Christian Aldana presents:
The Water We Swim In
Join us for an evening of music, poetry, movement, and comedy to celebrate the release of Christian Aldana's debut poetry collection! This is a benefit show for the Rizal Center, a multicultural, multigenerational community and cultural center for Filipino Americans in Chicago. The center has not been accessible to the community for the past few years, and is in need of serious renovation and repair so that it can be a much needed space and resource for the Filipinx/a/o community in the greater Chicago area.
ABOUT THE BOOK AND AUTHOR
Christian Aldana's debut poetry collection, The Water We Swim In, is an ode to radical care. Through community organizing and deeply held love, Aldana follows in the footsteps of Grace Lee Boggs against a carceral state, questioning the broken system and reaching across diasporic distances for the future within our grasp. Empowering, mobilizing, and unrelenting, The Water We Swim In is a poetic revolution, a manifesto for all who believe in fighting for more.
Christian's poetry is a safe space for wicked and sinister femmes who hate imperialism. They are a queer, Filipinx, artist, educator and community organizer based in Chicago. Though she has a soft spot for the Midwest, part of her will always be in South East Asia (Cebu and Saigon) where she grew up. She is the founder and Creative Director of Luya, a poetry organization that centers the stories and experiences of people of color. Alongside their comrades at The Digital Sala, Christian is dreaming up alternative visions of what radically flexible, community-centered, revolutionary writing spaces can be.
FEATURED PERFORMERS
The show will be headlined by The Bawang Baddies, a spoken word and music collective with support from singer/songwriter KT, comedian Nash Alam, and rapper/poet/producer Rich Robbins!
The Bawang Baddies are a group of anti-imperialist, Filipinx, multidisciplinary artists who have an unapologetic love for garlic (bawang) fried rice.
Andre Adricula (they/them) is a Vocal Baddie who speaks in tongues and could teach you a thing or two.
Josh Aguilar (he/him) is a String Strumming Baddie, anti-impe activist, HBH INA Union member, futbol casual, and one pot cook.
Chris Aldana (they/she) is a Poet Baddie who likes to dabble in other genres, and would live on Filipino silog if they could.
Lorenze Cordova (he/him) is a Drums/Bass Baddie and when he’s not practicing with Yada Yada and his other bands, he’s growing beautiful things on urban farms.
Gilary Valenzuela (she/they) is a Vocal/Keyboard Baddie who is a queer tita to many niblings and craves soup even on the hottest summer day.
Hailing from all over the United States (Illinois, California, Florida) and beyond (Vietnam), the Baddies know that art, music, and storytelling have no borders, and our fight for liberation shouldn’t have borders either.
KT’s love for music comes from their 17 years of experience as a multi-disciplinary performance artist. What she loves most about music is that it’s expressive, collaborative and can create a sense of community. From singing to burlesque to writing for and with different Chicago based artists, KT’s intentions in making music are to make genuine connections with people and create beautiful things! KT is honored to be able to share her art with you at this show. KT released her first solo single “Molasses”, found on iTunes and Spotify AND has more music on the way this summer.
Nash is a Bangladeshi-American Muslim comedian, artist and political activist based in Chicago. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago trying not to be a complete disappointment to her family. Her comedy spans from identity to culture to random shit she can't really explain in a bio tbh.
Rich Robbins is a rapper, songwriter, producer and educator. But more than anything, the Oak Park-born, Chicago-based artist is a world-builder. Rich’s early years as a college student in Madison, Wisconsin’s First Wave hip-hop scholarship program jumpstarted his artistry. He recorded wide-reaching tracks like “Dreams” feat. Mick Jenkins, along with records with Saba, Mother Nature, and more. He has performed at historic venues like the Apollo Theater in NY, and has done everything from music festivals, to working at Hot 97 as an intern, to teaching classrooms of high school students how to read, write, and perform poetry. His work is an inward look at society’s ills and creates spaces for listeners to explore. In short, Rich’s work critiques the old while envisioning and manifesting the new. His latest album “On the Horizon” is available on all streaming platforms.
HOST:
Stuti Sharma (she/they) is a poet, comedian, photographer, educator, and filmmaker who is of Indian heritage, born in Nairobi, and raised in Chicago. She has work in Autostraddle, Chicago Reader, Belt Magazine, Hooligan Magazine, Mason Jar Press, 68to05.com, and she was a member of the Tin House 2020 Summer Workshop. She was a collective member with Chicago Desi Youth Rising, and movement work grounds her work as an artist. They ran an after school program in Chicago's Devon neighborhood through the Indo American Center, where she ran a comedy fundraiser to get the kids an ice cream truck for free. You can contact and find more information on her shows and writing here.