Hardcore music saved Isaac Canales’ life the day he got elbowed in the face in a pit at a Turnstile show.
Speaking to a captive audience of dozens at the headquarters of Gente Organizada in Pomona, the young man from East L.A. shared his personal story of how a newfound love for hardcore led him to Mosh For Youth. The nonprofit organization provided him with a scholarship to attend the University of California Riverside where he is majoring in history and hopes to one day become an educator, much like Victor Campos, his mentor and the founder of MFY.
The occasion allowing for Canales’ public vulnerability in a room full of strangers was a community screening of “Xicano Hardcore: A Mosh For Youth Documentary,” by director Magdalena Aparicio. The 12-minute documentary short is a snapshot of Pomona's local hardcore scene and features Campos explaining his impetus for launching MFY.
The documentary highlights how Campos, with help from his band mates in Barrio Slam, combined their love of hardcore music, education, and community into a nonprofit that supports all three. He has also expanded the nonprofit to assist youth in other cities, with San Bernardino the most recent addition to the roster. He hopes to have a fundraiser show in the Inland Empire soon.
“We just added the city of San Bernardino because, since the beginning of Mosh For Youth in 2021, the kids there, they're the ones that show up to our shows,” explains Campos. “They support us more than any place in the Inland Empire. So we decided, ‘let's give something back to them.’ So we use this music [and] throw these shows to raise scholarship money for those students.”