Speaking Out: A Century of Activism in the Music Industry

in #explore19187 years ago (edited)

In light of the Grammys this past Sunday and a particularly interesting find in the archive, I wanted to talk about some examples of activism in the music industry in 1918 vs 2018.

An Archival Discovery


As we learned in my last post for #explore1918, the foundational stone of the Dunbar Theatre was laid in March of 1918, and the doors opened about a year and a half later. While I had previously been searching for any mention of the Dunbar in the Philadelphia Tribune online archives, this week, I instead focused my attention on the two founders of that theatre: Andrew Stevens and E.C. Brown.

Digging through obituaries and advertisements, I found yet another 1918 connection to the Dunbar. In the midst of fighting with contractors and soliciting stock holders for his new theater, Andrew F. Stevens was at the front lines of the 1918 Race Riots lambasting the police commissioner and demanding justice for the Black people of South Philadelphia. In the heat of July 1918, five days of fighting rocked South Philly and left five people dead (to learn more about this subject, you should read @kenfinkel's phillyhistory.org blogs starting here).

Started in 1884, the Philadelphia Tribune is the oldest, continuously published Black newspaper in the country.


Speaking directly to the commissioner in his office, Stevens said that he felt the "police were in sympathy with the white rioters" and left black citizens at the "mercy of the white mob." A few weeks later, Stevens made another house call to the police station at 61st and Thompson to submit a complaint against a known racist member of their force. In fact, after the riots of 1918, Stevens joined a committee to lobby the police commissioner and the Head of Public Safety at any and all occurrences of racist threats or attacks made against people of color.

Screen Shot 2018-01-30 at 10.24.15 PM.png

The headline of an article in which A.F. Stevens steps to the mob bosses of Philadelphia. What a guy.


In short, the owner of the Dunbar was a millionaire radical. The Grammy's are a night chock full of millionaires, but nothing particularly radical happened last Sunday.

An Awards Show Disappointment


Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS


I should tell you that I did not watch the Grammys. As much as I love fawning over Bruno Mars and his band's choreography or weeping at dead artist tributes (these are not sarcastic comments. I really love doing both of these things), I see the Grammys as commercially biased, artistically sterile, and politically silent. Put simply, the Grammys are a safe institution that normally steers clear of political controversy or even commentary.

This year, however, was supposed to be different. In 2017, many artists boycotted the awards ceremony for the exact reasons I listed above, and many fans and musicians alike thought this might be the year for a culturally relevant redemption. Alternatively, the New Yorker warned us to get ready for the "woke" Grammys. As columnist Amanda Petrusich states so eloquently,

"Awards shows are notoriously self-congratulatory, and it’s hard not to read meta-narratives into the display: to sniff out precisely how its executors are performing enlightenment."


And unfortunately, her predictions were correct. While many news organizations and late night hosts talked about how "political" the Grammys were, it was really just part of the show. The Grammys have once again failed to recognize the importance of rap and hip hop--genres of music that are both historically politically conscious and produced by people of color. And they continue to underrepresent women in all categories. Grammy voters are old, mostly white, mostly men, and seemingly out of touch with their community. No standing up for homeowners being harassed by white racist neighbors. No lobbying police commissioners to protect black citizens. Just...Bruno Mars*

*Let the record show that I truly, deeply love Bruno Mars and listened to 24K Magic roughly 400 times. It just didn't need to sweep the entire night.

Sources:

"LONE WOMAN HOLDS A MOB OF 500 WHITE BRUTES AT BAY." Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), Aug 03, 1918.

G, Grant Williams. "MILLS STOPS MOB LEADERS." Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), Sep 14, 1918.

100% of the SBD rewards from this #explore1918 post will support the Philadelphia History Initiative @phillyhistory. This crypto-experiment conducted by graduate courses at Temple University's Center for Public History and MLA Program, is exploring history and empowering education. Click here to learn more.

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Fantastic post! You've got a great writing voice and pulled me in with the story about the Grammys. The police (and other institutions) siding with one race over another is a theme I'd like to see cease to exist, but until the time comes where it isn't happening anymore, writing about it continues to raise awareness. Kudos for that. Steem on!

Thanks Katrina, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And yes, you're right--awareness and continued dialogue is key. I want to eventually morph this post and topic into a lesson plan for one of my 9th-12th grade classes because it's important for students to know the long history behind today's police brutality.

Killin it, Reed! This is super informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Curious for your thoughts on the celebrity response to Meek Mill's sentencing.

Ooof. I wonder if there's a way to connect that to 1918? I'm sure there are unreasonable judiciary decisions handed out 100 years ago that need to be mined.

I admire your willingness to try a leap from past to present. But was it really true that "the owner of the Dunbar was a millionaire radical"?

From a very reliable source: "But the theater soon floundered. Brown had a hard time finding and booking 'first class' entertainments and a surprisingly difficult time getting black Philadelphians to patronize the theater. In 1921, the partners were forced to sell their theater to John T. Gibson, who a year later reopened it as Gibson's Theatre."

Thanks for the check on my terminology, Ken. I would argue that during 1918, he was. I don't think booking issues were denting his pocket book over a year before the opening, but I'd have to look into the financial records of Dunbar Amusements to be totally sure! I more so wanted to highlight how involved this man is in local politics and social issues, and how far, far removed the Recording Academy is by comparison.

Great post!! It's also interesting to note this within the larger conversation about awards ceremonies, like the recent Golden Globes which tried to be more political, but was then criticized for either being too performative (everyone wearing black, including the men, who... were already going to be wearing black) or too lopsided (with the women who won giving powerful speeches about consent and harassment and the men just... not doing that).

But as you imply, none of that really matters if you're not rewarding and celebrating artists who are not men, who are people of color, who are successfully creating art without the benefits of a racist and sexist music or movie industry...

(And on a completely unrelated note: have you seen the cover of 24K Magic made with carrots?)

Right! These awards ceremonies need to practice what they preach. I didn't watch the Golden Globes, but I will (as always) watch the Oscars, and I'll look out for the discrepancies you mentioned in the men's vs women's speeches.

(And yes, you've shown it to me before, and I've been spreading the word ever since lol).

I'm sorry, I just really like that guy! :P

Nice! I never watch any of those entertainment award presentations, so to hear that they are apolitical is pretty surprising (I get my updates from those darn late night hosts). Then again, they've had a pretty easy target the past few years. I agree, they should use the stage to promote more pressing issues.

I also watch so much late night TV, and yea, they paint this picture of a united front against societal injustices. A bunch of the nominated artists promote causes and speak out (especially since the 2016 election), but it's the institutions themselves that need to be shaken up!