Taina Asili Bio

Taína Asili is a New York-based Puerto Rican singer, filmmaker and activist carrying on the tradition of her ancestors, fusing past and present struggles into one soulful and defiant voice. Her music combines powerful vocals carrying themes of hope and liberation with an energetic fusion of Afro-Latin, reggae and rock. Asili’s music offers a sound that spans continents, exuding strength of spirit, inspiring audiences at venues across the globe – From Carnegie Hall to the Women’s March on Washington to the main stage of San Francisco Pride. With an energetic horn section and infectious rhythms, Asili’s music urges people to get on their feet and dance to the rhythm of rebellion. KC Orcott of The Source writes, “Taína is a true talent, and a true social justice warrior.” Her protest songs and music videos “No Es Mi Presidente,” “Freedom,” and “And We Walk” — inspired by social movements for racial, gender and climate justice — have been lauded by the likes of Rolling Stone, Billboard, Mic.com, Latina Magazine and Yes! Magazine. The Huffington Post named her in a list of “Freedom Fighting Bands To Get You Through the Trump Years,” and her music has aired numerous times on Democracy Now!. With her last three albums War Cry (2010), Fruit of Hope (2014), and Resiliencia (2019), Asili uses a multi-genre and multilingual approach to connect with a variety of audiences. In an interview with Paste she writes, “For me, it’s really important to use my bilingual voice, singing and speaking in Spanish and English, to reach as many people as possible.” The power of Asili’s newest album Resiliencia springs from personal narratives. It is inspired by interviews she conducted with women of color from the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico about their stories of resilience, from surviving cancer, hurricanes, migration, and sexual violence to finding love of the body and the joy of creating art. In an interview with NPR’s Alt.Latino she says, “I think that it's important that we not only recognize the ways that we are suffering, recognize our harm, but also to lift up our resilience, our strength and our power, so that we know that the next generation has that to hold to on as well.”

Asili also directed and produced a music video documentary series to accompany the album, allowing audiences a closer look into the stories that inspired the songs. The first in the series, also titled Resiliencia, shares interviews with four women in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Plant the Seed, the second in the series, shares the story of Black food justice farmer Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm. Asili’s films have been selected to screen at a number of renowned film festivals including the BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia, the Global Peace Film Festival in Orlando, and the Reel Sisters Film Festival in New York City. Asili’s music draws from the Puerto Rican and Afro-Latin rhythms of her upbringing and from her own artistic journey, which ranges across operatic and flamenco vocal training, punk rock, and spoken word. Her decades long career has brought her on numerous tours across the U.S., as well as to Ireland, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. In 2016, Taina participated in the Rock Against The TPP tour, with Tom Morello, Talib Kweli, La Santa Cecilia, Evangeline Lilly, Jello Biafra, Hari Kondabolu and other high profile artists in a nationwide tour to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In January 2017, Taina performed at The Women’s March on Washington, alongside activists such as Angela Davis, Janet Mock and Gloria Steinem, and artists such as Alicia Keys, Janelle Monae, and Madonna. That year, she also spoke and performed her acclaimed song "Freedom" at TEDx Greenville. In 2019 Asili joined Toshi Reagon, Lizz Wright, Martha Redbone and Alsarah at Carnegie Hall in a performance titled Soul Mechanism highlighting stories of migration through music. As a queer identified artist, Taína’s commitment to LGBTQ liberation has brought her to perform at Pride events throughout the nation such as San Francisco Pride and NYC Pride’s Human Rights Conference.

Taína is dedicated to using her art as a tool for personal and social transformation. The liberation themes in Taína’s writing are based in her activism in prisoner justice, climate justice, and food justice movements. Asili earned a Master of Arts degree in Transformative Language Arts from Goddard College, where she developed the curriculum that has become the foundation for the art and social change educational workshops she facilitates with youth and adults today. Asili also speaks and lectures at conferences and colleges throughout the nation.

Quotes About Taina Asili

“New music video from Taína Asili y La Banda Rebelde kicks racism in the teeth” – Tom Morello, Guitarist of Rage Against the Machine  

“Taina is a true talent, and a true social justice warrior.” 

– KC Orcutt, The Source

“Every successful movement for social change has had music and culture baked into it. This is exactly the type of music our generation needs as we work to address the many issues facing our society.” – Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing  

“In attempt to proliferate the messages of equality and justice, Asili recently released a powerful new song and accompanying music video, “Freedom,” which features Black Lives Matter and prisoner justice activists in an attempt to invigorate and support their work.” – Julie Zeilinger, Mic.com  

“The colorful video is the perfect companion to the track inspired by the jumping rhythms and political chants of Fela Kuti‘s signature afrobeat sound.” – Karas Lamb, Okayplayer  

“Taína Asili is a Puerto Rican vocalist with a soulful Afro-Latin vibe that exudes authenticity. Her impactful message on “Freedom” is a battle cry for movement. While most of today’s urban music and Hip Hop is fraught with over sexualized images, stereotypes and void of substance, “Freedom” is a much needed helping of sonic empowerment.” – I. Vasquetelle, Insomniac Magazine  

“Asili is an artist to take very seriously, and this is an important, political-yet-joyous work of passion and purpose, using music to promote ideas and truth, like it used to be.” – David Malachowski, producer and journalist for The Times Union  

“… a pan-global roots-musical mélange that appeals to the struggle of tradition to envision a world of social justice.” – Josh Potter, Assistant Editor for The Metroland  

“Her vocals penetrate your heart, the lyrics stir your conscience, the melodies are soothing and the rhythms are contagious.” – Bob Goepfert, journalist for the Troy Record 

When Taína Asili arrived in Washington, D.C., on January 19th to play a concert for DisruptJ20 in protest of Donald Trump's inauguration, her heart was heavy. "I was feeling really scared," Asili tells Rolling Stone. "I was feeling fearful for what was to come." But that weekend, when she also performed at the historic Women's March on Washington and heard speeches from the likes of Angela Davis and Janet Mock, the Albany, New York, musician and activist felt her perspective shift. "When I looked out at the audience of almost 1 million marchers, I felt a sense of hope like I hadn't felt in a long time. I felt compelled to take the energy I received from that day and turn it into a song to offer for this movement.”  The result is "No Es Mi Presidente," an anthemic tear into Trump's racism and sexism that Asili is releasing today in solidarity with the "A Day Without Women" general strike. Asili has spent her life dedicated to prison, climate and gender justice, as well as playing music for more than two decades, most recently with Taína Asili y La Banda Rebelde. The song's lyrics emphasize the interconnected struggles of feminist organizing, the fight for immigrant rights, Black Lives Matter and the Standing Rock protests. Asili adds: "I wanted to have my music video be a contribution to the continued work that we're doing as a feminist movement to resist the Trump regime and all that it symbolizes."  CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE 

 

 

Nina Simone said it best: “An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” Latino musicians and rappers, ones like Residente and Immortal Technique, have long used their music as vehicle for political resistance, to narrate the immigrant experience, and as a call for the liberation of one’s people. 

The latter emerges a theme worth celebrating today, as Puerto Rico’s longest-held political prisoner, Oscar López Rivera, was officially set free—from house arrest, after spending 36 years in U.S. custody. 

From stark protest cries against police brutality, to anthems of endurance in the face of change or social upheaval, here are 11 not-so-traditional songs worth blasting as we march on… 

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE 

 

Over the last eight and half years, we have occasionally taken moments to listen and talk to musicians who have the courage to speak out and call attention to things they see as unjust. This week, we do it again with two musicians who face each other from either side of the U.S. David Barragan performs from his SoCal base as Olmeca, a reference to his indigena/Mexicano roots. He is a hip-hop artist, social activist and educator. Taina Asili is from the East Coast and from Afro-Caribbean heritage. She joins us to talk about her new album, Resiliencia. 

Listened to together, these two artists give us a glimpse into the world of musical activism. Lord knows there is plenty to sing about these days.  

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE 

 

Though she says the amount of protest music probably hasn’t changed, the way it’s being received by the listening public has shifted. “Because of that reception, that call for protest songs, I do think that there are songwriters who maybe previously might not have felt safe to address certain issues,” Asili says. “If you see certain songs in the mainstream addressing sexism, or homophobia, there is now a place for those songs to go in the mainstream that hasn’t always been there.” 

 

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE 

As the daughter and sister of two formerly incarcerated Afro-Puerto Rican men, musician Taína Asili has also been an activist involved in the prisoner justice movement for years. In attempt to proliferate the messages of equality and justice, Asili recently released a powerful new song and accompanying music video, "Freedom," which features Black Lives Matter and prisoner justice activists in an attempt to invigorate and support their work. "Freedom:" Asili understands the power behind the intersection of music and social activism. Her father and mother — a Latin jazz conductor and salsa and Afro-Caribbean dancer, respectively — also founded the Latin American student union at the State University of New York at Binghamton and organized protest demonstrations influenced by activists like Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, Asili told Mic.  

The musician has built her own robust career of progressive music, even fronting the social justice-focused punk band Anti-Product for eight years. But after recently reading Michelle Alexander's acclaimed and influential book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Asili felt especially moved to offer a musical contribution to the movement for racial equality and prisoner justice.  CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE 

 

2. Taína Asili y La Banda Rebelde 

If you were into feminist punk rock in the 90s, you may already be a Taína Asili fangirl. I certainly am. My first introduction to Taína was as the lead singer of the seminal punk outfit Anti-Product. Since then we’ve become close friends and musical co-conspirators. We once even toured Europe with our combined three kids along with us. These days she’s leading a totally unique and groundbreaking 7-piece afro-latin revolutionary rock band that goes by La Banda Rebelde. This music is impossible to listen to without dancing, and you can tell from Taína’s voice that she lives the struggles that she sings about. She’s a longtime activist for prison justice, having worked for years in the movement to free political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal. Her latest music video, “Freedom,” received widespread critical acclaim and has been called a “Black Lives Matter anthem.” Check out more of her music here. 

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE 

 

A sonically diverse coterie of artists featuring Talib Kweli, Ana Tijoux, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and Downtown Boys has united on ¡Viva Puerto Rico!, a compilation album which will raise funds for the hardest hit areas of Puerto Rico post-Maria.

“Music as a form of resistance and resilience runs deep in our Puerto Rican culture and history,” album organizer Taina Asili said in a statement. “Gathering musicians together to do something to support those rebuilding from the hurricane is an act I take as a continuation of our ancestral legacy.”

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE 

 

Taína Asili brings the same resistance rooted in the Afro-Caribbean rhythms she fuses to create music that calls for an end to mass incarceration.

In her latest, “Freedom,” she and her six-piece band, Taína Asili y la Banda Rebelde, connects the disproportionate number of black people imprisoned with the country’s history of slavery.

The song has been called the anthem to the Black Lives Matter movement, and it’s important to Asili that it’s an Afro-Puerto Rican woman sharing this black story.

“There are a lot of intersections between African-American history and other forms of black history, and the mass incarceration of our people is just one,” she tells Latina.

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE   

 Rapper and activist Talib Kweli will join the Seattle stop of Rock Against the TPP, an upcoming protest tour looking to halt the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal that organizers -- including Tom Morello -- call the "biggest corporate power grab in history."   The free tour kicks off at Denver's Summit Music Hall on July 23 with a lineup that includes Morello, Anti-Flag, Downtown Boys, Taína Asili and others. The protest continues a week later (July 30) in San Diego with performances by Las Cafeteras, Bonfire Madigan and others. On Aug. 19, Kweli will headline at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle alongside Asili and Bell's Roar, and a day later the tour moves to Portland's Director Park with a headliner to be named soon. A fifth stop, planned for Sept. 24, is being ironed out. 

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE

  

 

 

There's a sparkling, spirited new CD out from Taína Asili y La Banda Rebelde called "Fruit of Hope" that's exciting on so many levels. First off, the high energy of the band is simply impossible to ignore. The exotic, incessant rhythms reel you in, and the stabbing horns, hypnotic bass and Asili's urgent voice draw you closer.

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE 

Contact

Address: Taína Asili, LLC 1971 Western Ave. #273,  Albany, NY, 12203  Email: info@tainaasili.com   Links:  Web  TainaAsili.com 

Facebook        FB.com/tainaasilimusic 

Twitter              Twitter.com/tainaasili 

Instagram         Instagram.com/tainaasili 

YouTube          YouTube.com/tainaasili 

Bandcamp tainaasili.bandcamp.com 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/4LgcuM3XYJkRfkHsSqUfFD 

                

College/University Performances

• Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington, MA 

• Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 

• Boston College, Boston, MA 

• Clark University, Worcester, NY 

• Columbia University, New York, NY 

• Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 

• Drew University, Madison, NJ 

• Emerson College, Boston, MA 

• Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA 

• Goddard College, Plainfield, VT 

• Goucher College, Baltimore, MD 

• Hampshire College, Amherst, MA 

• Haverford College, Haverford, PA 

• Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, NY 

• Humboldt University, Humboldt, CA 

• Keene State College, Keene, NH 

• Marymount Manhattan College, NY, NY 

• Mass College of Art, Boston, MA 

• Mass College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA 

• Menlo College, Atherton, CA 

• Mt. Holyoke, Holyoke, MA 

• Muhlenberg College, Allentown, NY 

• Naropa University, Bolder, CO 

• Northeastern University, Boston, MA 

• Reed College, Portland, OR 

• Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 

• Rochester University, Rochester, NY 

• Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI 

• St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY 

• San Francisco Community College, San Francisco, CA 

• San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 

• Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA 

• Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY 

• Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY 

• Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 

• Stanford University, Stanford, CA 

• SUNY Adirondack, Adirondack, NY 

• SUNY Albany, Albany, NY 

• SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY 

• SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY 

• SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY 

• SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY 

• Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 

• Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 

• Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 

• University of Colorado, Denver, CO 

• University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell, MA 

• University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 

• University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 

• University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 

• University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 

• University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 

• University of Washington, Tacoma, WA 

• Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY  

• Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Festival Performances  

• San Francisco Pride Festival (mainstage), San Francisco, CA, 2019 

• Beloved Festival, Tidewater, OR, 2019 

• PVDFest, Providence, RI, 2018, 2019 

• Unifier Festival, Tolland, MA, 2019 

• Baltimore Pride Festival, Baltimore, MD, 2019 

• Redhook Festival, Brooklyn, NY, 2019 

• Bronx Culture Trail, Bronx, NY, 2019 

• Princeton Summer Concert Series, Princeton, NJ 2019 

• Suffragettes Summer Series, Troy, NY, 2019 

• San Francisco Pride Festival VIP Party, San Francisco, CA, 2018 

• NYC Pride Rally, NY, NY 2018 

• Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival, Trumansburg, NY, 2014, 2017, 2018 

• Motor City Pride Festival, Detroit, MI, 2018 

• PVDFest, Providence, RI, 2018 

• Tulip Festival, Albany, NY 2018 

• Music Haven Concert Series, Schenectady, NY, 2018 

• PoughEtryFest, Poughkeepsie, NY, 2018 

• The Flurry Festival of Music and Dance, Saratoga, NY, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018 

• The 40th Street Summer Series, Philadelphia, PA, 2017 

• Black & Latino Pride Festival, Albany, NY, 2009, 2017 

• Beatshot Music Festival, Albany, NY, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017 

• Rockin' On the River, Troy, NY, 2017 

• Bread and Roses Heritage Festival, Lawrence, MA, 2016. 

• Foo Fest, Providence, RI, 2016. 

• Capital Pride Festival, Albany, NY, 2009, 2010, 2016, 

• Saratoga Peace Fair, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2016, 2017 

• OUT/LOUD Festival, Eugene, OR, 2011, 2013, 2016 

• Wake Up the Ear Festival, Boston, MA, 2016 

• Sun & Moon Festival, Bennington, VT, 2016 

• Intl. Working Women’s Day, NY, NY, 2016 

• Wind-Up Festival, Williamstown, MA, 2015 

• Harry Brown’s Farm Festivals, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015  

• FIESTA, Albuquerque, NM, 2014 

• The Tinderbox Music Festival, NY, NY 2013 

• Freedom Festival, Troy, NY, 2013  

• Hudson.Water.Music, 2011, 2012, Hudson, NY 

• Boston Greenfest, Boston, MA, 2010 

• Troy River Street Festival, Troy, NY, 2010 

• Norway Arts Festival, Norway, ME, 2010 

• Idapalooza, Nashville, TN, 2009 

• Rock Against Racism, New Paltz, NY 2008 

• The Midpoint Music Festival, Cincinnati, OH, 2008 

• International Music Festival, Baltimore, MD, 2008  

• The Black Women’s Arts Festival, Philadelphia, PA, 2004 & 2008 

• Mamapalooza Festival, NY, NY, 2008 

• Art on Lark Festival, Albany, NY, 2008 

• Larkfest, Albany, NY, 2008  

• The RLA Annual Summertime Block Party, Ithaca, NY, 2008 

• Emancipate, NY, NY, 2007 

• Festivus for the Restivus, Cabot, VT, 2007

Conference Performances

• NYC Pride Human Rights Conference, NY, NY, 2018, 2019 

• NEA Racial and Social Justice Conference, Houston, TX, 2019 

• Beyond the Bars Conference, NY, NY, 2019 

• Education As Liberation Conference, Brattleboro, VT, 2019 

• John Brown’s Day, Lake Placid, NY, 2019 

• Angelo Del Toro PR/HYLI Conference, Albany, NY, 2018 

• 5 College Queer Gender & Sexuality Conference, Amherst, MA, 2018 

• TEDx Greenville: IMPRINT, Greenville, SC, 2017 

• The Weave News 10th Anniversary Conference - Citizen Journalism As Activism:                     

From Local to Global, Canton, NY, 2017 

• Weaving a World Without Violence: Transformative Possibilities, Albany,NY,               

2017 

• International Women’s Day Red Carpet For Social Justice, NY, NY, 2016, 2017 

• Upstate NY Latino Summit, Albany, NY, 2016 

• The People’s Music Network, Albany, NY 2016 

• Connecting for Change, New Bedford, MA, 2009, 2012, 2015 

• Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, Worcester, MA, 2015 

• Intergroup Relations Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2015 

• Women’s Voices, Women’s Visions, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2015 

• NCORE, Washington DC, 2015 

• Justice Works Conference, Albany, NY, 2014  

• Arts & Activism Symposium for Women, Saratoga, NY, 2014  

• Power of Words Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2013 

• Resistance Ecology Conference, Portland, OR, 2013 

• Alternative Media Conference, Plainfield, VT, 2013  

• Silence is Broken Conference, Boston, MA, 2011 

• The US Social Forum, Detroit, MI, 2010;  

• Northeast Climate Confluence, Fonda, NY, 2008, 2009, 2010  

• The AERO Conference, Albany, NY, 2008, 2009, 2010 

 

Venue Performances

NY:  NYC: Carnegie Hall, Webster Hall, The Knitting Factory, Nuyorican Poets Café, The Cake Shop, Camaradas El Barrio, The Culture Project, The 169 Bar, The 123 Community Space, The South Paw, The National Black Theater, The Silent Barn.  Albany: The Egg Performing Arts Center, The Hollow Bar & Grill, The Red Square, Lark Tavern, Grand Street Community Arts, The Art’s Center of the Capital Region, Dublin Underground, Rocks, McGeary’s Irish Pub, Umana Restaurant.  Other: The Sanctuary for Independent Media, Troy; Towne Crier Café, Pawling, NY; Caffé Lena, Saratoga Springs; The Chapter House, Ithaca; Castaways, Ithaca; 

Community School of Music and Arts, Ithaca; The Lost Dog Lounge, Ithaca; Snug Harbor, New Paltz; Cyber Café West, Binghamton; The Lost Dog Cafe, Binghamton, NY; Nobody's Art Gallery, Buffalo; The Gallery, Stamford; The Spotty Dog, Hudson; The Falcon, Marlboro.  PA: The World Café Live, Philadelphia; The Prince Theatre, Philadelphia; The Painted Bride, Philadelphia; The Rotunda, Philadelphia; Studio 34, Philadelphia; The Cinema, Philadelphia; The LAVA Lounge, Philadelphia; Taller Puertorriqueño, Philadelphia; The Mum Puppet Theater, Philadelphia; Amazulu Lounge, Philadelphia; Crossroads Music, Philadelphia, PA.   CA: The Derby, Los Angeles; Chuco’s Justice Center, Los Angeles; La Peña, Berkley; The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco; Café Du Nord, San Francisco; Pueblo Nuevo Gallery, Berkley; Spin Nightclub, San Diego.; Studio Grand, Oakland; The New Parish, Oakland.  CO: Mercury Café, Denver; Gypsy House Café, Denver; The Rock & Soul Café, Boulder.   LA: Cafe Istanbul, New Orleans; Zeitgeist Multicultural Arts Center, New Orleans.  MA: The Milky Way Lounge, Boston; MakeShift Boston, Boston; Community Church, Boston; Tammany Hall, Worcester.  ME: One Longfellow Square, Portland; The Aphodian, Portland; The Frontier, Brunswick.  MN: The Black Dog Café, St. Paul; Dinkytowner, Minneapolis; Candelabra, Minneapolis.   NC: Pour House Music Hall, Raleigh; White Horse Black Mountain, Black Mountain; Firestorm Café, Asheville, NC.  OR: Director Park, Portland; Alberta Rose Theater, Portland; In Other Words Women's Books, Portland; Hallowed Halls, Portland, OR.  RI: AS220, Providence; Columbus Theater, Providence.  NM: Taos Mesa Brewing, Taos; Santa Fe Pub & Brewery/Santa Fe Sol, Santa Fe; Santa Fe.   VT: Langdon Street Café, Montpelier; Radio Bean, Burlington.  WA: The Obsidian, Olympia; The Royal Lounge, Olympia; Café Vita, Olympia; Showbox Sodo, Seattle; The Nectar Lounge, Seattle; The Scarlet Tree, Seattle. 

Other US Cities: El Batey Urbano, Chicago, IL; Skull Alley, Louisville, KY; The Trumbullplex, Detroit, MI; Taala Hooghan Infoshop, Flagstaff, AZ; Momo’s, Austin, TX; The Rhizome, Austin, TX; Javier’s Bar, Cincinnati, OH; New Haven Lounge, Baltimore, MD; The Reef, Boise, ID; Independent Public Alehouse, Greenville, SC; BloomBars, Washington, DC.  Canada: The House of Reggae, Montreal, QC; Ociel, Montreal, QC, The Opera Hourse, Toronto, ON; The Savannah Room, Toronto, ON; Toronto Women’s Bookstore, Toronto, ON.  Puerto Rico: Villa Montana, Isabella, Puerto Rico.  Mexico: Colectivo Tutuma, Oaxaca, Mexico  Europe: Bar Arrayán, Seville, Spain; Sunflower Public House, Belfast, Ireland; Tenterhooks, Dublin, Ireland; Kebele Social Center, Bristol, England; LARC, London, England; The Greys Pub, Brighton, England; AJZ, Bielefeld, Germany; Knoflook, Den Bosch, Netherlands; Vrankrijk, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Joe’s Garage, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Huize Spoorloos, Emmen, Netherlands; UJZ Kornstrabe, Hannover, Germany; Klunkerkranich, Berlin, Germany. 

Youth Workshops

 • Kite’s Nest, Hudson, NY, 2017, 2018, 2019 

• Brattleboro Union High School, Brattleboro, VT, 2018, 2019 

• Brattleboro Union Middle School, Brattleboro, VT, 2018 

• Oasis Youth Center, Tacoma, WA, 2018 

• Network Charter School, Eugene, OR, 2018 

• Troy Prep High School, Troy, NY, 2018 

• Girls Rock Camp Boston, Boston, MA, 2017 

• Robert C. Parker School, Wynantskill, NY, 2016 

• YouthFX, Albany, NY, 2015, 2016 

• Willie Mae Rock Camp For Girls, NY, NY 2016 

• Warehouse 508, Albuquerque, NM, 2014.  

• Woodland Hill Montessori School, East Greenbush, NY, 2013 

• Social Justice Center, Albany, NY 2012.  

• The Sanctuary for Independent Media, Troy, NY 2008.  

• William L. Sayre High School, Philadelphia, PA, 2005. 

• Taller Puertorriqueño After School Program, Philadelphia, PA 2004.  

• Upper Dublin High School, Fort Washington, PA, 2003 & 2004. 

• Huey Samuel B. School Girl’s After-School Program, Philadelphia, PA, 2004.  

• The Parent Infant Center After School Program, Philadelphia, PA, 2000-2003.  

Discography

TAINA ASILI: Resiliencia album (2019)  TAINA ASILI Y LA BANDA REBELDE: "No Es Mi Presidente" single (2017) Fruit of Hope album (2014) War Cry album (2010)  CLIMBING POETREE: “Somos” from the album Intrinsic (2017)  COMPILATIONS: “Cucubano” on Lullabies Without Borders compilation album (2019) “Sofrito remix featuring DJ Johnny Juice” on ¡Viva Puerto Rico! compilation album (2017)  RICANSTRUCTION: Love+Revolution (2004)  ANTI-PRODUCT: The EPS of AP compilation CD (2002) The Deafening Silence of Grinding Gears LP (1999) Big Business and the Government Are Both the Fucking Same EP (1997) Another Day Another War EP (1996)       

Filmography 

DIRECTED/PRODUCED:  Music Video/Documentary: Plant The Seed. Dir. Taína Asili. Post Production. Gaetano Vaccaro. Prod. SunAngel Media. 2018. 

Selected/Screened at:  • BlackStar Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA, 2019 • Global Peace Film Festival, Orlando, FL, 2019 • Urban Mediamakers Festival, Atlanta, GA, 2019 • International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival, NY, NY, 2019 • Latino Film Market, NY, NY, 2019 • 21st AAWIC Film Festival, online, 2019 • Workers Unite Film Festival, NY, NY, 2019 • Official Latino Short Film Festival NYC Semi-Finals, NY, NY, 2019 • Philadelphia Latino Film Festival Semi-Finals, online, 2019 

 Music Video/Documentary: Resiliencia. Dir. Taína Asili. Post Production. Gaetano Vaccaro. Prod. SunAngel Media. 2018. 

Selected/Screened at:  • Global Peace Film Festival, online, 2019 • International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival, NY, NY, 2019 • Workers Unite Film Festival, NY, NY, 2019 

 Music Video: No Es Mi Presidente. Dir. Taína Asili. Post Production. Gaetano Vaccaro. Prod. SunAngel Media. 2018. 

Selected/Screened at:  • Latino Film Market, NY, NY, 2019  • International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival, NY, NY, 2019 • Urban Mediamakers Festival, Atlanta, GA, 2019 • Workers Unite Film Festival, NY, NY, 2018 

 Music Video: And We Walk. Dir. Taína Asili. Post Production. Gaetano Vaccaro. Prod. SunAngel Media. 2016.  Music Video: Freedom. Dir. Taína Asili. Post Production. Gaetano Vaccaro. Prod. SunAngel Media. 2016.  Music Video: It’s In Our Hands. Dir. Victoria Kereszi. Post Production. Mark Carranceja. Prod. SunAngel Media. 2010.  

FEATURED IN:  Sound of Freedom. Dir. Ulrike Neubecker, Bernard Wedig and Chrysanthi Goula. Prod. Berlin Producers. 2019.  Scene Not Heard. Dir. & Prod. Maori Karmael Holmes. 2005. 

Print 

Lyrics to Taína Asili’s song “Freedom” in: Morales, Iris Ed. Latinas: Struggles & Protests in 21st Century USA. Red Sugarcane Press. 2018  Interview with Taína Asili in: Mirriam-Goldberg, Caryn Ed. Changing the World With Words: A Transformative Language Arts Reader. TLA Network. 2014.  Reprinted interview from HeartattaCk Magazine in: Duncombe, Stephen & Tremblay, Maxwell, Ed. White Riot: Punk Rock and the Politics of Race. London & New York: Verso. 2011.  Quote from poem “Identity Lost” published in: Latner, Teishan Ed. The Quotable Rebel: Political Quotations for Dangerous Times. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press. 2005.  Asili, Taína. Medusa Finds Love. Self-published. 2001.

 

Theatrical Productions

In The Heights, Abuela Claudia, Schenectady Light Opera Co. 2018.

Awards & Acknowledgements

• New Music Award USA Award, 2018 

• Commission On Human Rights, “Taína Asili Day” April 13th , 2017 

• Citizen Action of New York, Jim Perry Progressive Leadership Award, 2016 

• NY Hispanic Coalition, Inc. 40 Under 40 Rising Star 2015 

• Metroland Best World Music 2014  

• Holding Our Own Foundation Fabulous Feminist, Creative Force Award 2012  

• Metroland Reader’s Pick Best World Music 2011  

• Metroland Best World Music 2010  

• Metroland Best of Recordings 2010  

• Metroland Reader’s Pick Best Local Poet 2007  

• Leeway Foundation Transformation Award 2005 

 

Education Higher Ed • MA Transformative Language Arts, Goddard College. Music Education. • BA Women’s Studies, Binghamton University.  Music • Private classical voice instruction with Alma Mora • Flamenco singing at El Centro de Arte y Flamenco, Seville, Spain • Flamenco singing at Taller Flamenco, Seville, Spain