Xicano Hardcore: Pomona scene turns community energy into youth scholarships – IDIOTEQ.com
What started as a few local shows in Pomona has grown into a movement that uses hardcore not only as sound and release but as a means to fund education. The short film “Xicano Hardcore: A Mosh For Youth Documentary”, directed by Latina filmmaker Magdalena Aparicio, captures this intersection of music, activism, and community care through the story of Victor Campos — frontman of Barrio Slam and founder of Mosh For Youth.
You can now stream it in its entirety below!
Running just twelve minutes, the film focuses on how Pomona’s Chicano hardcore community built a bridge between underground shows and academic opportunity.
Mosh For Youth, Campos’ nonprofit, has raised thousands in scholarships for students across East LA, Pomona, and San Bernardino — all through DIY hardcore events. What began as a local idea now stands as a small but meaningful experiment in how self-organized culture can create real-world change.
Campos’ approach is rooted in reflection and pride for his city. “Pomona is beautiful,” he says. “One of the only reflection questions that I ask in the application is for students to give me their favorite memories of the city they are applying from. I want them to reflect and understand that although sometimes the cities go through tough times, it also has tough people and a tough community to help get through those tough times. That’s what Pomona is to me.”
His view of hardcore ties back to that same sense of growth. “Hardcore in itself is education. The lyrics often tell stories, tell history, teach politics, teach self-love, and self-acceptance. That’s all education.”
Aparicio, who began attending hardcore shows as a teenager, saw in the Pomona scene something rare and worth documenting. “I quickly learned that punk and hardcore spaces care deeply for their community,” she says.
“I saved the song ‘Xicano Hardcore’ to my playlists in freshman year of high school — it felt so inspiring to hear a combination of my culture and hardcore. I went to my first Mosh For Youth show in September of 2024.”
Her motivation for making the film was personal and layered. “As a filmmaker, I want to combine my passion for activism, the Latino community, and alternative music subculture,” she explains.
“I honestly just wanted to spotlight the incredible work I witnessed. Part of it is an appreciation for Mosh For Youth, and the other part of it, at least for me, is a love letter to hardcore. Somewhere along the way, it became a love letter to Pomona, too.”
The documentary, shot by cinematographer Nicole Pasto, captures not only performances but also the conversations between generations — musicians, students, and locals whose lives intersect through the scene.
The imagery focuses on crowded basements, shared microphones, and laughter between sets, presenting the scene as a community classroom rather than a backdrop of chaos.
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A community screening will take place on October 24 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Gente Organizada Youth Center in Pomona, CA — a space dedicated to youth and immigrant justice. The event will feature live music, a Q&A with Aparicio and Mosh For Youth, and testimonies from scholarship recipients.
The film premiered today on YouTube, continuing its goal of spreading a story that’s local in sound but universal in purpose — how a mosh pit, when built on solidarity, can become a space for opportunity.
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DIY rock music enthusiast and web-zine publisher from Warsaw, Poland. Supporting DIY ethics, local artists and promoting hardcore punk, rock, post rock and alternative music of all kinds via IDIOTEQ online channels.
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