Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

April 20, 2013

Sugarman on Yaqui land: Carrying the soul of a generation


Sugarman, carrying the soul and heartbreaks of a generation

Sugarman on Yaqui land tonight
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Friday, April 19, 2013

PASCUA YAQUI -- Beneath the Yaqui skies, Sugarman brought his special measure of medicine, carrying the soul and heartbreaks of a generation. Sugarman sang with the tenderness and love that is within the movie of his life, Searching for Sugar Man, that captured the Oscar this year for best documentary.

Wherever Sugarman goes, as he performs around the world, he will surely know that Tucson loves him. After he sang, 'Thank you for your time,' the crowd, as they say, begged for more. In his encore three songs, Sugarman, Sixto Rodriquez, sang with that same passion that carried him through decades of doing hard labor when he thought that no one knew his name.

But they did know his name. They knew his name and his songs in South Africa, and his sound was the sound of freedom, freedom from Apartheid.
Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater

Sugarman, beneath the strong lights of the Anselmo Valencio Amphitheater on Yaqui land tonight, likely
couldn't see who was in the audience. He couldn't see that Ofelia Rivas, founder of the O'odham Solidarity Project, was there. He couldn't see that Isabel Garcia, longtime migrant rights fighter of Derechos Humanos was there. He couldn't see that Congressman Grijalva was there, and among those in the standing ovation at the end. He couldn't see that the amphitheater was staffed entirely by Yaqui workers.

But he could feel the love.

"I love you Tucson," Sugarman said. "And that affair doesn't come easy for me."

Sugarman's time has come, and with it, his songs have brought a sweet healing remedy. His life story is one of hope, and hope is always good medicine.
----

Special thanks to Josie for the gift of a ticket! -- Brenda
Thanks to Crossroads Theater in Tucson for keeping Searching for Sugar Man on the big screen for months. 

Also see: 
Dangerous Music: Sugar Man, Beatles and Buffy Sainte Marie: How music cracked open the world, by Censored News
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/12/dangerous-music-sugar-man-beatles-and.html

Tour dates:  http://sugarman.org/


Friday, April 19
 Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater - Ava, Tucson, AZ, US
Sunday, April 21
 Coachella 2013. Empire Polo Field, Indio, CA
Tuesday, April 23
 The Warfield San Francisco, CA, US
Thursday, April 25
 Neptune Theatre, Seattle, WA, US
Saturday, April 27
 Roseland Theater, Portland, OR, US
Monday, April 29
 The Complex Salt Lake City, UT, US
Tuesday, April 30
 1stBANK Center Broomfield, CO, US
Friday, May 3
 Annette Strauss Square, Dallas, TX, US
Saturday, May 4
 Frank Erwin Center, University of Texas Austin, TX, US
Tuesday, May 7
 Tipitina's Uptown New Orleans, LA, US
Thursday, May 9
 Ferguson Hall, Straz Center for the Performing Arts Tampa, FL, US

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