The Midas Touch of Blackness

    The article by Nikita Richardson that we read for today was very informative in terms of an overall view of Afro-Punk as not only a punk subculture but also a Black subculture. As someone who will now identify proudly as Afro-punk (I would've for a long time before now-- but I didn't actually know what it meant until studying it in this class), many of the aspects discussed in the article and the film that we watched were not unfamiliar concepts to me, namely the ostracisation from both Black and white communities for the interests I had. However, I lacked the language and community to address such issues until recently. And while that is its own topic that could span a whole lot of discussion, I was brought back to thinking about something that Afro-Punk is just another example of.

Throughout the history of Blackness (as in, post-slave ships), Black people have been denied all sorts of inclusivity in all aspects of life. A clear example is something like segregation, but in regard to Afro-punk-ness, Black people have also been denied community in the arts. 

When I learned a while ago that so many genres of music originated or were in part invented by Black people, I was genuinely flabbergasted; some of these same genres are almost devoid of the same color of people that spawned their creation. Namely, in regard to Afro-punk, bands that are beloved by punk communities would not be what they are without the Black jazz artists that came before them to provide their inspiration (just as one example). 

This makes me consider the talent in expression that Black people have always had, and how it is so antithetical to deny Black people presence knowing that historically, we've only made things better by being there. This is particularly true for music; when Black artists impart their experience and culture into something that was previously "exclusively white," it transforms into something entirely new. 

However, the onus is on white people to invite, acknowledge, and accept Black people into these spaces, and not on us to force our way into spaces where we aren't welcome, and so I do wish that well... Racism didn't exist. But clearly, that's not happening. So, in the meantime, it would be beneficial to anyone who enjoys not only the arts, but the human experience, to realize that a diverse array of lived experiences can only provide a net positive to their lives.

(There is also something to be said about things such as past and modern blaxploitation, however, that's outside of my scope for now.)