[ Music: "Lip Gloss" by hip hop artist Lil Mama ]
"OK... it's poppin'..."
"I gotta ask em, 'cause if I don't"
"It's poppin', its poppin' (I don't know) It's poppin', its poppin' (Lets go!)"
"What you know bout me? What you, what you know bout me?"
"What you know bout me? What you, what you know"
"Is that my lip gloss is cool My lip gloss be poppin'"
"I'm standin' at my locker And all the boys keep stoppin'"
"What you know bout me? What you, what you know bout me?"
"What you know bout me? What you, what you know"
"Is that my lip gloss is poppin' My lip gloss is cool"
"All the boys keep jockin And chase me after school [fades out]"
--> Hi, I'm Cherry Galette.
<-- And I'm Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.
[ C ] And we are the co-founders and co-directors of Mangos with Chili.
[ L ] Mangos with Chili is known to some people
and a queer and trans people of colour art apocalypse.
To us, we know it as the group founded in 2006
that is taking queer and trans people of colour artists all across north america.
[ "Lip Gloss" continues...]
[ C ] In our 8 years of existence
we have supported 150 queer and trans artists of colour in developing their work.
[ L ] Um, we have gone on 3 north american tours,
we have performed over 100 different shows in the Bay Area and beyond.
We're awesome.
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT'S REALLY FUCKING AWESOME???
What're we doing? What're we doing, Cherry?
[ C ] We are going on our 4th tour.
[ L ] It's our 4th tour, and it's our first one in 4 years, guys.
[ Music: "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. ]
[ L ] We decided we wanna take our beautiful stories of love and resistance back on the road,
and we're doing it this February 2014.
[ C ] And we wanna do this with you!
[ L ] YES! Because as we've always said, capitalism does not love us, but our communities love us.
[ C ] And we always said that we make this art for you and we can't do it without you.
[ L ] We are taking an amazing crew of artists on the road,
going from Vancouver Canada AKA Coast Salish, un-ceded and occupied territories,
to New Orleans.
The theme of our show is
[ C ] "Whipped: Queer and Trans People of Colour Recipes for Love Sex and Disaster"
[ L ] Um, you need this work, and we need this work to be in the world.
And this is our 8th year of being in existence, which is a fucking miracle for any organization,
but especially any grassroots funded on a shoestring,
queer and trans people of colour arts organization.
[ C ] And we really wanna celebrate our 8th birthday with you.
[ L ] Yes, we also wanna get tour booty, um, y'know, if it's possible, so...
[ C ] And we're also committed to doing a combination of community shows & university shows
and it's really important for us to show up in community and not just be on university campuses.
[ L ] Yes. Van rental is $3,000. Gas is $3-4 a gallon.
We pay artists a fair amount for 2 weeks of work,
[ C ] and we also provide them with a per diem and all travel.
[ L ] Per. Diem.
So... that's where y'all come in.
[ C ] So basically we need some funds to make this happen, and we wanna ask you to support us.
[ L ] So we just wanna say that, um, we are asking you for any dollars that you can,
to support this life giving work.
Um, we've always said that we're not just performance art,
we are also a community healing space, where people get to celebrate our loves,
and remember our ancestors, and give thanks to the fact that we're still alive.
That's what we're taking on the road this year.
[ C ] So please support us.
[ L ] Yep. Um, there'll be titties, joy, revolution, resilience aplenty if you do.
Do love [ If you? ] your community, please support us.
[ "Paper Planes" continues...]
"All I wanna do is... (gun shot x 4 / gun cocks / cash register dings) ...take your money..."