The Journey Through Punk

 WEEK 15

        "Afropunk alone isn't going to save us, or dismantle a racist world, but if punk rock was born, in part, out of the need for white escape, Afropunk signals something provided for black escape for what the actions of white escape breed," writes Hanif Abdurraqib. The white punk rock and Afro-punk movements emerged in the 1970s as subcultures that rejected mainstream culture and celebrated alternative music and fashion.  The movement emerged from a documentary film that James Spooner made in 2003 called "Afro-Punk." The film explored the experiences of black people in the predominantly white punk rock scene and featured interviews with black punk rockers and fans. Around this time was when the term "afro-punk" was coined in order to represent this specific group of people and the ideologies they stood for, even though forms of afro-punk had existed for years before that. However, the white punk movement was dominated by white musicians and fans and the two movements share forms of experiences like class, poverty, drug issues, and being LGBTQ+ but the main difference is that individuals in white punk have not experienced being heavily affected by racism while the Afro-Punk movement focuses on racial liberation amongst other things. These two scenes have distinctive musical and fashion styles, but there are differences in their origins and aesthetics. White punk music is often associated with a specific sound, including distorted guitars and aggressive vocals, while Afro-Punk incorporates a wider range of musical styles, including punk, rock, hip-hop, and electronic music, and often incorporates elements of African cultural aesthetics into fashion and style.

        White punk was initially more focused on anti-establishment politics and nihilistic themes, while Afro-Punk has a stronger emphasis on black identity, social justice, and anti-racism. White punk has had more mainstream recognition and commercial success and have achieved widespread popularity and influence while the Afro-Punk movement has largely remained an underground subculture. Afro-Punk has embraced a wider range of voices and perspectives, including those of LGBTQ+ people, women, and other marginalized groups. As of recently, white punk spaces have become more diverse and topics such as transphobia, racism, and homophobia are much less tolerant and sometimes dealt with through violence and/or confrontation which highly contrasts to the 70s where white punk had sub-genres such as neonazis or skinheads. Overall, while the Afro-Punk and white punk movements share some similarities, they have significant differences in their origins, aesthetics, cultural and political expressions, mainstream recognition, and inclusivity.