Welcome to Cafe Cultura's April 2015 newsletter! 

We are excited to keep in touch with you as we work to fulfill our mission.

 

#CafeCultura #XpressYourself #TellingOurStories

Caf? Cultura is an award-winning arts, culture, and youth development organization that promotes unity and healing among Indigenous peoples through creative expression while empowering youth to find their voice, reclaim oral and written traditions, and become leaders in their communities. 

We hope this message finds you and your family in good health and spirits.  This newsletter helps us keep you informed of our growth as an organization. You can find more updates on our Facebook (facebook.com/cafecultura), Issuu (issuu.com/cafecultura/docs), Instagram (instagram.com/cafeculturadenver), Flickr (flickr.com/photos/cafecultura/sets), and Youtube (youtube.com/user/cafeculturavideos) accounts.

Cafe Cultura's Open Mic
w/ spoken word, music, art, & community!



 
Spread the word...Bring your family & friends!!!!!  

   

VOLUNTEERS PLEASE ARRIVE AT 6pm :-)  

 

Note: Make sure to come early to sign up and get a good seat.

 
WHAT: All ages open mic (alcohol/drug free event)
 
WHEN: 2nd Fri. of every month....April 10th & May 8th; June 12th  (Art in the Park @ La Alma/Lincoln Park Amphitheater)

--->Doors open w/ Vendors, Food, & Live Art @ 7pm

--->Show starts @ 7:45pm


WHERE: Denver Inner City Parish/La Academia (9th Ave & Galapago St)

$3 (nobody turned away)

Everyone is welcome!

Featured performers:
 
---->Sol Kidz mixes rock, reggae, and latin to create positive, feel good music. From covers to originals, vocals and guitar work rule the band. The two-piece writing duo of James Hurtado and Felicia Pettis make up the core of the band and are happy to be returning to Cafe Cultura.

Valerie by Sol Kidz
Valerie by Sol Kidz

----> Summer Dreams   is a 17 year old student who has found a love for the power of music and poetry. Growing up a very shy kid, she has found a voice to express herself through her writings and is determined to expand her knowledge and experiences to make her passion become a true reality. She is a dreamer, a poet, and a rapper.

Community Feature:
  ----> Rights for All People (RAP)   is an individual membership, immigrant-rights organization that works to bring the voices of immigrants and allies to the struggle for equality, mutual respect and social justice through community organizing, leadership development and civic engagement.

---->Art by Carlos Lucero, who is the Denver artist who created "The Traveling Chicano History exhibit." He has been drawing and painting for over 30 years. Carlos paints life in its raw, natural state. At the age of 4, Carlos started at the Crusade's Circulo Infantil (nursery), and went on to Escuela Tlatelolco, where he performed as a Conchero Dancer, and spent his summers in the Chicano Cadet program. He has been drawing and painting for over 25 years. He was a small business owner for over 11 years. Carlos is an accomplished artist painting portraits by commission. Painting portraits of Chicano heroes is Carlos' way of keeping a record of the sacrifices made by Chicanos in the past.

www.traveling-chicano.com

 


For more info: info@cafecultura.org; 720-394-6589; www.cafecultura.org

#CafeCultura #XpressYourself #TellingOurStories

During the Grant Beacon Middle School showcase & book release on March 23rd, participants in Cafe Cultura's "Telling Our Stories" workshop series performed their poems in front of their family, friends, & staff during their book release. 

 

Click here or on the book cover below to read some of their work. You will be impressed by what they have to say!

 

Here are a few excerpts:

 

"My mom puts her sweat and blood

into making me into a graduate

with a good stable career,

the first in my family line.

I am the diploma showing

and reminding the world that I am success,

The first in my family." 

 

" But like every cage,

there is a way to escape.

Find the key

and break free.

Live your life outside of the problems,

keep moving forward

and never look back.

When you break free,

there is no going back." 

      
" We are strong,

valientes.

We work for everything.

You think we come to this state to sell drugs,

but we come here to work hard

and make a better life.

This is not a lie.

This is the truth.
"

 

 
We continue working with our partners to allow youth participants opportunities to express themselves and tell their stories through the publishing of books and coordinating showcases. They currently include   Heart & Hand, Contemporary Learning Academy, and STRIVE Prep SMART We will start with our partnerships with  Escuela Tlatelolco  within the next week.

We are excited to make our recent youth-written books available online. To access each collection of powerful spoken word poetry from participants in our workshop series, simply click on the book cover.
 
   
 
 
 
Make sure to read future newsletters for more updates.
Cirque du Soleil 
Benefit Performance for Cafe Cultura


We are honored to work with Cirque du Soleil in hosting a benefit performance to support our Telling Our Stories workshop series. Tickets are now for sale for 2 Thursday 7:30pm shows: June 25 and July 23.

 

For information about the show and to purchase tickets, simply visit



In this newsletter....
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Contact Information

Cafe Cultura
P.O. Box 11791
Denver, CO 80211

Office: 1029 Santa Fe Dr Unit #6
Hours: Mon-Thurs from 9am to 2:00pm
Fri from 9am to 5pm

info@cafecultura.org
720-394-6589
 cafecultura.org 

facebook.com/cafecultura    

Make a one-time or monthly donation to Cafe Cultura!

You have the opportunity to invest in Cafe Cultura's work in the community. Click on the following image to make a tax-deductible donation.

Xpress Yourself

Basic Spoken Word Workshops for Youth (#XpressYourself)



We have worked with numerous schools and organizations throughout Colorado to give underserved youth an opportunity to express themselves

If you are interested in having Cafe Cultura present at your school or organization, feel free to contact us. Our basic version is a one time, 1 to 2 hour  session . We have used this  highly engaging and  culturally relevant  workshop structure for over eight years to encourage Chicana/o and Native youth to use spoken word to give voice to our stories of love, struggle, injustice, and celebration. They serve to supplement and support Language Arts/English curriculum Workshop structure was designed by a spoken word artist with 4 years experience teaching at the middle and high school level with contributions from other poets and youth advocates.Click here for a detailed information sheet.

Cafe Cultura's Xpress Yourself: Hip Hop, Poetry, & Spoken Word workshops
Cafe Cultura's Xpress Yourself: Hip Hop, Poetry, & Spoken Word workshops


Whether you are a beginner or an experienced poet, join us as we workshop poems you are currently drafting or will write during our time together.

WHEN:  Last Saturday of the month (April 25th, May 30th, June 12th)
 
TIME:  11:00 to 12:30pm

WHERE:  Cafe Cultura Office (1029 Santa Fe Dr)

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 
 
Questions: 720-394-6589; info@cafecultura.org

Exciting Updates

Thank you to everyone who made Rise Up (6th Annual) a success! Make sure to visit www.cafecultura.org/riseup for resources. Special thank you to: our featured performers (Denice Frohman  & Desirae Harp
) for sharing your powerful words and energy; Sing Our Rivers Red  for allowing us to display your very important earring exhibit (to raise awareness about the missing & murdered Indigenous women in Canada & U.S.); Kristina Bad Hand for creating pieces of art on children's faces; Viki Eagle for taking photos of those who posed to remember the experience; Kim Trujillo & Mile High UNITY for doing an awesome job providing food for everyone; our hosts Miriam Madrid & Nizoni Mitchell for offering your energy to keep us on track; all collaborating organizations for helping with testing & logistics (Servicios de La Raza, Denver Indian Family Resource Center, YHACnow, Sisters of Color United for Education, National Native American AIDS Prevention Center, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, Councilman Paul D. L?pez, City & County of Denver District 3, Branching Seedz of Resistance (BSEEDZ), Listos Colorado, Denver Indian Center); all volunteers who helped with set-up, audio, video, clean-up, and other responsibilities. We couldn't have pulled it off without all of you! We're already getting ready for next year's Rise Up...so save the date: March 11th, 2016







- Fundraising @ Colfax Marathon So far, we have 6 people committed to running on a relay team on behalf of Cafe Cultura (K?s? GarciaGerardo Munoz, Leroy Saiz, Boni Sanchez, Olivia Martinez, & Ara Cruz). If you would like to join us in promoting healthy living while fundraising for our organization, let us know. You can run with us in relay teams 
(4-6 miles each) or donate @ fundly.com/cafecultura2015colfax
Support youth in finding their voice through our spoken word workshops!


- Cafe Cultura will be collaborating on an HIV/AIDS prevention research project with Assistant Professor, Ramona Beltran and the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work . Funded by the Public Good Fund through University of Denver's Center for Community Engaged Scholarship and Service Learning , the project will work with several other Denver-based organizations to develop a culture-centered HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum for Indigenous youth and to support increasing education and participation in our annual Rise Up! community event to be held in March, 2015.  Recruitment efforts are slated to begin soon, so stay tuned if you want to be involved.

-We continue to receive support from important members of the foundation community. Thank you to our recent funders: Bowen Family Performing Arts Fund (The Denver Foundation), Biennial of the Americas, National Association for Latino Arts and Culture Fund for the Arts, Seventh Generation Fund, Peyback Foundation, Hispanics In Philanthropy, Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, WESTAF, and The Chinook Fund.

-We were honored to have been selected for the  2013 Mayor's Award for Excellence in Arts & Culture (Youth Arts) . Here is the video they produced for us: 

2013 Denver Mayor's Awards for Excellence in Arts and Culture - Youth Arts Award: Caf?? Cultura
2013 Denver Mayor's Awards for Excellence in Arts and Culture - Youth Arts Award: Cafe Cultura
 
- Performances/shows from Cafe Cultura poets:   If you want us to host an open mic featuring our spoken word artists, contact us ASAP. Funds will go to sustaining our organization and the work we do in the community (especially our workshops for youth).
 
-Feel free to visit  our website
often for updates (click on the image).