Respect – Dancehall Against Discrimination and Intolerance

taken from http://www.dancehall-alliance.de

Respect – Dancehall Against Discrimination and Intolerance. We hereby explicitly disassociate ourselves from any and all discriminatory and intolerant views. There have been misunderstandings that led to misrepresentations. We are a nonviolent, tolerant and respectful community where differences are just as appreciated as similarities. All of those who identify with these guiding principles are more than welcome. to celebrate with us. Feel free to find out for yourself. Pull up!
As it is difficult to balance the views of so many different people, we would prefer to let Bob
Marley do the talking. He had much to say.
BM: Every man got the right to decide his own destiny.
Everyone has the right to live his or her life in his or her desired way, without the fear or
threat of persecution, discrimination or violence. Since the formation of the reggae scene
as a countercultural movement, we have and will continue to live in accordance to the
principle Live and let live.

BM: Prejudice is a chain, it can hold you. If you prejudice, you can't move, you keep
prejudice for years. Never get nowhere with that.
We're a diverse scene with people of different ages, classes, origins, ethnicities, gender,
religions and sexual orientation. A project like this only works when you accept others
being different. We reject intolerance and discrimination, be it in form of racism, sexism or
homophobia.
BM: Reggae is a music that has plenty fight. But only the music should fight, not
the people.

At least since the emergence of dancehall, the notion of reggae as pure feel-good music
has lost its credibility. Dancehall is much more aggressive than Roots reggae, both
musically and content-wise. Along with Olaf Karnik from Riddim Magazine, we understand
homophobic lyrics metaphorically; in the context of the Sound System Clash Culture that
appears warlike altogether. Sound Systems metaphorically burn and kill Babylon (and
each other) verbally until not a stone is left standing.

BM: The first thing you must know about me is that I always stand what I stand for.
Good? The second thing you must know about yourself listening to me is that
words are tricky. So when you know what me a stand for, when me explain a thing
to you, you must never try to look 'pon it in a different way from what me a stand
for.

It's next to impossible to understand statements outside of their original context. In
Jamaica, homophobia is culturally, religiously and even lawfully fixed. Fortunately, this
doesn't go for Germany, or at least certainly not to the same degree. It also doesn't mean
that we approve of that fact. But we are listening to Jamaican music after all – and we
don't listen to it because it's homophobic (and that's just a very small part of it, anyway!),
but because we love the music. In order to fully understand any music, one needs to
closely examine its culture of origin, and this can even initiate reflection.
The good times of today are the sad thoughts of tomorrow.

It still makes you stop and think when people point out that homophobic hate-crimes
frequently occur in Jamaica. Therefore, somebody who's singing along to Battyboy-Tunes
today, tomorrow could be wondering what happened to Brian Williamson, co-founder of JFlag
(Jamaican Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays). He was killed in 2004. He was
neither the first nor the last victim of anti-gay violence in Jamaica, nor in Germany, and this
is horrible.

Therefore, we have to ask ourselves: What do we do here with statements that call for
hate and violence, that contradict our principles? The situation in Germany is in our hands,
and to be able to keep celebrating Reggae and Dancehall parties and concerts under
these circumstances, we have to find alternatives to banning Jamaican artists from
German stages.

BM: Free speech carries with it some freedom to listen.
Hence: We do away with the Battyboy-Tune* in Germany.
For the artists, that means to stick to the Reggae Compassionate Act. For the
soundsystems, it means not to play those songs. For the fans, not to buy them. And for
those reggae clubs that haven't already done it, to come to clear agreements with the
artists.
* This includes those tunes, that spread homophobic agitation, as well as speeches and
announcements of such content.
BM: No man can lead man, we have to have unity.
We attached three sign-up lists for you to publicly identify with us: One for fans, one for
professionals, and one for artists.
If you'd like to comment, discuss, argue: You're welcome to use the forum on www.uclub.
de. But please, even with contrarian views:
Respect – Dancehall against Discrimination and Intolerance!

http://www.dancehall-alliance.de