Venus Sings in Austin, TX and Reza Rites at SXSW

Austin, TX - Are you following me on Twitter? Well you might want to because this #AmbitiousBlackFeminist is down at one of the biggest music festivals in the country this week!! To keep up with my updates, follow me on Twitter and Facebook, @rezaclif.

So what am I doing here? I'm documenting the festival participation of the hip hop duo, Riders Against the Storm, and blogging about the festivities for several different blogs (RIFuture.org and Amped Sounds to name a few).

But not only am I in Austin blogging and capturing the “cool,” I’m also down here talking about politics and election year 2012. That is because this trip represents the final phase of filming for a a multimedia project I began in October called “Rhode 2 Africa: Elect the Arts 2012″ (R2A 2012).

Below is an excerpt about the film/series; for additional information, visit www.Rhode2Africa.wordpress.com or click here to access the information page. To make a donation toward the project to help me with producer and artist travel costs, equipment purchases, or staff supports, click here.

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ABOUT RHODE 2 AFRICA: ELECT THE ARTS 2012

There is room at every election to hear and examine new voices and ideas. This year is no different. As a matter of fact, as protesters part of Occupy Wall Street, and break-off movements like Women Occupy and Occupy The Hood have demonstrated, citizens across this country have grown tired of never hearing from the variety of voices making up the “99%.” Still, if you pay attention to major news outlets, you would think that the only people who care about the November elections are the all-white Republican candidates and their party followers.

One place in which you can hear alternative voices and views on politics is within the music community. Besides being heads of households, tax-payers, insurance-holders, and voters, there are many performers who play at political events, directly and indirectly endorsing candidates; hip hop artists who “rap” about reform and rebellion; and emerging and established artists who’ve performed at The Whitehouse.

Rhode 2 Africa: Elect the Arts 2012 is about sharing the voices of Black musicians engaged in this type of work. Standing in contrast to the limited news coverage we see daily, R2A will provide election 2012 coverage and awareness through conversations on race, politics and music.  Our goal is to make sure that diverse constituencies are motivated to vote in November and engaged in political conversations at the local, national, and global level.

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CONTACT INFO

Reza Corinne Clifton:
“Reza Rites / Venus Sings / DJ Reza Wreckage”
rezaclif@gmail.com / 401-217-9680 / singsvenus@gmail.com

www.Rhode2Africa.wordpress.com / www.VenusSings.com /
www.RIFuture.org / www.IsisStorm.com /

Facebook & Twitter @rezaclif