You have to check this out... The A Song For Ourselves Mixtape is now out and ready for download. Produced and mixed by DJ Phatrick, the compilation includes exclusive tracks from Bambu, Kiwi and Geologic of Blue Scholars, as well as songs from the historic A Grain of Sand album by Chris Iijima, Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin. Download the mixtape for free here. I'm listening to it right now, and it's good stuff. Here's the tracklist:

1. Iijima, Miyamoto, Chin - "We Are The Children" (Intro)
2. Blue Scholars - "Cornerstone"
3. Native Guns - "Slave Thinking"
4. Native Guns feat. Geologic - "Agitation Propaganda"
5. Iijima, Miyamoto, Chin - "Jonathan Jackson"
6. Bambu - "When Will The Time Come?" prod. by Will Bracy
7. Kiwi - "Gaza 2 Oakland" prod. by DJ Phatrick
8. Blue Scholars - "Back Home"
9. Chris Iijima - "Vietnamese Lament"
10. Iijima, Miyamoto, Chin - "War Of The Flea" (Senz of Depth Remix feat. Bambu)
11. Bambu - "Chairman Mao" (Paper Planes edit)
12. Blue Scholars - "Fire For The People"
13. Kiwi - "Cause"
14. Native Guns feat. Geologic - "Said It" (Asi Remix)
15. Iijima, Miyamoto, Chin - Divide & Conquer (Fatgums Remix feat. Geologic, Kiwi, & Bambu)
16. Chris Iijima Soliloquy
17. Kiwi - "Imagine"
18. Bambu - "Seven Months"
19. Blue Scholars - "Life and Debt"

A Song For Ourselves, directed by award-winning filmmaker Tad Nakamura, is a short documentary on the life and work of musician/activist Chris Iijima, an important and influential figure in the Asian American movement of the 1970s. Watch the trailer for film here.

The film will make its world premiere this month, February 28, with a special screening event at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles, featuring musical guests Blue Scholars, Bambu, Kiwi and special guest artists Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin. Make plans to be there, because I it's going to be a really cool event. For more information about the event, go here.

I have seen the film, and it's a wonderful, moving portrait of an artist and champion of social justice -- an inspiring and powerful reminder that the current generation of young activists stands on the shoulders of a movement that started long before any of us picked up an Asian American studies course syllabus. To learn more about A Song For Ourselves, go here.