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Welcome to Minnesota: A Conversation about Immigration and Human Rights

May

26

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Justin Schell

About me

Justin Schell (612to651@gmail.com) is a freelance writer and grad student in Minneapolis, working on a book and documentary about immigrant, refugee, and diasporic hip-hop here in the Twin Cities. For more on the project, see WeRockLongDistance.com.

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Seeing Madison | February 26 protests

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

Editor's Note: Justin Schell was in Wisconsin on February 26, and shared these photos from the protest with TC Daily Planet. For mroe coverage of the ongoing protests in Wisconsin and solidarity actions in Minnesota, click here. Pam Colby contributed a video of a rousing rendition of "This Land Is Your Land," from the solidarity protest at the Minnesota State Capitol, and The Uptake has an hour of video from the Madison protest, where they estimated the crowd at 70-100,000.MORE »

MUSIC | Twin Cities Hip-Hop Awards celebrate the diversity of local hip-hop

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

What counts as the mainstream of hip-hop in the Twin Cities, the Rhymesayers-Doomtree-Heiruspecs segment of artists who get airtime on The Current and play stages like First Avenue, the Cedar, and even the Guthrie regularly, is precisely what doesn't count as mainstream hip-hop in all but a few other scenes in the country. Each of the past five years, the Twin Cities Hip-Hop Awards, for better and for worse, have revealed how much more hip-hop there is in the Twin Cities and tries to bring all the artists and fans together for at least one night.MORE »

MUSIC | "This is who I am": Heidi Barton Stink spits truth about being a trans-identifying MC

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

In December, Heidi Barton Stink released a free EP, The Familiar Pattern. Her work as a queer- and trans-identifying MC certainly breaks the pattern of hypermasculine—and often grossly homophobic—hip-hop. Featuring production and guest appearances by Soce the Elemental Wizard, Skullbuster, and others, The Familiar Pattern goes far beyond the catchphrases of most so-called "conscious rap," targeting audiences and injustices with lyrical dexterity and focused rage.MORE »

MUSIC | Heiruspecs, Lucy Michelle, Martin Devaney, Mayda, and others to return to Central High in benefit concert for new scholarship fund

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

The live hip-hop band Heiruspecs have never shied away from acknowledging their roots at St. Paul Central High School. Now they're officially paying tribute to their alma mater by founding a new scholarship to provide opportunities for future students involved in the arts to go to college.MORE »

MUSIC | M.anifest mixtape "The Birds and the Beats" illuminates the artist's past, present, and future

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

Equal parts witty, candid, ruminating, and ferocious, M.anifest's new mixtape, The Birds and the Beats—available for free download on the artist's Web site—is an unofficial but solid follow-up to his 2007 debut full-length, Manifestations.MORE »

Celebrating Hmong New Year in St. Paul

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

Hmong-Americans from Minnesota and around the country ushered in 2010 this weekend at the River Centre in downtown St. Paul. The annual event, now in its 34th year, is one of the most important events for Minnesota Hmong, along with the July 4 (J4) sports tournaments held at Como Park. Both events are organized by Lao Family Community of Minnesota.MORE »

MUSIC | Guante and Big Cats! roll out ambitious new concept album, "An Unwelcome Guest"

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

For you know, and I know, good horse ´mongst the rich ones
How oftimes we go there an unwelcome guest
-Woody Guthrie, “The Unwelcome Guest”

Earlier this year, Minneapolis MC and spoken word poet Guante told me that he was working on an album that was “about immigration.” This vague, yet full-of-potential germ has resulted in An Unwelcome Guest (TrúRúts), the debut album from Guante and producer Big Cats!. The album is a follow up to the group’s Start a Fire EP, also on TrúRúts, which was released in May of this year. The duo will celebrate its release Saturday, December 12th at Bedlam Theatre, with support from Kristoff Krane, No Bird Sing, and The Tribe.MORE »

VISUAL ARTS | "Talking Suitcases" at Hmong American Partnership

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

This video is a shorter version of one I made for visual artist Susan Armington's Talking Suitcases exhibit at the University of Minnesota's Nash Gallery. In September 2009, Hmong and Vietnamese elders gathered at Hmong American Partnership in St. Paul to share stories and memories. MORE »

MUSIC | Brother Ali, as always a soldier of love, brings "Us" to First Ave

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

The first MC heard on Brother Ali's third full-length, Us, is not the Rhymesayers heavyweight but rather one of his icons, Chuck D. Chuck intones an introduction for Ali, listing off divisions that plague humanity and offering Ali as "a soldier/ in the war for love," one who carries "a message of true hope/ and true peace" that might overcome these divisions. MORE »

Great Minnesota Get-Together goes global

By Justin Schell, TC Daily Planet

Three billboards located across the Metro invite members of two of the state's largest immigrant populations, Somalis and Latinos, to the “Great Minnesota Get-Together” in their own language.MORE »