ADMISSION: 
Admission is free. Reservations required. Campus access is limited to registered guests and USC students, staff, and faculty with current USC ID.

RSVP beginning Monday, January 6, at 10 a.m. 

DESCRIPTION: 
Curated by James Spooner (The High Desert, Black Punk Now, Afro-Punk) in partnership with USC Visions and Voices, Punk for the People will highlight the role of the BIPOC community in punk rock, exploring the do-it-yourself ethos of punk as a creator of culture, empowerment, and connection. This multifaceted day of programming will include a live concert with Soul Glo and Sweeping Promises, a conversation with L.A. punk legends, and a workshop with DIY festival promoters from across the country.  

Schedule: 

3:30 to 5:30 p.m.: Do Your Own Fest! Panel and Workshop 
Rosen Family Screening Room, Tutor Campus Center 227 
Promoters for some of the best BIPOC and DIY punk and hardcore festivals in the country will share the fundamentals of putting on shows and starting your own festival. Learn how to fundraise, book bands, and build community! Speakers include Daisy Salinas (Muchacha Fanzine), Flora Lucini (Maafa, The 1865), Jazzmin Readeaux (Black and Brown Fest Houston), Scout Cartagena (Break Free Fest), Shawna Shawnté (The MultivrsIs Illuminated: Bay Area Black and Brown Punk Fest/The143rd Dimension), and Von Phoenix (Punk Black). 

6 to 7 p.m.: L.A. Punk Legends Alice Bag & Teresa Covarrubias in Conversation 
Tommy’s Place, Tutor Campus Center Basement 
A conversation with original Los Angeles punk legends and lifers Alice Bag (of The Bags and author of Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage) and Teresa Covarrubias (of The Brat and contributor to Under The Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk) will be moderated by James Spooner. 

8 p.m.: Soul Glo and Sweeping Promises in Concert 
Tommy’s Place, Tutor Campus Center Basement 
Philadelphia-based hardcore punk band Soul Glo (Epitaph Records) and post punks from Cambridge, Austin, and now Lawrence, KS, Sweeping Promises (Feel It Records, Sub Pop Records) will perform live in concert with DJ sets by “Atomic” Nancy Sekizawa, who will spin records from the legendary jukebox of the Atomic Café, a first-wave L.A. punk hangout that was located in Little Tokyo, and Martin Wong (Save Music in Chinatown, Giant Robot, Razorcake).

Bios: 

Alice Bag was the co-founder and lead singer of The Bags, one of the first bands to form during the initial wave of L.A. punk from 1977 to 1980, and the Alice Bag Band was featured in the seminal documentary on punk rock, The Decline of Western Civilization. Alice has released three solo albums, most recently Sister Dynamite in 2020, and is the author of two autobiographies, Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, a Chicana Punk Story and Pipe Bomb for the Soul. 

 Scout Cartagena is a multi-disciplinary artist and host of Break Free Fest, a POC-focused punk and hardcore fest in Philadelphia, PA, that is approaching its seventh year in 2025. Cartagena received their BFA in Glass and Art education from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, PA, and is currently finishing an MFA in Sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Using glass, printmaking, installation, and video work, they convey themes of memory, heirlooms, and the rebellious act of living authentically and reclaiming their identity as a chronically ill/disabled Afro-Latine. 

From 1978 to 1985, Teresa Covarrubias was the lead singer for The Brat, a Chicano punk rock ensemble from the barrios of East Los Angeles that played the Vex and released one venerated EP, Attitudes, before breaking up despite being championed by bands including Los Plugz, X, and R.E.M. Covarrubias has also provided the “Starry Nights in East L.A.” chapter to Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk by X’s John Doe. 

Flora Lucini is an Afro-Brazilian jazz bassist, composer, educator, and curator with over 20 years of experience in the music industry and hardcore punk scene. Flora has been instrumental in building inclusive music communities around venues and festivals across multiple states. Recently, she co-organized the second annual Secret History of Black Punk Fest in Brooklyn and launched the Black Punk Now Fest. Flora is also the founder, composer, and vocalist of MAAFA, a Afro-progressive hardcore band that blends traditional hardcore with rhythms and percussion from the African diaspora, and bassist for Mass Appeal Records’ blues-punk outfit, The 1865.

Von Phoenix is the architect of Punk Black, a record label and media network that focuses on the movement of increasing representation for People of Color in the Rock, Art, Cosplay and Nerdlore communities; guitarist for Howling Star and Being Hvman; and co-producer of Infinity Hour, New Orleans’ only Black utopian burlesque variety show. 

Jazzmin Readeaux is the founder of the Black and Brown Houston festival. After moving to Chicago at the age of 18, Jazzmin was inspired by the original Black and Brown fest to dedicate his musical journey to helping the community of color, as well as advocate for queer folk and youth. Readeaux’s bands Lagrimas and Arabella allow him to connect with people on an emotional level while the fest allows him to connect on a personal level. He also helps other survivors of domestic abuse and single parents feel welcome by speaking up about those issues and creating kid-friendly spaces.  

Daisy Salinas is a Xicana feminist zinester, punk, activist, and rabble rouser living in Yanaguanaaka, San Antonio, Texas. With the mission to uplift the voices and talents of artists of color, Daisy is the founder of the decolonial Xicana feminist zine Muchacha Fanzine and the feminist punk collective Xingonasin the Pit. She is also a member of the anti-system Tejana punk band Frijolera Riot. Through her art and the work of fellow people of color, Daisy aims to advance struggles for liberation on a global level.  

“Atomic” Nancy Sekizawa was the owner of the Atomic Cafe, a popular gathering place during the first wave of L.A. punk with a legendary jukebox filled with 7” singles given to her by local and visiting punk and new wave bands. She has kept the 45s and plays them during DJ sets on special occasions. Nancy is also a First AME choir member, performer in Great Leap, early member of the seminal Asian American jazz band Hiroshima, Certified Addiction Specialist, and community activist. 

Shawna Shawnté is a queer DJ, musician, and multimedia artist based in Tucson, AZ, whose mission is to curate spaces where music, subversive self-expression, and revolutionary joy intersect and celebrate the radical power of creativity. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Shawnté’s experience as co-executive director of Bay Area Girls Rock Camp and being in bands, including the current project Formula 88, led them to co-found The Multivrs Is Illuminated: Bay Area Black and Brown Punk Fest. Since 2019, Shawnté has been the sole organizer of the fest, now rebranded as the 143rd Dimension. They founded Tucson Rock Camp in 2023 to share the life-changing power of punk rock with youth from 8 to 18.

Soul Glo’s songs confront the personal and the political with equal fury as vocalist Pierce Jordan howls about the inequities of the culture around him while offering a look at the conflict inside his head and heart. Fusing hip hop, hardcore, and punk, the Philly outfit are fearless in their approach and even more ruthless in their delivery, injecting their colorful narratives into predominantly white spaces. The overwhelming response to Diaspora Problems helped propel the band from respected underground status to landing top spots on the Best Albums of 2022 lists via Pitchfork, New York Times, NPR, Stereogum, and more, with Rolling Stone crowning it #1 out of the year’s metal releases.  

James Spooner is an award-winning graphic novelist, filmmaker, and tattoo artist. His debut graphic novel, The High Desert; anthology Black Punk Now; and forthcoming novel, acquired by Pantheon, continue to center the Black punk experience, kicked off by his seminal documentary Afro-Punk. He co-founded the Afro Punk festival which currently boasts audiences in the hundreds of thousands around the world. Always true to his DIY roots, James continues to screen Afro-Punk around the world and gives talks on punk, comics, and Black identity.  

Sweeping Promises are Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug. A chance meeting in Arkansas led to a decade of playing in an eclectic assortment of projects together. Bass-playing Lira is an emotive bolt of thunderous energy with the iconic blast of a girl group rolled into one robust throat. Caufield is an intentional guitar player and drummer. No note or hit is extraneous. Famous for their unfussy, monolithic anthems, the Lawrence, KS–based duo elegantly ravage listeners with their latest album, Good Living Is Coming For You. 

Martin Wong was the co-creator and editor of all 68 issues of Giant Robot zine from 1994–2010 and organizer of the Save Music in Chinatown series of all-ages punk matinee benefit shows from 2013–2022. He has been a regular contributor to the non-profit punk zine Razorcake since 2019.

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Co-sponsored by the USC Thornton School of Music and KXSC.

Photo (Black and Brown Houston): Courtesy of Jazzmin Readeaux 
Photo (Soul Glo): Todd Cooper
Photo (Sweeping Promises): Shawn Brackbill