“Also Known as an Afro Samurai”: Yannick Hara in Concert

Confronted with numerous slave rebellions, Brazilian elites started importing European immigrants during the nineteenth century to substitute Black labor. This trend persisted in the aftermath of the abolition of slavery in 1888, with Japanese immigrants joining the Brazilian workforce from 1908 onward. Those wishing to understand the complexity of these Afro-Brazilian encounters with Japan from the nineteenth century to the present day will find in posters all over São Paulo an invitation to “LISTEN TO YANNICK HARA.”

On April 6th, Hara, an Afro-Brazilian rapper of Japanese descent, will perform songs from his latest album, “An Earth in Trance: The Rap of the New Cinema,” in which he draws on Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha’s cinematic work. He will also perform his hit, “Also Known as an Afro Samurai.”

After the concert, Hara will participate in a roundtable with UCI students and professors to discuss questions related to race, immigration, belonging, and the politics of the poetic imagination.

A Q&A with the audience will follow.

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