With Mission Creek Festival 2024 on the horizon (April 4-6), Little Village sat down with a few of the talented writers and musicians on the Englert’s lineup, including poet and MacArthur Fellow Hanif Abdurraqib. A trio of Iowa-based MCF performers — avante garde noise-maker YXNG RASKAL, sound artist m denny, and Center for Afrofuturist Studies/Public Space One Media Arts Co-op fellow Sarahann Kolder — discuss their shared interest in fighting fascism and making an enemy of Rep. “J-Dog” Shipley.
Plus: ’80s and ’90s skateboard legend and Des Moines resident Mike Vallely (you may know him as playable character Mike V from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater) recalls how he became the lead singer of his favorite punk band, performing at xBk Live on March 18; Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops prepare to rock Wooly’s on March 30; and organizers and artists behind the Central Iowa Trans Lives Festival (also March 30) see joy as an act of resistance. Also: Little Village reuben expert Jordan Sellergren reviews seven more local sandwiches, and this year’s Best Picture nominees get Iowa beer pairings.
Cover photo of Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops by Anthony Scanga
