Molina Speaks - BUILD 2020

In this presentation, Molina asserts that the time to “Build” 2020 is now. Reality is in flux and the pace of social change is accelerating. The flying car has arrived. Social media, cyborg entertainment, cybernetics, and nano-technology are rapidly re-wiring the human experience. Premised on the notion that the next ten years will determine the next several centuries of life on this planet, Molina discusses the reality that governments, corporations, technology firms, think tanks, banking institutions, and special interest groups all have their
blueprints for 2020, and beyond. As participants in a democratic society, we also need our own plans, and our own community-based think tanks. Molina makes a compelling case that by default, all human beings are historians, futurists, artists and scholars. Understanding this is knowledge, and knowledge is power.

Beyond theoretical information, Building 2020 involves students taking action to better their lives and their communities the moment they leave the lecture hall.
Molina discusses:
- The power of day-to-day consumer choices
- Cooperative economic principles
- Simple steps towards living more sustainably
- The importance of food choice and local food production
- Technological discipline and responsibility
- Social media networks as “publisher’s tools”

Molina Speaks is a skilled and respected rapper with a law degree, hailing from a rural, working class, Chicano/Mexicano, immigrant, prison-town background. He is an urban historian & futurist speaking on the social, cultural, and political issues of 2020 & 2045; a poet who pushes the boundaries of the spoken word art form.

Things have changed, and every now and then, an artist puts
their account of life’s changes into play, all over phat beats.
Molina is that artist. A culturist who balances his revolutionary
politics with his ability to rap like no other, Molina is not your
average ‘conscious artist’. – Denver Westword

Molina looks to past socially progressive movements — like
Black Power, the American Indian movement, the Chicano
movement, the struggle for women’s rights and others — for
proof that focused, intentional people can create positive
change. But he also embraces the modern context
of today’s movement. – Denver Post Reverb