The organizers of this event offer some of the best in Oakland underground entertainment. The private property were the outdoor performances are held is centrally located off Hwy 580 and Park Avenue within walking distance to Lake Merritt and accessible by public transportation.
Raks Africa is worth the price of admission alone—these women can move!
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Announcement
Hello everyone!
We want to remind you about our upcoming concert on Sunday, June 15th in Oakland. It’s almost here! so make your reservations while there is still space. Besides all the wonderful performers, there will be there will be delicious chamorro food as well as ice tea being sold as part of the fundraising by Erica. So come hungry and thirsty and ready to enjoy some good food and beverages. Here is our line-up for the June 15th exciting event:
Raks Africa is an Oakland based belly dancing duo featuring Etang and Tammy. Being big-bellied girls doing big things, the pair challenge what belly dancers are supposed to look like. Dancing with ample heart and soul, this duet have been shaking and shimmying at many Bay Area venues. They are proud to be a part of a long tradition of embracing feminity, culture and power through Raks Sharki . . . better known as belly dance.
*Carrie Gerendasy **Carrie is an outstanding, high energy folk singer with a superb voice, and a lightning-fast flat picking hand. Powerful and passionate, her songs inspire and her charismatic presence electrifies the room.*
Liquid Girlfriend featuring Linda Atkinson on keyboards, Cate Larsen on guitar, and blakwomyn on bass are a new musical group with a liquid passion for rock, pop, funk, and indies music. In the past, they’ve performed separately around the Bay Area, always on the lookout to groove with their musical soul mates. At long last, their wait is over. Together, they are “Liquid Girlfriend.” Let their original tunes flow into your head space.
Erica Nalani Benton is a proud daughter of oceania, rasied in the bay area. As a singer, songwriter, student, activist, queer, chamorro, hawaiian, mixed-european – she is a bridge between many worlds and her music represents the same. A blend of soul, blues, island, acoustic funk, futuristic 2 step – check herout! Erica’s using her donations from the concert as a fundraiser for her trip to Guahan (Guam) this summer to participate in the movement for Chamorro Self-Determination and Cultural Revitalization. Her trip is a part of a local bay area program called World Bridges, whose mission is to “foster international cooperation between young people of color from low-income backgrounds, and provides them with opportunities to gain global perspectives on the social justice issues that impact their lives.” Check them out at www.world-bridges.org She will gladly accept other donations specifically for this project.
As always, we appreciate people making reservations. (We send an email with
all the particulars the week of the concert.) You can make reservations by emailing us at backporchconcerts@gmail.com or calling at 510 533-4732. We ask $8-20 donation at the door, approximately 90% + of the $ goes to the performers. For those of you who have been here before; we have changed our yard dramatically (there is a lot more sun now) and there is room for more of you then ever. Bring chairs, the shows start at 2PM, the “doors” open at 1:30. Looking forward to seeing you all.
The only disappointment I experienced at the conference was having to endure the Christian centric prayers and shouts outs to Jesus during the banquet dinner and gospel brunch. Displays of religiosity in this type of gathering typically strikes me as being presumptuous of African diaspora spiritual practice and potentially culturally insensitive towards non-Christians. A similar incident occurred at DC Black Pride at the Sunday worship service. And, I recall feeling just as disquieted and cowardly.
