Olmeca is a multidisciplinary artist, activist, and scholar. He grew up in Los Angeles and Mexico, a reality that brewed his blending of music genres (Hip Hop fusion of Latin American traditional rhythms) and heightened his cultural sensitivity to social realities on both sides of the border. As a Tepehuan / Chicano part of the Indigenous diaspora, Olmeca uses his music and presentations to explore the multifaceted and evolving concept of Latinx identity, Hip Hop and Social Justice, Indigenous Futurisms, as well as the transformative and healing power of art.
Olmeca is faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Interdisciplinary Gender and Ethnic Studies Department, teaching Latin American History, Latinx in the U.S., and Hip-Hop courses and currently sits on the advisory board for Action Lab. He has received numerous accolades by media outlets such as BBC London, Complex Magazine, and NPR for his unique genre-blending musical style and bilingual lyrics.
Olmeca’s challenging journey has shaped his offerings as a gifted solo artist, as well as an inspiring and uplifting lecturer doing keynotes and residencies at campuses nationwide. He has lived through homelessness, food insecurity, and violence while also experiencing rural life in Mexico. He moved to Chiapas to work closely with Indigenous groups there. He studied anti-systemic theories, participated in self-sustainable projects and learned the importance of collective healing from colonial trauma. These experiences allowed his educational and artistic work to become interpretations of this reality, exposing the complexities of capitalism, race, identity, and the notion of belonging.
He has been recognized by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as an "Artist Citizen Fellow”, by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a Music Ambassador for the rights of workers and has partnered with universities throughout the U.S. for his unwavering dedication to critical art and innovation.
His most current work deals with grief and loss. He lost his mother, father, brother, grandfather, best friend, and five other family members in a span of four years. His mental health suffered. To heal, he turned to traditional ceremony, art therapy, plant medicine, and healing circles. He founded Raow Raow as an arts and healing space. Today, as he reflects on his ongoing journey, he welcomes us in, as he is one of the few artists exploring and helping shape concepts around Ancestral Futurism (a collective process that honors the past as a way to create a holistic and just future).
A Music, Story & Culture Performance Experience
This immersive performance weaves original music, bilingual lyricism, spoken word, storytelling, and visual atmosphere into a powerful live experience. Through hip-hop, spoken word, and personal narrative, Olmeca invites the audience into a powerful artistic journey shaped by lived experience, cultural memory, and healing through expression. Designed to engage both the heart and the mind, this performance creates space for reflection, connection, and conversation.
Latinx Futures: An exploration into the depths of Latinx Identity and Power
This presentation explores the multifaceted and evolving concept of an identity that makes up nearly 20% of the U.S. population. Olmeca delves into the historical, social, and political dimensions and examines how Latinx individuals navigate issues of representation, agency, and societal influence, as well as how the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, gender, and class plays a significant role in shaping their experiences.
As a performing artist, scholar and activist, Olmeca taps into his own identity sharing story, poetry, song, academic research, and historical data. In the spirit of futurisms, Olmeca shifts the paradigm from external systems of power, into the transformative potential of tapping into ancestral knowledge as a foundation for empowerment. This presentation explores how confronting colonial systems of power and control and generational trauma can actually foster and be a catalyst for social and racial justice.
Radical Love: Healing in the Midst of Chaos through the Arts
This session takes attendees on a journey through healing practices that draw upon ancestral knowledge
and community strength to address colonial trauma. We’ll explore how traditional practices, the arts, and
movement-building, can serve as culturally resonant alternatives. Through personal storytelling and
examples like the Raow Raow collective, attendees will learn how art and activism can serve as a mirror,
accountability structure, and source of radical love within communities.
We’ll delve into movement-building as a process for turning personal healing into collective action,
helping individuals avoid cycles of introspection without change. Using real-life examples, like the Raow
Raow collective’s approach to integrating ancestral ways into modern life through the arts, we’ll show
how accountability within a community can empower individuals to navigate complex conversations.
Finally, we’ll discuss how collective practices rooted in ancestral knowledge of er unique perspectives for
healing colonial trauma, emphasizing that true healing is both an individual and shared experience.
