Hello Everyone, Today, February 1, 2011 is the official release date of Barrio Bushido, my new novel. Already it has gained some international and much local acclaim. I have stated in interviews that this is not simply the launch of a book but of a movement meant to empower people with an intellectual homeboy identity. We need homeboy and homegirl scholars to lead the way, and this book represents the reality that vatos locos and locas are thinking, complex beings. This is a total contradiction, yet it is a reality, our reality. Please support the book by purchasing a copy … Continue reading Official Barrio Bushido Release Date Celebration!

BacSierra-kpfa2011 Hello All, Entertain yourself; here is the Ben Bac Sierra Barrio Bushido KPFA 94.1 interview in its entirety. Denny Smithson was a cool interviewer. Enjoy! http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/67048 Continue reading KPFA 94.1 Barrio Bushido Radio Interview with Ben Bac Sierra

Hello Everyone, Barrio Bushido will be officially released on Tuesday, February 1, 2011. It is time to mobilize, spread the word, and fully support not just a book but a movement. Here is our opportunity for empowerment and promotion of our unique intellectual and spiritual identity. In this novel, we have a homeboy and homegirl power, a human power! I volunteer to speak for all of us, whoever you may be, and boldly present the brutal truth about our humanity. This is not just my book; this is my life. Together let us share life and spread this life to … Continue reading Barrio Bushido Publication Release

   Hello Everyone, Check out Ben and the homies representing and lowriding for Dia de los Muertos at the La Mission CD Release Party. You know how we do it! Some people might say, “What an old car.” We say, “What a thing of beauty!” In San Fran during Dia de los Muertos we also celebrate what others fear.  We look at Death as part of our life and part of our beauty. We turn something ugly into something beautiful. That’s what we do.  Continue reading Dia De Los Muertos La Mission CD Release Party

I have added a new section page to the Todo Bodo Down blog. It is entitled Barrio Bushido Lesson Plans. In this section you will find the beginning of an evolutionary literary movement. Barrio Bushido transforms the urban Latino homeboy experience to a new intellectual, educational, literary, artistic, and empowerment movement. The new lesson plan section is intended for both instructors and students so that they can engage with the literature of Barrio Bushido. Please enjoy, and let’s learn together. https://todobododown.wordpress.com/barrio-bushido-lesson-plans/ Continue reading Barrio Bushido Lesson Plans

I applaud all professors who will be teaching my book, Barrio Bushido, for this coming Spring 2011 semester. I am now producing lesson plans to help them with this new genre of literature, a Latino urban philosophical Barrio Bushido genre. These professors are brave souls who have chosen to use a text that is radical but ripe for our era. They have chosen to put into action true student equity. And when we talk about student equity, I hope we can be honest with what type of equity we are talking about: we are talking about equity for Black and … Continue reading Mission Accomplishment

December 16, 2010 Another successful semester accomplished. A better one than the last and looking forward to even better ones next year. Not perfect, but always striving for the best. Writing these words makes me reflect on what it is that I define as success. For me, in the past, simply having a lowrider meant success. A couple of months ago, while cruising in the Monte Carlo down at Fisherman’s Wharf, a Ferrari pulled up next to me. We were both stopped parallel at the red light. People walked by and scoped us out. To me, they offered a thumbs-up; … Continue reading “There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.”

Hello Friends, Experience something completely unique, outrageous, and beautiful! Ben Bac Sierra reading “El Toro” at City College of San Francisco’s Poetry for the People event. Over 100 people attended. Although the video does not show it, blessed brown fists were raised throughout the auditorium. It is my pleasure to present this to you. If you would like to view the vertical formatted version, please add me as a friend on Facebook and view my videos: http://www.facebook.com/people/Benjamin-Bac-Sierra/1479422798 Here is the actual text that goes along with the video:             “After school,” Toro told Santo. Santo looked surprised, as if he … Continue reading “El Toro” READING

Words are more important than food; words fulfill us. We are not meant to simply survive on this Earth. Our natural duty is to thrive. Words, ideas, drive us to thrive. Of course, we have communication with many different people in our everyday lives, but many times those conversations are superficial. They leave us longing for something of more substance. Literature is a different type of communication that delivers a profound substance. Literature unmasks both writer and reader. The writer and reader stand naked before each other. They read into and see each others’ manifest minds and souls. Not only … Continue reading “I Wanted to Cry and Throw-Up at the Same Time”