“It’s now very common to hear people say, ‘I’m rather offended by that.’ As if that gives them certain rights; it’s actually nothing more… than a whine. ‘I find that offensive,’ it has no meaning, it has no purpose, it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. ‘I am offended by that.’ Well so f^^^^^g what?”
Without taking sides in this understandably emotional debate, I am ashamed that the Journal, supposedly Humboldt’s only credible newspaper, would publish such rubbish. I am afraid you guys have lost your rudder. Though I will not hold my breath, for the good of our community I wish you the best of luck righting your ship.
Just because some dumbass idea for a cartoon forms in your brain, does not mean you have to publish it. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and beliefs, but it doesn’t mean you should put out an offensive cartoon every time you don’t agree with someone.
Once again, I find it odd that as a people in this country we cherry pick what we want to see in writing or are “disgusted” by what we see with no real conversation. I frankly had no idea who or what he was talking about..lol so I looked up Capleton. I found these lyrics..
(Intro)
Equal rights and justice for all
Rise and never fall
Tell dem sey… Boom!
What dey gonna do, when nuff a dem nuh true
Say what they gonna do, dem get slew, yaaaw
(Sub-Chorus)
Who do you think you are, we’re living ina small world
As wicked as you think you are, we’re living in a small world
As bad as you think you are, we’re living in a small world
As tough as you think you are, we’re living in a…
Da one ya name, alright
(Chorus)
That day will come, when I shall stand and see all those wicked men and the fiyah gettin bun
That day will come, when they will try to escape and there will be nowhere to run
That day will come, when I shall see, they hand in all the bombs and bayonnettes and bullets and gun
That day will come, when Emperor Selassie I shall rise di whole a di ghetto yute dem from outta di slum
(Verse 1)
And the day I would love to see their face
For the all those evil they do to the human race
And try to take things out of place
Run away to space, true dem inna…
Off you owna judgement, you a go get a taste
When dem find out sey dat dem caan escape
Sadness they send on the people dem trace
Smile on my face
(Chorus)
That day will come, when I shall stand and see all those wicked men and the fiyah gettin bun
That day will come, when they will try to escape and there will be nowhere to run
That day will come, when I shall see, they hand in all the bombs and bayonnettes and bullets and gun
That day will come, when Emperor Selassie I shall rise di whole a di ghetto yute dem from outta di slum
(Sub-Chorus)
Who do you think you are, we’re living ina small world
Those are great lyrics Lynda. They don’t fit in very well with his song about hanging homosexuals. It’s a shame that he leaves them out of his thoughts about peace. He’s not the only one.
Again, if the lyrics were about hanging members of an ethnic group, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Yow string them up and hang them up alive
All queers who come around here
This mama earth says none can survive.
It’s a translation from patois, but the meaning is still loud and clear in the patois. You can find this and more if you look with honest and open eyes. It’s sad.
The fact that the same human being could write both the lyrics you quote and the lyrics I quote is just another demonstration of how remarkable human beings are. I’m sure many racists in the deep south in the fifties wrote a lot about loving humanity. They just didn’t include everyone in their idea of humanity.
..the medias control over hederosexual people gone mad. F u Joel Melke! We (as rastas) love Capelton! and gay people! and everyone else including your confused ass!
What exactly is this cartoon supposed to be about Joel? Perhaps you are trying to follow in the footsteps of the cartoonists who have gone out of their way to deliberately insult muslims therfore causing riots? For some reason you think it’s ok to stereotype an entire religion based on the lyrics of a song written 10 years ago that the artist has since denounced? How about we judge you based on a hateful cartoon that you drew for the rest of your life. Sound good? No wonder the Journal hired you. You are obviously such a master of social commentary of our local culture. Is their any group left in Humboldt County that you haven’t yet managed to insult with your sterotypes? :JAH HATES FAGS” ? Nice work you managed to insult an entire religion, reggae music fans, and the LGTB community all in one cartoon. You’ve really outdone yourself this time. We can only hope that the Journal allows you to continue to express your hatred of our community in your oh so clever manner. Keep up the good work.
Americans have a poor memory for historical events. Otherwise I’m sure someone would have objected to the use of the hanging imagery in Joel’s cartoon.
After all, lynchings (usually of black men) were once a common and shameful part of America’s history. If that ugly fact were taught in American schools, I doubt Joel himself would have included the noose in the picture he drew.
But as others have said, no one is calling for Capleton to be hanged. It’s just the other way around. He has called for LGBT people to be hanged, burned, in short, murdered. But that, according to MielkeToast, was long ago and far away, so we should ignore it.
We are calling for all people of good will to stand with us against murder music of the type Capleton used to establish his credentials in the music world. Refuse to patronize musicians who profit from murder music. If you discover other performers will be coming here to perform murder music, blow the whistle on them.
As Edmund Burke wrote long ago and far away, all that it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
Dear Perspective, I am and I’m sure many others are deeply offended by the imagery used by Joel in this cartoon. A noose on the stage of a black performer who is being persecuted for his past?!? But I decided to be nice and give Joel the benefit of the doubt and not accuse him of being a racist who calls for the death of black people in his published works. You see I like to judge people by their actions…not by there words or in Joel’s case by his cartoons. Contrary to what you wrote it’s clear that I never said Capleton’s past shoud be ignored. By all means if you are unable to forgive him for what he did a decade ago then you should not go to his concerts or buy his albums. Simple enough. Capleton no longer performs what some people refer to as murder music. In fact his lyrics now have a very postive and uplifiting message for everyone. As a previous post said Rastas love everyone including the LGBT people. I believe in forgiveness and second chances in life. Capleton deserves to be allowed to perform and prove that he has changed as he already did two years ago at the Red Fox.
Nobody is saying that anyone has to support Capleton. All I and many others are saying is that nobody has the right to prevent him from performing for those that do.
Since your so fond of quotes I have a couple for you as well:
“To err is human; to forgive is divine” -Alexander Pope
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” – Jesus Christ
Murder music activists were very prepared — actually, too naively prepared — to take Capleton at his word, when he signed a document in 2007 agreeing to stop calling for the death of gay people (or for violence against anyone). He violated the agreement before the end of 2007 — that’s a fact that is not in dispute, though his promoters continue to trot out the fact that he signed the agreement as evidence that he’s stopped calling for our deaths, as if he had never violated it.
At this point, it’s very hard to believe him and other artists who have broken their word — they make promises when they want to tour in the US and Europe, and promptly break them when they return to Jamaica, Africa, and the Caribbean. Gay people in Jamaica are routinely attacked simply for existing, and the problem has become worse as dancehall has become more popular: http://www.guernicamag.com/features/greenberg_12_1_10/
How many second chances does a performer get to call for the death of gay people from his stage?
Another performer who signed the agreement in 2007 was Beenie Man, who called for gays to be killed in Uganda in 2009.
And how do you seriously discuss anything with someone like Medic (comment of 12:06), who manages to go from “F U Joel Mielke” to loving his confused ass in just a sentence or two?
Mitch I appreciate your calm and thoughful response that’s why I know you will be able to see this argument from the other side…Beenie Man recorded this video in May 2012 apologizing to the LGBT community and declared his respect for all human beings regardless of sexual orientation. Saying that he was young and ignorant when he recorded those songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMSpXqBQY8U&feature=related
As far as Capleton goes he hasn’t performed any of those songs in the past 5 years. You can still boycott these artists for what they did in the past but you have no reason to boycott their current performances.
I guess time will tell whether Beenie Man has finally decided to make peace with the gay community. It’s not promising that in the youtube you mention, he talks about being blamed for what he did 20 years ago, while this 2009 report is out there:
He is quoted (approvingly) as saying from the stage, in late 2009, that he would like to cut the throats of all gay men. That’s three years ago. So it sounds like there’s a different message for Ugandans than for Americans. It sounds like he just says what he has to say to try to avoid boycotts in America and Europe.
Maybe he’s changed, but it will take more than the youtube video to convince me that he has. If he hadn’t broken his word in 2007, or if he were more forthcoming with the truth of how recently he’d been calling for people’s murder, I’d find it easier to believe that he is changing.
And Beenie-man’s incitement in Uganda is more likely to get violent results even than in Jamaica. Hatred for gays is enshrined in the law in Uganda, and part of the blame can be pinned on American evangelicals, who have financially supported the most belligerent Christian elements in Uganda and fanned the flames of their hatred.
Praise Jesus, right?
With the return of Capelton as promoted by Bonus, once again Humboldt County is faced with the very real problem of what is deemed “Murder Music.” The continued consumption and support of which, causes our community to not feel like a safe(r) place to live for queer (in this context some may read this as LGBTTIA: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Intersex and Asexual) people, such as myself.
The reality of aforementioned performer’s lyrical content and multiple violations of the Reggae Compassionate Act demonstrate the level at which he is committed to the message that queer folks’ lives must be forcibly taken from us, more than likely taken from the social environment and larger context of performers from which he originates. One need only to scratch at the surface to uncover the super hostile culture queer folks experience within Rastafari Jamaica, and how pervasive murder, mutilation and violence is. How the manifestations of a post-colonial patriarchy, embroiled in the synthesis of an Abramic-based faith and a nation’s people robbed of their identity via the slave trade, contribute to violence against queers and womyn is surely a worthy topic of discussion but I wish to speak to Humboldt County and how we interface with all of this.
Humboldt is often lauded as being rather liberal due to the (one-time) environmental activism and (ever present) cannabis culture. This in turn, has created an environment in which the sense of liberalism overrides any actual issue related to social justice. Professor Christina Accomando, in a Power & Privilege class I took once upon a time, dubbed this sensation the “I can’t be a racist/homophobe/misogynist because I recycle” syndrome. The most rampant example of this line of thinking is related to cultural appropriation, and the unmindful consumption of afro-centric media.
Now, I don’t want to reproduce any of the literature regarding “Cultural Appropriation versus Cultural Appreciation”, there are free zines and essays on the Internet, so trust me when I say that the utilization of Rastafari imagery, aesthetic, and media by White Cannabis Culture is predominantly cultural appropriation, meaning that they are stolen from the context they originate in and are used as a “cultural spice.” And in Humboldt, it is easy to witness this, due largely to the overwhelmingly white demographic of the county and the saturation of Cannabis Culture. And it goes unquestioned, unspoken against. (Aside from that “Anti-Racist Haircut” campaign the Black Student Union at HSU had a few years back, but Campus Activism rarely penetrates the community at large unfortunately.)
It is this drive to assimilate and appropriate that allows for performers such as Capleton to stay in business, as those involved consume all that which is Rasta with little thought. I have read several communications stating that those who attend are “peaceful” and “come for the beats and music,” and most likely do not understand the lyrical content. I posit that if these people were engaged in mindful consumption instead of appropriation, the promoters and venues would not have had a sold out show for this performer two years ago and be faced with choosing profit over justice; that if they examined the ways in which their consumption effected not only their own community, but the way in which this cultural export supported the system of violence from whch it originationes, they would not insist that Capleton’s performace be allowed.
For those that say that this is “Freedom of Speech,” I challenge them to grow up queer in Humboldt County and suffer the death threats, beatings, bullying and associated suicidality that living in a culture that refuses to acknowledge the very real threat hate speech poses.
I urge this community to meaningfully and wholly engage in Anti-Racist Activism. I declare with urgency that queers and our allies must make a stand against those that would have us dead.
And I offer us all a blessing:
Dearly Departed Nuns of the Above and our Blessed Saints, please give our community the strength to challenge itself to come to understanding. Grace us with the guidance to create spaces free of hatred and despair. Nurture the love within all of our hearts, so that we may embrace once another for support on our path to healing. May Universal Joy be Promulgated, and Stigmatic Guilt Expiated. Ah-men. Ah-womyn. Ah-all of us.
Thanks! “I can’t be racist because I recycle” is a wonderfully succinct summary of some local folk’s inability to see the truth of some local prejudice.
This is why the Journal is free because no one would pay for this crap!!!!!! How can the LGBT community compare themselves to blacks? Are you kidding me!!!!! Did we steal the LGBT from their home country? Rape and murder their mothers and sisters and brothers? Hang them up for our own entertainment!!!!! The LGBT community should be ashamed!!! GET OVER YOURSELVES!!!!!!
If suffering is measured in exclamation marks, then Sister M wins the prize.
I wonder if her emphatic message would comfort Jamaican gays, who bear the burden of being gay in a militantly homophobic culture on top of all of the historical maladies of racism listed above?
Wow NCJ. Real classy. You talk about Capelton (and JAH) hating fags, when you are condoning further hate. Well guess what… Your intentions and message is whacked. Didn’t you learn anything in grade school!? Who is this Joel kook..? This toon makes me think you are the racist and hateful one here. Go home. This is seriously some childish BS. So what..? When Snoop Lion comes to town you going to put an image of him with an uzi in his hands shooting crips and bloods at Red Fox. Or any reggae artist will be greeted with a sick cartoon such as this because all Rasta’s hate fags, right!!!? That’s the way I see your message here. The world is bigger than you so humble yourself, find a new career, and learn how to be respectful. You owe Brian Swislow a huge apology as well as the entire JA community. Man, your karma just plummeted. I do feel for you man.
I see them fighting against Rasta & Reggae but I don’t see them shutting down their local churches. It’s the same Torah & Bible that teach I&I how to live clean. I been to nuff Capleton shows I never heard him talk about Lynching. Last I checked it wasn’t black people doing much lynching. I have to wonder what this cartoonists true intentions are. Why did he chose lynching when thinking of Capleton.
Gabriel Lautaro asks, “why did he chose lynching when thinking of Capleton?”
I wouldn’t presume to speak for Joel Mielke, Gabriel, but perhaps hanging came to mind because of this Capleton lyric:
Yow string them up and hang them up alive All queers who come around here This mama earth says none can survive.
Or, if you prefer the untranslated version:
Yow….String dem up and hang dem up alive Bare batty man come round yah a brive….yow String dem up and hang dem up alive Couldn’t mamma earth dema try fi deprive ….yow String dem up and hang dem up alive Full time now yu burn out di dutty vibe….yow String dem up and hang dem up alive Dis mamma earth sey none cyann survive
Disgusting idea of someone’s version of funny……
I am seriously offended by this, you are mistaken on Capleton’s beliefs.
“It’s now very common to hear people say, ‘I’m rather offended by that.’ As if that gives them certain rights; it’s actually nothing more… than a whine. ‘I find that offensive,’ it has no meaning, it has no purpose, it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. ‘I am offended by that.’ Well so f^^^^^g what?”
—
Stephen Fry
Capleton’s beliefs are unmistakable.
Without taking sides in this understandably emotional debate, I am ashamed that the Journal, supposedly Humboldt’s only credible newspaper, would publish such rubbish. I am afraid you guys have lost your rudder. Though I will not hold my breath, for the good of our community I wish you the best of luck righting your ship.
Way to reach the sensational. Hope it help you get people to read your rag. The agenda of the writers turns me off.
Just because some dumbass idea for a cartoon forms in your brain, does not mean you have to publish it. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and beliefs, but it doesn’t mean you should put out an offensive cartoon every time you don’t agree with someone.
This is why I love Freedom of Speech. Not a fan of Capleton’s gay bashing lyrics, but he has that right. As for the cartoon? Joel’s best yet!
But … Capleton’s so spiritual!
This brings the point home. Thanks Joel!
This guy can’t draw so he found a way to get noticed.
Once again, I find it odd that as a people in this country we cherry pick what we want to see in writing or are “disgusted” by what we see with no real conversation. I frankly had no idea who or what he was talking about..lol so I looked up Capleton. I found these lyrics..
(Intro)
Equal rights and justice for all
Rise and never fall
Tell dem sey… Boom!
What dey gonna do, when nuff a dem nuh true
Say what they gonna do, dem get slew, yaaaw
(Sub-Chorus)
Who do you think you are, we’re living ina small world
As wicked as you think you are, we’re living in a small world
As bad as you think you are, we’re living in a small world
As tough as you think you are, we’re living in a…
Da one ya name, alright
(Chorus)
That day will come, when I shall stand and see all those wicked men and the fiyah gettin bun
That day will come, when they will try to escape and there will be nowhere to run
That day will come, when I shall see, they hand in all the bombs and bayonnettes and bullets and gun
That day will come, when Emperor Selassie I shall rise di whole a di ghetto yute dem from outta di slum
(Verse 1)
And the day I would love to see their face
For the all those evil they do to the human race
And try to take things out of place
Run away to space, true dem inna…
Off you owna judgement, you a go get a taste
When dem find out sey dat dem caan escape
Sadness they send on the people dem trace
Smile on my face
(Chorus)
That day will come, when I shall stand and see all those wicked men and the fiyah gettin bun
That day will come, when they will try to escape and there will be nowhere to run
That day will come, when I shall see, they hand in all the bombs and bayonnettes and bullets and gun
That day will come, when Emperor Selassie I shall rise di whole a di ghetto yute dem from outta di slum
(Sub-Chorus)
Who do you think you are, we’re living ina small world
Those are great lyrics Lynda. They don’t fit in very well with his song about hanging homosexuals. It’s a shame that he leaves them out of his thoughts about peace. He’s not the only one.
Again, if the lyrics were about hanging members of an ethnic group, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Yes, Lynda, I found some Capleton lyrics, too.
Yow string them up and hang them up alive
All queers who come around here
This mama earth says none can survive.
It’s a translation from patois, but the meaning is still loud and clear in the patois. You can find this and more if you look with honest and open eyes. It’s sad.
The fact that the same human being could write both the lyrics you quote and the lyrics I quote is just another demonstration of how remarkable human beings are. I’m sure many racists in the deep south in the fifties wrote a lot about loving humanity. They just didn’t include everyone in their idea of humanity.
For some info about Capleton: http://bit.ly/K7hQIo
..the medias control over hederosexual people gone mad. F u Joel Melke! We (as rastas) love Capelton! and gay people! and everyone else including your confused ass!
What exactly is this cartoon supposed to be about Joel? Perhaps you are trying to follow in the footsteps of the cartoonists who have gone out of their way to deliberately insult muslims therfore causing riots? For some reason you think it’s ok to stereotype an entire religion based on the lyrics of a song written 10 years ago that the artist has since denounced? How about we judge you based on a hateful cartoon that you drew for the rest of your life. Sound good? No wonder the Journal hired you. You are obviously such a master of social commentary of our local culture. Is their any group left in Humboldt County that you haven’t yet managed to insult with your sterotypes? :JAH HATES FAGS” ? Nice work you managed to insult an entire religion, reggae music fans, and the LGTB community all in one cartoon. You’ve really outdone yourself this time. We can only hope that the Journal allows you to continue to express your hatred of our community in your oh so clever manner. Keep up the good work.
Americans have a poor memory for historical events. Otherwise I’m sure someone would have objected to the use of the hanging imagery in Joel’s cartoon.
After all, lynchings (usually of black men) were once a common and shameful part of America’s history. If that ugly fact were taught in American schools, I doubt Joel himself would have included the noose in the picture he drew.
But as others have said, no one is calling for Capleton to be hanged. It’s just the other way around. He has called for LGBT people to be hanged, burned, in short, murdered. But that, according to MielkeToast, was long ago and far away, so we should ignore it.
We are calling for all people of good will to stand with us against murder music of the type Capleton used to establish his credentials in the music world. Refuse to patronize musicians who profit from murder music. If you discover other performers will be coming here to perform murder music, blow the whistle on them.
As Edmund Burke wrote long ago and far away, all that it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
Dear Perspective, I am and I’m sure many others are deeply offended by the imagery used by Joel in this cartoon. A noose on the stage of a black performer who is being persecuted for his past?!? But I decided to be nice and give Joel the benefit of the doubt and not accuse him of being a racist who calls for the death of black people in his published works. You see I like to judge people by their actions…not by there words or in Joel’s case by his cartoons. Contrary to what you wrote it’s clear that I never said Capleton’s past shoud be ignored. By all means if you are unable to forgive him for what he did a decade ago then you should not go to his concerts or buy his albums. Simple enough. Capleton no longer performs what some people refer to as murder music. In fact his lyrics now have a very postive and uplifiting message for everyone. As a previous post said Rastas love everyone including the LGBT people. I believe in forgiveness and second chances in life. Capleton deserves to be allowed to perform and prove that he has changed as he already did two years ago at the Red Fox.
Nobody is saying that anyone has to support Capleton. All I and many others are saying is that nobody has the right to prevent him from performing for those that do.
Since your so fond of quotes I have a couple for you as well:
“To err is human; to forgive is divine” -Alexander Pope
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” – Jesus Christ
Murder music activists were very prepared — actually, too naively prepared — to take Capleton at his word, when he signed a document in 2007 agreeing to stop calling for the death of gay people (or for violence against anyone). He violated the agreement before the end of 2007 — that’s a fact that is not in dispute, though his promoters continue to trot out the fact that he signed the agreement as evidence that he’s stopped calling for our deaths, as if he had never violated it.
http://my.firedoglake.com/heathen07/2012/05/02/who-is-capleton-and-what-is-he-doing-in-2012-2/
At this point, it’s very hard to believe him and other artists who have broken their word — they make promises when they want to tour in the US and Europe, and promptly break them when they return to Jamaica, Africa, and the Caribbean. Gay people in Jamaica are routinely attacked simply for existing, and the problem has become worse as dancehall has become more popular: http://www.guernicamag.com/features/greenberg_12_1_10/
How many second chances does a performer get to call for the death of gay people from his stage?
Another performer who signed the agreement in 2007 was Beenie Man, who called for gays to be killed in Uganda in 2009.
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/12/06/17462
Uganda has recently seen legislation calling for the death penalty for homosexual activity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Uganda
And how do you seriously discuss anything with someone like Medic (comment of 12:06), who manages to go from “F U Joel Mielke” to loving his confused ass in just a sentence or two?
Mitch I appreciate your calm and thoughful response that’s why I know you will be able to see this argument from the other side…Beenie Man recorded this video in May 2012 apologizing to the LGBT community and declared his respect for all human beings regardless of sexual orientation. Saying that he was young and ignorant when he recorded those songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMSpXqBQY8U&feature=related
As far as Capleton goes he hasn’t performed any of those songs in the past 5 years. You can still boycott these artists for what they did in the past but you have no reason to boycott their current performances.
If Medic’s contribution to the thread (several comments above) serves as any indication, Rastafarians are trying to murder English, along with gays.
Mielketoast,
I guess time will tell whether Beenie Man has finally decided to make peace with the gay community. It’s not promising that in the youtube you mention, he talks about being blamed for what he did 20 years ago, while this 2009 report is out there:
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/12/06/17462
He is quoted (approvingly) as saying from the stage, in late 2009, that he would like to cut the throats of all gay men. That’s three years ago. So it sounds like there’s a different message for Ugandans than for Americans. It sounds like he just says what he has to say to try to avoid boycotts in America and Europe.
Maybe he’s changed, but it will take more than the youtube video to convince me that he has. If he hadn’t broken his word in 2007, or if he were more forthcoming with the truth of how recently he’d been calling for people’s murder, I’d find it easier to believe that he is changing.
And Beenie-man’s incitement in Uganda is more likely to get violent results even than in Jamaica. Hatred for gays is enshrined in the law in Uganda, and part of the blame can be pinned on American evangelicals, who have financially supported the most belligerent Christian elements in Uganda and fanned the flames of their hatred.
Praise Jesus, right?
Dear Community:
With the return of Capelton as promoted by Bonus, once again Humboldt County is faced with the very real problem of what is deemed “Murder Music.” The continued consumption and support of which, causes our community to not feel like a safe(r) place to live for queer (in this context some may read this as LGBTTIA: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Intersex and Asexual) people, such as myself.
The reality of aforementioned performer’s lyrical content and multiple violations of the Reggae Compassionate Act demonstrate the level at which he is committed to the message that queer folks’ lives must be forcibly taken from us, more than likely taken from the social environment and larger context of performers from which he originates. One need only to scratch at the surface to uncover the super hostile culture queer folks experience within Rastafari Jamaica, and how pervasive murder, mutilation and violence is. How the manifestations of a post-colonial patriarchy, embroiled in the synthesis of an Abramic-based faith and a nation’s people robbed of their identity via the slave trade, contribute to violence against queers and womyn is surely a worthy topic of discussion but I wish to speak to Humboldt County and how we interface with all of this.
Humboldt is often lauded as being rather liberal due to the (one-time) environmental activism and (ever present) cannabis culture. This in turn, has created an environment in which the sense of liberalism overrides any actual issue related to social justice. Professor Christina Accomando, in a Power & Privilege class I took once upon a time, dubbed this sensation the “I can’t be a racist/homophobe/misogynist because I recycle” syndrome. The most rampant example of this line of thinking is related to cultural appropriation, and the unmindful consumption of afro-centric media.
Now, I don’t want to reproduce any of the literature regarding “Cultural Appropriation versus Cultural Appreciation”, there are free zines and essays on the Internet, so trust me when I say that the utilization of Rastafari imagery, aesthetic, and media by White Cannabis Culture is predominantly cultural appropriation, meaning that they are stolen from the context they originate in and are used as a “cultural spice.” And in Humboldt, it is easy to witness this, due largely to the overwhelmingly white demographic of the county and the saturation of Cannabis Culture. And it goes unquestioned, unspoken against. (Aside from that “Anti-Racist Haircut” campaign the Black Student Union at HSU had a few years back, but Campus Activism rarely penetrates the community at large unfortunately.)
It is this drive to assimilate and appropriate that allows for performers such as Capleton to stay in business, as those involved consume all that which is Rasta with little thought. I have read several communications stating that those who attend are “peaceful” and “come for the beats and music,” and most likely do not understand the lyrical content. I posit that if these people were engaged in mindful consumption instead of appropriation, the promoters and venues would not have had a sold out show for this performer two years ago and be faced with choosing profit over justice; that if they examined the ways in which their consumption effected not only their own community, but the way in which this cultural export supported the system of violence from whch it originationes, they would not insist that Capleton’s performace be allowed.
For those that say that this is “Freedom of Speech,” I challenge them to grow up queer in Humboldt County and suffer the death threats, beatings, bullying and associated suicidality that living in a culture that refuses to acknowledge the very real threat hate speech poses.
I urge this community to meaningfully and wholly engage in Anti-Racist Activism. I declare with urgency that queers and our allies must make a stand against those that would have us dead.
And I offer us all a blessing:
Dearly Departed Nuns of the Above and our Blessed Saints, please give our community the strength to challenge itself to come to understanding. Grace us with the guidance to create spaces free of hatred and despair. Nurture the love within all of our hearts, so that we may embrace once another for support on our path to healing. May Universal Joy be Promulgated, and Stigmatic Guilt Expiated. Ah-men. Ah-womyn. Ah-all of us.
With Care,
Sister Gaia T
Wasn’t it the Women’s Resource Center who had the anti-racist haircut coupon?
They did have the coupons! Oh I totally forgot about that!
I do remember that the BSU tabled and was giving haircuts (with clippers) right on the quad.
Dear Sister Gaia T,
Thanks! “I can’t be racist because I recycle” is a wonderfully succinct summary of some local folk’s inability to see the truth of some local prejudice.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
This is why the Journal is free because no one would pay for this crap!!!!!! How can the LGBT community compare themselves to blacks? Are you kidding me!!!!! Did we steal the LGBT from their home country? Rape and murder their mothers and sisters and brothers? Hang them up for our own entertainment!!!!! The LGBT community should be ashamed!!! GET OVER YOURSELVES!!!!!!
If suffering is measured in exclamation marks, then Sister M wins the prize.
I wonder if her emphatic message would comfort Jamaican gays, who bear the burden of being gay in a militantly homophobic culture on top of all of the historical maladies of racism listed above?
Not sure why Joel gets a free pass on wanting to lynch a black man… odd cartoon.
The scaffold was meant to represent what Capleton has suggested for gay people, not what I would suggest for Capleton.
Joel, you must have been absent the first day of Cartooning 101 were they taught if you have to explain you comic, you missed the mark.
Maybe you should go back to your classist ways of disparaging poor white people in Eureka.
I’ll be sure to take more advice from hilarious wits like Salzman’s Cat. That’ll produce some real knee-slappers.
Wow NCJ. Real classy. You talk about Capelton (and JAH) hating fags, when you are condoning further hate. Well guess what… Your intentions and message is whacked. Didn’t you learn anything in grade school!? Who is this Joel kook..? This toon makes me think you are the racist and hateful one here. Go home. This is seriously some childish BS. So what..? When Snoop Lion comes to town you going to put an image of him with an uzi in his hands shooting crips and bloods at Red Fox. Or any reggae artist will be greeted with a sick cartoon such as this because all Rasta’s hate fags, right!!!? That’s the way I see your message here. The world is bigger than you so humble yourself, find a new career, and learn how to be respectful. You owe Brian Swislow a huge apology as well as the entire JA community. Man, your karma just plummeted. I do feel for you man.
Perhaps “Salzman’s Cat” can explain the cartoon to “Reincarnated.”
I see them fighting against Rasta & Reggae but I don’t see them shutting down their local churches. It’s the same Torah & Bible that teach I&I how to live clean. I been to nuff Capleton shows I never heard him talk about Lynching. Last I checked it wasn’t black people doing much lynching. I have to wonder what this cartoonists true intentions are. Why did he chose lynching when thinking of Capleton.
Gabriel Lautaro asks, “why did he chose lynching when thinking of Capleton?”
I wouldn’t presume to speak for Joel Mielke, Gabriel, but perhaps hanging came to mind because of this Capleton lyric:
Yow string them up and hang them up alive All queers who come around here This mama earth says none can survive.
Or, if you prefer the untranslated version:
Yow….String dem up and hang dem up alive Bare batty man come round yah a brive….yow String dem up and hang dem up alive Couldn’t mamma earth dema try fi deprive ….yow String dem up and hang dem up alive Full time now yu burn out di dutty vibe….yow String dem up and hang dem up alive Dis mamma earth sey none cyann survive