1. Stealing by RA is terrible. Remember that along with the fact of black innovators not getting credit, there is an even more common story of exploitation in the music industry: musicians and creators who get ripped off, whether it's theft by a manager, record labels stealing, or this current example. This kind of exploitation goes on all the time, and I do believe musicians, writers, and artists, need to work to take whatever steps they can to stop such theft. Let me tell you, I lived in the D, if someone steals from you there, they better be prepared to get their ass beat. I'm just saying...
2. It's racist to make assumptions about race and cultural background based on someone's accent. 3. All civilized societies to this day, use slave labor in some forms. In the global economy, slavery is simply pushed to the margins: slaves still work in mines to get stuff that goes into our high tech gadgets. As long as civilization uses slaves, there are going to be ideologies that justify the exploitation. US racism is rooted in the history of slavery, but also in the economic competition between north and south, and the fact that the industrialized north didn't need slave labor because it had found a more efficient way to exploit human labor. 4. The meaning of work, slavery, and exploitation is going to change in a society run by machines. And #4 is why Drexciya and techno are relevant--we live in a society of machines, and slave labor is embedded in the very machines we use to communicate with each other and to create techno music. Drexciya's music reflects the experience of the people who made it, including being black, growing up in Detroit, the history of US slavery and racism, etc. But SLAVERY is not a "black issue" it's a human issue, which is explored from a particular viewpoint rooted in a particular cultural experience. Music is not ABOUT ideas. Music is a living experience that cannot be put into words. If it could be put into words, then the music would actually be redundant! If you want ideas, read a book. The experience of listening to a Drexciya record is totally different than talking about it. Nothing you could say about a Drexciya record, would exhaust the potential wealth of meanings and experience that the record contains. Art is open ended, that's what makes it art and not propaganda... ~David On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 12:52 PM Steven Robertson <stev...@k-os.net> wrote: > I'm all for positive discrimination. In order to achieve any sense of > equality, it has to be done. It's the way to correct things. > > RA is a London-based website so far as I know. London is an international > city whose residents are less racist than average. It seems that the most > racist parts of the world are the parts with the least amount of diversity. > This obviously because when you live and work with people from all over the > world you see them as human beings. The narrator could be black, but from > London. > > Not giving credit, clearly is unprofessional. The accent of the narrator, > I don't think is a problem. I'd love to see and hear more talk of Detroit > music from Detroiters, and for Drexciya specifically, well - an African > accent could be perfect. > > I do wonder if race and racism entirely an artificial idea, that it is > really down to a tribalism. It's something I think is often used to > manipulate people in times of war (or conquest), and to sow division. Isn't > race more a colonial idea, to justify the theft of land from its native > people? These days we should know that we're all the same race, and that > there are so many colours. Nobody is simply white or black. There is no > black or white. Except, where positive discrimination is due. > > I'm lucky never to have experienced racial discrimination. I've rarely > seen any racism, and certainly less as time goes by. However, things could > change, but I'm thankful to live somewhere there is very little of this, > with respect to people from many places. Things have been sliding backwards > though, throughout Europe. Still, Europeans are not responsible for racism > in the US. There are people that are responsible, and you'll find them in > positions of power, using it as a tool, a method of control. IMHO. > > I'd be really disappointed if the music was _all_ about race and racism. I > don't think that's a fair representation. > > On Thu, 18 Oct 2018, at 5:25 PM, denisedalph...@gmail.com wrote: > > > We should hear the voice of a Black Detroiter narrating about Detroit > music. How often does that happen. That doesn’t communicate that the music > is only for people of color. White people are never excluded from anything. > And in 2018, unintentional? Please. > > Luis Manuel Garcia writes amazing pieces about intersectionality in club > culture for RA. They have the information, they’re just choosing to be old > grampas about it. > > On Oct 18, 2018, at 11:56, Steven Robertson <stev...@k-os.net> wrote: > > As a white person who grew up in Scotland, listening to Public Enemy, and > Paris, and reading the biography of Malcolm X, I don't exactly feel > comfortable making comment here. I think here there's clearly a lack of > sensitivity. It is likely to be unintentional, and in the case of the > unattributed source, they have at least corrected this soon after the issue > was raised publicly in the past few days. > > I appreciate that race and racism have a lot to do with the Drexciya story > and UR. However, I do feel that the assertion here that it is _all_ about > race and racism, should be challenged. There is a cultural context which is > certainly important to remember. It's worth remembering too those that were > lost in such terrible conditions on their way to America. I would argue > that the music is not all about race and racism. The music has a soul and > that soul is humanist, not racist. It's not racist towards white people > from Europe. Drexciya stands against slavery. We are all human beings. We > are each responsible to our own behaviour, and our shared futures. The > music transcends race and racism. We fight the power, and the slavers > wherever they may be. Drawing a line in the sand and saying that you don't > belong here is not quite what I think is intended by the music either. We > are all belong to the sea in some way. It's the strongest idea about it I > feel. > > On Thu, 18 Oct 2018, at 4:14 PM, Andrew Duke wrote: > > Sigh. I am absolutely disgusted by RA's handling of this at time of > publishing and since. Denise makes great points. Liz Copeland's interview > with James Stinson is also used. I am tired and cranky and thus this post > ain't eloquent. Someone just sent me this link (below) re RA that was > published Oct 11, just a few days before the original--uncredited--Drexciya > feature. The linked feature on RA is especially relevant re the mess they > made this week and how the concerns of Denise and others were ignored and > 313-moderator Kent's concerns "downvoted": > https://telegra.ph/Precedent-Advisor-10-11 > > > On Thu, Oct 18, 2018, 11:12 AM Denise Dalphond, <denisedalph...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > I told RA what I thought. They ignored me. That's what usually happens. > > > *Denise Dalphond, Ph.D.* > *ethnomusicologist* > *schoolcraftwax.work <http://schoolcraftwax.work>* > > > On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 10:11 AM Callum MacGregor < > callum.macgre...@gmail.com> wrote: > > What about redubbing the audio with you narrating? Make a corrected > version.... > > On Thu, 18 Oct 2018, 16:06 Denise Dalphond, <denisedalph...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > I love Drexciya. And it's really cool to be able to hear from James > Stinson still in 2018, thanks to Andrew Duke. And it's pretty amazing that > Andrew Duke did that interview. It's a priceless artifact. I could go on! > > Resident Advisor didn't credit Andrew Duke when they first posted the > video, and why is there a white woman's british voice narrating? It's off > putting. They're using the voice of the colonizer to tell the story of > brilliant, musical escape from enslavement and forced labor. Escape from > the colonizer. > > Oh here goes Denise, making everything about race. But this actually all > the way super duper is all about race and racism. > > And how much electronic music culture coverage is based in europe, the > birthplace of imperialism and colonialism? A lot. > > Music fans and writers should be more concerned about preserving and > protecting and respecting the culture that made this music. > > Why didn't they ask Cornelius Harris to narrate? Why didn't they ask John > Collins to narrate? That would be meaningful to artists and fans alike. > > > > Denise > > > > *Denise Dalphond, Ph.D.* > *ethnomusicologist* > *schoolcraftwax.work <http://schoolcraftwax.work>* > > > On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 9:47 AM Jeff Davis <j...@jeffreyjdavis.com> wrote: > > Pretty sure most of you saw this already but I thought this short > video did a good job encapsulating and contextualizing the concepts > behind Drexciya. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgG-QiChiA8 > > includes a snippet from an Andrew Duke interview as well!! > > > thanks, > > Jeffrey J Davis > > j...@jeffreyjdavis.com > > www.jeffreyjdavis.com > > 218.833.2847 <(218)%20833-2847> > > > >
