On Tuesday May 26th, the California Supreme Court will announce its decision on the constitutionality of anti-gay Proposition 8, which denies marriage rights to same-sex couples in the state of California. With public opinion swinging solidly in favor of marriage equality and ending discrimination against LGBT couples, and a string of LGBT rights victories in other states (Iowa and New Hampshire in particular), there's reason for optimism that the CA supreme court will do the right thing, overturn Prop 8, and uphold civil rights for all couples in our state. In that case, there's going to be a big celebration in the streets of SF to commemorate another historic victory.

However, no one can be sure which way the courts will rule, and it's definitely possible that they're going to uphold this bigoted law. In that case, there's going to be a large protest to demand our civil rights, and express our public outcry that people in this state are losing their rights. In addition to the evening rally and march, there will be a protest with non-violent civil disobedience Tuesday morning at 10:00am. For more information about that, check out http://onestruggleonefight.com.

Jorge Alabe's Grupo Samba Rio will be performing at Il Pirata in San Francisco on the Friday night before SF Carnaval. We've been invited as special guest performers that night. Should be a fun night with a good crowd, and a nice way to bring some maracatu goodness to the weekend of SF Carnaval. Hope to see you there!

May 1st is International Workers Day, the original "Labor day", which started in Chicago during the struggle for the 8 hour day. Today, it's celebrated around the world in just about every country except the one where it started -- here in the U.S. In the past few years, that's changed, especially in 2006 with the "mega marches" for immigrants' rights and the "Day Without and Immigrant" protests.

This year, there are going to be two main May Day events in the Bay Area -- one in the SF Mission, and one starting in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, followed by a march to City Hall. Seeing as how we're based in Oakland, I thought it'd be nice for us to participate in the Oakland event. It's a Friday, but the march itself is starting at 4:30pm, so I'm hoping folks can make it. For more info, you can check out the flyer for the Oakland event.

From the ANSWER coalition mailing list:

The ANSWER Coalition, Muslim American Society Freedom, Free Palestine Alliance, National Council of Arab Americans, and Al-Awda - International Palestine Right to Return Coalition are calling on people across the country and around the world to take to the streets to show solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza and to demand an immediate end to the murderous attacks carried out by the U.S.-backed Israeli military against the people of Gaza.

I'm guessing this will be very similar in terms of logistics for most ANSWER-organized demonstrations: a rally with speakers at the Civic Center, followed by a march to somewhere else in town (e.g. Dolores Park). I would certainly be in favor of Lucha participating in the march, and I'm sure we'd be very much appreciated. Who's up for it?

National March For Marriage Rights!!

Join the Impact is organizing a nation wide protest to take place in front of city halls all across America against proposition 8 and other anti-gay measures that were passed on Tuesday. The protest will take place on November 15 at 10:30 a.m. on the front steps of City Hall in San Francisco.

We had at least 20,000 people at Friday's protest, let's work on making this one just as big! Please send invites to as many people as possible. Even if they don't live in San Francisco they can attend the event in their city. (If you would like to volunteer please visit our main site to see how you can help out.)

Saturday -- November 15th
10:30am PST (1:30pm EST)
In San Francisco: Protest at City Hall (Civic Center)
Nation-wide: http://jointheimpact.com/protest-locations

Every year in SF, there's a march through the Mission to celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Last year, those of us who played maracatu decided it was the best parade of the year -- incredible energy and atmosphere. Instead of the police barricades of SF carnival, there was nothing to distinguish the "performers" and the "audience". It really reminded me of carnival in Pernambuco, where the groups just parade informally through the streets and the crowds merge with the bands. However, instead of the drunken revelry of carnival, there was deep respect and an atmosphere of mutual support.

The parade starts at 7:00pm at Bryant and 24th St., marches up 24th St. to Mission St. (stopping at the Mission Cultural Center) and then back down 25th St. to Garfield Square where people setup alters, art installations, and lots of the musicians keep playing. We should plan to meet at 6:00pm to get ourselves organized, and I'll post an exact location for us to gather as the event gets closer.

Jorge Martins is a master drummer from Recife, Brazil. He's a specialist in maracatu, a processional style of music and dance from the state of Pernambuco in the northeast of Brazil that's got deep roots and infectious, joyous rhythms. Jorge has played for many years with Maracatu Nacão Estrela Brilhante do Recife, one of the oldest and most respected maracatu groups in all of Pernambuco. He is also the founder and director of Corpos Percussivos, a group that works to empower underprivileged Brazilian youth through maracatu. Jorge is one of those rare treasures who is both a great performer and teacher.

We are very excited to be hosting Jorge in the Bay Area for this special workshop. Don't miss this incredible opportunity to learn maracatu from one of the best.

No experience is necessary, and instruments will be provided.

$25 at the door, $20 if you register in advance.

After our very successful collaboration at LoCura's CD release party at the Great America Music Hall, Maracatu Luta is teaming up again with LoCura for a performance at The Starry Plough in Berkeley. Also joining the bill will be Sol Jibe. The listing at the Plough's calendar reads:

World Flamenco Funky Badassness with Locura!, Sol Jibe and Maracatu Luta.

This will be a continuous night of music with Maracatu Luta Marching in to rally the crowd during set breaks.

Bring your dancing shoes!

Couldn't have said it better myself. :) Come on down and join us for a night of heavy grooves and dancing. Please spread the word!

We are very honored to have brought maracatu to the Great American Music Hall (for perhaps the first time ever). In addition, this event was be the launch of Maracatu Luta, a new performing group comprised of the more experienced and long-term members of Bateria Lucha which will be specifically focused on maracatu and related rhythms and styles.

We're thrilled to have performed between sets at the CD release party for Lo Cura, a wonderful Bay Area band that's blending flamenco and reggae. We played for a sold-out house, at the peak of the evening between Lo Cura's fantastic set and the performance by Aphrodesia.

The dance floor was packed (we could barely fit onto the floor when we marched out), and the response was fantastic. I made an audio recording of our set. The sound quality isn't ideal since I just placed the recorder off to the side of the stage and didn't have any way to check on it during the set. It definitely sounds a little weird during the first number as we're marching past the thing out onto the front of the dance floor, but it should give you some idea what we sounded like. We played 5 pieces: