[ad_2]
During Mile of Music, I danced my heart out to one of the most inclusive and innovative acts in the festival lineup: New Age Narcissism, the Milwaukee arts collective featuring a delightful array of musical talent, from powerfully skilled women of color guest rappers like Queen Tut and Zed Kenzo to the chord-shredding expertise of guitarist Angie Swan, all headed up by crowd-pleasing master of ceremonies Lex Allen.
Well done, Mile of Music bookers. Thanks for investing in diverse, varied genre musicians of color and LGBTQ performers. I love dancing at upbeat, joy-filled shows like New Age Narcissism because of the shoulder-to-shoulder connection of the audience, moving in tight harmony, locked in on the music. One can expect a good jostle; it’s part of the experience.
But as many women can tell you, it’s not always good. Many of us can tell you the difference, maybe even the exact moment when a crowd becomes unsafe. An unwelcome, targeted grasp by a stranger, focusing on you rather than the performance. I’ve experienced it before, including at this performance. Thankfully, two active bystanders saw what was happening and stood around me for a buffer, and the culprit’s friends apologized.
Full Coverage: Mile of Music
Afterward, I described my experience to an older family member who was a music maven, attending dozens of shows in her day throughout the Fox Valley. “Oh, we just learned to get used to it” she remembered with a sympathetic smile of understanding.
I realized: I’m not used to it.
I’m not used to being grabbed by a stranger while trying to enjoy an incredible festival in my hometown. And I shouldn’t have to get used to it. My experience is not isolated, and I know that other marginalized groups — people of color, folks who are LGBTQ and those with disabilities — experience harassment and discrimination in these contexts as well.
What to do? Keep speaking up clearly and civilly when you see harassment and discrimination. Be an active bystander who does not tolerate this behavior. These are great individual actions. We also need structural change.
Mile of Music is a celebratory and innovative festival that was once a grassroots startup and has now graduated to an awesome major state event hosting hundreds of artists and tens of thousands of music lovers. Mile of Music and other similar gatherings can institute comprehensive, clearly advertised anti-harassment and nondiscrimination policies, designate reporting spaces, train bias incident safe reporters and partner with local anti-violence and diversity organizations for expertise. We can support them in this process.
Festivals and conferences of all kinds, great and small, are setting the precedent: entertainment gatherings like ComicCon, tech gatherings like PyCon, and musical gatherings like CityFolk, Lakes Area Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival.
The good news? Mile of Music rocked. More good news? Together can do even more to make sure all people enjoy the music and feel safe while rocking.
Anna Czarnik-Neimeyer is a writer and assistant director St. Norbert College’s Cassandra Voss Center, which focuses on transformation through initiatives related to identity and inclusion.
Let's block ads! (Why?)
[ad_1]
Source link
No comments:
Post a Comment