General Discussion

cali

(114,904 posts) Mon Oct 28, 2013, 05:18 PM Oct 2013

Cancellation of Afrobeat band Shokazoba at Hampshire College's Halloween creates controversy

Shokazoba's cancellation from the Hampshire Halloween event Friday night at Hampshire College, after one band member said they were criticized of being "too white" to play Afrobeat music, is reverberating on social media.

Shokazoba keyboard player Jason Moses said on Saturday that the entire incident has upset the band, which he said was the target of an online campaign by approximately 30 people - a campaign that led to the band's ultimate cancellation from the annual event.

Moses said the firestorm started when someone posted an inflammatory comment online about Hampshire College hiring an all-white band to play Afrobeat music for the event. He said the band is not all white, and race should not be an issue anyway.

<snip>

Elaine Thomas, Hampshire College spokeswoman, said in a statement that the student organizers of Hampshire Halloween contracted with a number of bands, and that some students "questioned the selection of one band, asking whether it was a predominantly white Afrobeat band, and expressing their concerns about cultural appropriation and the need to respect marginalized cultures.

<snip>

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/cancellation_of_afrobeat_band.html

22 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Cancellation of Afrobeat band Shokazoba at Hampshire College's Halloween creates controversy (Original Post) cali Oct 2013 OP

As much as I tend to dislike reggae and "world music" played by white people, this seems unfair nomorenomore08 Oct 2013 #1

I don't give a hoot what color a musician is as long as they're good at what they do cali Oct 2013 #2

I pretty much agree. And I can easily put my own tastes aside here and say the situation is bullshit nomorenomore08 Oct 2013 #3

I agree. Manifestor_of_Light Nov 2013 #17

This message was self-deleted by its author frylock Oct 2013 #5

If black people can play at a Scottish Mountain Tunes festival then............ coldmountain Oct 2013 #7

I didn't say they couldn't play any genre they want. Of course they can. nomorenomore08 Oct 2013 #9

Rob Deal and the Ideals / Sublime / Jesus Malverde Nov 2013 #19

Snow Revanchist Nov 2013 #20

After that ear worm...back at ya Jesus Malverde Nov 2013 #21

What's hilarious is that Snow has apparently won several Junos (Canadian Grammys) nomorenomore08 Nov 2013 #22

comment by one of the people who organized the campaign against the bad dlwickham Oct 2013 #4

Okay, that changes things a bit. Now I'm not so sympathetic. nomorenomore08 Oct 2013 #8

"..his choice of music genre". You need to educate yourself on the history of Afrobeat: friendly_iconoclast Oct 2013 #11

Him playing that kind of music, is not a bad thing in itself. nomorenomore08 Oct 2013 #12

No one has yet reposted any of these purported comments... friendly_iconoclast Oct 2013 #14

Don't know... TroglodyteScholar Oct 2013 #10

I feel bad for these guys losing their gig and all, but that sort of response certainly doesn't nomorenomore08 Oct 2013 #13

take it to the world music board Pretzel_Warrior Oct 2013 #6

Interview with Shokazoba studebakerhawk Nov 2013 #15

welcome to DU gopiscrap Nov 2013 #16

Shokazoba live on Valley Homegrown 11/7/2011 Part 1 of 3 Jesus Malverde Nov 2013 #18

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)

1. As much as I tend to dislike reggae and "world music" played by white people, this seems unfair

Reply to cali (Original post)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 05:23 PM

Oct 2013

to the band themselves. Especially since this was spearheaded by (allegedly) only 30 people.

cali

(114,904 posts)

2. I don't give a hoot what color a musician is as long as they're good at what they do

Reply to nomorenomore08 (Reply #1)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 05:26 PM

Oct 2013

I think objecting to some white person playing afrobeat or reggae just because they're white is as stupid as objecting to someone who is Christian playing Klezmer music or someone who is black playing Chopin.

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)

3. I pretty much agree. And I can easily put my own tastes aside here and say the situation is bullshit

Reply to cali (Reply #2)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 05:34 PM

Oct 2013

Manifestor_of_Light

(21,046 posts)

17. I agree.

Reply to nomorenomore08 (Reply #3)

Mon Nov 4, 2013, 01:51 AM

Nov 2013

You got soul, or rhythm, or musicianship, whatever, you don't have to be black.

I know white guys with reggae bands.

And yes, there are African-Americans in classical and opera.

Starting way back with Paul Robeson, Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, Kathleen Battle, Andre Watts, and a lot of new people since then.

Response to nomorenomore08 (Reply #1)

frylock This message was self-deleted by its author.

coldmountain

(802 posts)

7. If black people can play at a Scottish Mountain Tunes festival then............

Reply to nomorenomore08 (Reply #1)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 06:04 PM

Oct 2013

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)

9. I didn't say they couldn't play any genre they want. Of course they can.

Reply to coldmountain (Reply #7)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 06:08 PM

Oct 2013

But IMO the only all-white band ever to play reggae successfully was the Clash, and their reggae tunes were a minority of their catalog.

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)

19. Rob Deal and the Ideals / Sublime /

Reply to nomorenomore08 (Reply #9)

Mon Nov 4, 2013, 02:22 AM

Nov 2013

Sublime

Revanchist

(1,375 posts)

20. Snow

Reply to Jesus Malverde (Reply #19)

Mon Nov 4, 2013, 02:41 AM

Nov 2013

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)

21. After that ear worm...back at ya

Reply to Revanchist (Reply #20)

Mon Nov 4, 2013, 03:09 AM

Nov 2013

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)

22. What's hilarious is that Snow has apparently won several Junos (Canadian Grammys)

Reply to Revanchist (Reply #20)

Mon Nov 4, 2013, 05:53 PM

Nov 2013

and been honored for his "contributions to Canadian music and culture" or something like that.

dlwickham

(3,316 posts)

4. comment by one of the people who organized the campaign against the bad

Reply to cali (Original post)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 05:40 PM

Oct 2013

As one of the students who helped boycott the band, the real issue of wanting to cancel them came in later(which they forgot to mention), when a band member (moses), left multiple racially insensitive comments, that as a supposedly "anti-racist" school, we could not tolerate. i.e"We're all different shades of brown", Racism isn't real -"Racism is the belief in race". Students of color pointed out their flawed logic and the band responded by saying "We're all from Africa anyway." That music has "traveled from country to country" *cough* slave ships *cough*
What could not be ignored was the idea of paying someone to come to our school who actively spouts racially insensitive ideals.

Besides, due to contract we had to pay them anyway. They also casually forgot to mention that.

if this is true-the racism quotes-I'd be in favor of dumping them as well

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)

8. Okay, that changes things a bit. Now I'm not so sympathetic.

Reply to dlwickham (Reply #4)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 06:05 PM

Oct 2013

And I know the guy intended no malice, he's just clueless about how the world really works. But that combined with his choice of music genre, certainly doesn't paint him in the most favorable light.

friendly_iconoclast

(15,333 posts)

11. "..his choice of music genre". You need to educate yourself on the history of Afrobeat:

Reply to nomorenomore08 (Reply #8)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 08:13 PM

Oct 2013

Seems like the guy who pretty much invented it didn't have a problem
with white guys playing it...

And it looks like some of the guys in Antibalas (the premier Afrobeat band around)
are a little melanin-challenged:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibalas

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)

12. Him playing that kind of music, is not a bad thing in itself.

Reply to friendly_iconoclast (Reply #11)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 08:27 PM

Oct 2013

It's his playing "black" music, combined with his apparent (albeit well-meaning) ignorance on the subject of race, that puts him in a less than favorable light IMO.

friendly_iconoclast

(15,333 posts)

14. No one has yet reposted any of these purported comments...

Reply to nomorenomore08 (Reply #12)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 08:43 PM

Oct 2013

...for public viewing, and for that matter they may not have been actually posted by J. Moses:

https://www.facebook.com/HampshireHypeCommittee

Rhana Tabrizi one of the members of shokazoba claimed that we are all different shades of brown which ultimately equates the oppression that white people face with the oppression that people of color face. our problem as hampshire students was not specifically with the band until they began making statements like that. we have had performers who have been influenced by other cultures play at our school and respectfully celebrate multicultural holidays as a community, but when a band that claims to respect a genre of music that grew from a history of oppression effectively denies the legitimacy of said oppression, we do have a problem. the race/religion/skin color/WHATEVER of the band members of shokazoba did not matter to us (enough to cancel their performance, anyway), but the furthering of "color-blind," post-racial ideologies is not welcome on our ANTI-RACIST campus. how can you comply with anti-racist initiatives if you do not believe that racism still exists?

Yesterday at 2:10pm · 13
D.j. Andujar The "different shades of brown" comment was made by Keith L, who is not in the band but a friend of the band.
Yesterday at 2:12pm · 4

Also, are you aware that the lead singer is African-American? (from the above link)

Janaya Collins I {heart} Shokazoba! We play amazing music and I was really looking forward to changing some opinions and opening some minds with the awesomeness that is my voice. At this point, it's Hampshire College that lost out, not us. And btw, I'm still pretty upset that the College is refusing to acknowledge that the majority of the incendiary comments came from their campus. I am upset that a student of Hampshire decided that she was going to decide for me what my cultural identity is and what the color of my skin means. I may not be the darkest black girl you've ever seen, but don't tell my soul that. xoxo Janaya
7 hours ago · 9

I suggest that we should judge only AFTER we have solid information

TroglodyteScholar

(5,477 posts)

10. Don't know...

Reply to dlwickham (Reply #4)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 06:10 PM

Oct 2013

The immature tone of this response makes me wonder if those quotes are verbatim, or just the knee jerk reactions of some idealistic young people who were already on the defensive because they did something a little stupid with the best of intentions....

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)

13. I feel bad for these guys losing their gig and all, but that sort of response certainly doesn't

Reply to TroglodyteScholar (Reply #10)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 08:30 PM

Oct 2013

help their cause...

Pretzel_Warrior

(8,361 posts)

6. take it to the world music board

Reply to cali (Original post)

Mon Oct 28, 2013, 05:52 PM

Oct 2013

studebakerhawk

(1 post)

15. Interview with Shokazoba

Reply to cali (Original post)

Mon Nov 4, 2013, 01:22 AM

Nov 2013

Hear Shokazoba's side of the story in their interview on www.acapulconights.net. They have a 40 minute interview in the top show, followed by a few of their best songs.

gopiscrap

(23,763 posts)

16. welcome to DU

Reply to studebakerhawk (Reply #15)

Mon Nov 4, 2013, 01:26 AM

Nov 2013

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)

18. Shokazoba live on Valley Homegrown 11/7/2011 Part 1 of 3

Reply to cali (Original post)

Mon Nov 4, 2013, 02:10 AM

Nov 2013

Reply to this discussion