Make AFROPUNK Black Again

AFROPUNK is supposed to be a safe space for the Black punks and outcasts. Our safe space is continually being invaded by White and Nonblack people alike who continually display acts of appropriation, antiblackness, and faux-allyship.

There are countless examples of antiblackness present at AFROPUNK. S.A. Reed, a black femme, speaks of her uncomfortable encounters with white people at AP in the article, "For the White Folks in Dashikis at Afropunk". ShiShi Rose also writes about the need for Afropunk to remain a Black space in “A Letter About Black Spaces”. M.I.A was announced to headline AFROPUNK last year, despite her being nonblack. She has publicly displayed antiblackness by dismissing the significance of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Yet, M.I.A was still announced as a performer for AFROPUNK London. There are countless stories of Black people who have felt uncomfortable and unsafe in the same place they were reassured was a safe space.

While AFROPUNK has no control over who buys their tickets online and cannot legally bar Nonblack people from the festivals, AP still has so much power as an establishment to influence who comes in and out of their doors.

AP Fest has a very large social media following and can very well use that outlet to put forth a “No Cultural Appropriation. No Faux-Allyship. No Invading Black Spaces” message to its audience. Signs that state this message can be placed at the doors of the AP Fest for all to see. Similarly to the “No Hate” motto, that statement can be shared on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms to reach a large audience. Festival goers who are dressed in appropriative attire should either be asked to remove their attire or dismissed from the festival completely. This message should be shown both before and after tickets are purchased online, to ensure that Nonblack audiences recognize that their presence at AP is harmful to Black folks whether or not they feel that they are invading our spaces. Actions such as these should be taken by AFROPUNK to maintain itself as a safe space for Black folks.

The policies held up by Mr. Morgan and Ms. Cooper such as “No Racism...No Hate” are not reflective of the antiblackness that has been allowed at AFROPUNK for quite some time now.

Ms. Cooper and Mr. Morgan, you say “Your Voice is Our Voice”, but you continually silence those who express their discomfort with excused antiblackness by tolerating cultural appropriation and the invasive behavior of Nonblack people in Black spaces.

You say “Power to the People!”, but refuse to use the power you have as a black-owned establishment to call out the antiblackness held within your own festival. You have diluted and contradicted your radical statements to appeal to a wider(whiter) audience and you have, in turn, hurt the same Black people you claim to support.

If it is truly within your best interest to support black people as you claim, then you should protect the ‘Afro’ in AFROPUNK and put a stop to appropriative and invasive behavior introduced to the AFROPUNK Festival by White and Nonblack people of color.

#MAKEAFROPUNKBLACKAGAIN

*As a larger issue, AFROPUNK has seemed to turn into a white capitalistic ruse and has strayed away from the meaning of ‘punk’ ever since the introduction of Nonblack corporate sponsors. This is not the focus of this campaign as of right now, but it surely does contribute to the whitewashing of our AP events and should certainly be addressed sometime soon.