EAST LOS ANGELES : It’s an All-Day Rap for Chicano Unity

East Los Angeles College will be the scene of a Chicano rap festival to benefit a scholarship fund and launch a mural-painting program on the Eastside.

The Saturday event will bring together 20 rap groups from throughout California, including Funky Aztecs and Proper Dos.

“The songs of all these rappers have messages and we want to get these messages out to the barrios, to the gangs,” said organizer Martha Miranda. “We’re trying to put our true story out.”

Miranda, 22, and her boyfriend, Jorge Rosano, 22, organized the rap festival in response to the rising number of Latino gang killings. The couple, who attend East Los Angeles College, thought a rap concert could bring factions together and influence young people positively, Rosano said.

“It’s going to be interesting to see this,” Rosano said, adding that they expect 1,000 people at the concert. “We’re just going to promote peace and unity.”

The groups are donating their time, he said, but students will sell tacos Wednesday on campus to help pay for travel expenses.

Proceeds will go toward a scholarship fund for East Los Angeles College students involved in Movimiento Estudiantil de Chicanos de Aztlan and to help establish Peace in the Barrio, a mural group.

The gates open at 10 a.m. and the show, held in the soccer stadium, will end about 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. The college is at 1301 Brooklyn Ave.

Information: (213) 368-4939 or (213) 265-8742.