego) 23 September 2016. http://sites.sandiego.edu/tbi-foe/2016/09/23/ironies-iguala-interview-john-gibler/
Lydersen, Kari. "In Mexico, Resistance is Futile: John Gibler Chronicles a Country Embattled, but Not Conquered." Review. In These Times (Chicago, IL) 12 February 2009. http://inthesetimes.com/article/4195/in_mexico_resistance_is_futile

SELECTED MEDIA

Fiorentini, Francesca. "Why Are Students Disappearing In Mexico?" Interview with John Gibler. [Spanish subtitles.] Al Jazeera. YouTube. Posted 24 October 2014. https://youtu.be/lkqHhHibYnM

Gibler, John."Inside Mexico's Drug War." 48South7th. YouTube. Part One. Posted 16 February 2012. Duration: 28:20. https://youtu.be/4l5D-cecE0g

Part Two. Posted 3 March 2012. Duration: 27:40. https://youtu.be/SeWia2te6vM

Gibler, John."Investigating Shadiness | Water & Power: A California Heist." National Geographic. YouTube. Posted 14 March 2017. Duration: 02:19. https://youtu.be/A4HekGORgZw

"John Gibler, To Die in Mexico." BookTV. YouTube. Posted 29 August 2011. Duration: 10:05. https://youtu.be/xI9MKe6hs7g