News & Reviews

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Wake the Flok Up w/ Koncept 714

November 23, 2014

Episode 32: One of the most dangerous assets of any generation is free speech...Gabriel San Roman is free speech incarnate. From his articles and pieces in the OC Weekly to his own independent publishing, Gabriel is the printed voice of our scene. In one of the most important interviews the show has conducted...We are proud to bring you Gabriel San Roman.

Venceremos Interview (Ghoulish Time With Mayra)
October 21, 2014

Last Thursday I had the absolute pleasure of spending the hour talking "Venceremos" and Victor Jara on Ghoulish Time with Mayra. Nestled in a basement somewhere on the campus of Cal State Fullerton, Mayra Cortez prepared a great interview. The show ends with my top 5 songs that I took the opportunity to highlight musicians like Manuel Garcia, Inti-Illimani and, of course, Victor Jara.

Newer Songs (Red Wedge Magazine)
By Alexander Billet
October 18, 2014
"The shadow of Victor Jara looms large, and it’s only gotten larger with time. Just last month it was announced that a court in Chile had indicted three retired army officers for their involvement in the legendary folk-singer’s death in the wake of the coup that overthrew then-President Salvador Allende. Certainly, the open-endedness of Jara’s saga (more than forty years after his murder, nobody has been brought to justice) has contributed to his legend, intertwining his impressive skills with songwriting. The beauty of one combines with the horror of the other; like it or not, the two have become inseparable.All of which is to say that if there is anyone whose stature approaches that of a modern martyr-saint for the social justice set, it’s Victor Jara. Why then, at this juncture in time, would it make sense to release a pamphlet on him? Venceremos, penned by Gabriel San Roman and published by PM Press, is just such a pamphlet."

Read the review: http://redwedgemagazine.com/articles/newer-songs

Venceremos Review (La Chispa: Latijns-Amerika Magazine)
By Jan de Kievid
October 13, 2014
Another international review of "Venceremos" comes courtesy of La Chispa Magazine in the Netherlands. In the writeup (as far as I can tell from online translation) Jan de Kievid recaps the thesis of the book. The review offers up a critique, too, saying that "Venceremos" could be strengthened by exploring Nueva Cancion in the age of dictatorial censorship in Chile. The writer felt the book might also be bettered by including full song lyrics in English and Spanish. "Venceremos" is doing quite well, I'm happy to report. Perhaps there can be space to include more should a second printing come!

Read the review: http://www.lachispa.eu/recensies/boeken/venceremos-victor-jara

El contexto político de la música (Público)
By Vicenç Navarro
September 28, 2014
Vicenç Navarro is Chair of Social Sciences at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. With an extensive resume, Navarro has served as an adviser to the United Nations, World Health Organization as well as the government of Salvador Allende in Chile. He regularly contributes to Público, a Spanish left-wing online newspaper. An article titled "El contexto político de la música" published there on July 31, 2014 explored the topic through the prism of Venceremos. Navarro writes: En el libro, San Román señala la importancia que las canciones populares tuvieron para mantener una cultura de compromiso y militancia que llevó a la victoria de la Unidad Popular.

Read more: http://blogs.publico.es/dominiopublico/10701/

Calendar of Revolt/Venceremos Interview (Conscious Radio)
September 11, 2014

On Monday, I had the pleasure of being on Cal State Long Beach's (KBEACH) Conscious Radio show with hosts Abeni Moreno, Vanessa Rodriguez and special guest DJ Yellow Black Bird. I spoke on "Venceremos" & the Calendar of Revolt! In case you missed it, check out the archived audio here!

Calendar of Revolt Interview (Travel Tips for Aztlan)

August 30, 2014

I returned to Travel Tips for Aztlan--Southern California's longest standing Latin Alternative radio show--for an interview and co-hosting duties last Saturday night. Mark Torres and Mariluz Gonzalez chatted with me about my newly released Subversive Historian 2015 Calendar of Revolt at the onset of the program and again towards the end. It was a blast! Fellow Anaheimer Nancy Sanchez also performed a superb 'Live from Studio A' session. If you missed it, check out the archived SoundCloud audio. More to come!

Anaheim and the Future of América

August 6, 2014

"Anaheim is contrast. Anaheim is conflict. Anaheim is inequality. Anaheim is where the past is fighting with the future to determine the present of us all." With that poetic summary, longtime activist and writer Roberto Lovato kicked off the inaugural episode of Américans, a web series produced by TeleSUR English. Lovato visits Anaheim two years after the smoldering wake of social unrest following controversial fatal police shootings. I was invited to participate in the program.

Singing Songs of Struggle (Truthout Review)

By Eleanor J. Bader

July 7, 2014

"Nearly 44 years ago, on September 11, 1970, Chilean voters shocked the world by electing Marxist Salvador Allende as their president. It was a startling - if short-lived - victory for democracy. In Venceremos, Gabriel San Roman writes that Allende's Popular Unity Coalition was aided by Nueva Cancion, "the strongest folk music movement in Latin American history."

Víctor Jara, the Man and the Movement (OC Weekly)

May 15, 2014

[Editor's Note: This week's edition of Locals Only is the preface of Venceremos: Víctor Jara and the New Chilean Song Movement, a new booklet available from PM Press; pmpress.org. It is republished with the permission of the author and publisher, veteran Weekling Gabriel San Roman]

Journalist & Author Gabriel San Román