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10-29 Jacksonville, FL
CANCEL BUJU BANTON "RASTA GOT HATE" TOUR 2009
Buju 10/29/2009 8:00 PM at
Plush, Jacksonville, Florida
Cost: $30
Plush
845 University Blvd N
Jacksonville, FL 32211-9224
(904) 743-1845
Tom Fisher, Marketing Director
904.743.1845
His song "Boom Bye Bye" advocates pouring acid on LGBT people, "burning them up bad like an old tire wheel," and shooting them in the head with an AK-47. He also sings "Anytime Buju Banton come, f--gots get up and run ... they have to die".
Do your part to stand up to anti-gay incitements to violence.
Sign the letter to venue owners and elected officials.
Buju Banton is still scheduled to perform in three Florida cities this week. Thursday, Oct. 29th, in Jacksonville.Saturday, Oct. 31st, in Miami; and a new date was added for Friday, Oct. 30th, in St. Petersburg.
"Boom Bye Bye" has become an international gay bashing anthem. In 2004, Brian Williamson, Jamaica's leading gay activist, was violently chopped to death with a machete in his apartment in Kingston. A reporter walked to his street shortly after the murder and found a crowd of people gathered outside Williamson’s apartment singing and celebrating his murder and shouting the chorus of “Boom Bye Bye”.
Equality Florida staff have received an unprecedented flood of hate mail and threats in response toour public opposition to Banton's hateful lyrics. One staff member received a letter stating: "YOU ARE STARTING A WAR IN WHICH YOU WILL BE KILLED" And another says "YOU'LL BE 6 FEET UNDER PERMANENTLY."
Join Equality Florida along with elected officials, community leaders, and partner organizations including Save Dade, Unity Coalition, and Pridelines for a community response to performers who incite violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
Friday, October 30th 4:00pm
at the James L. Knight Center
400 SE 2nd Ave
Amid controversy, Buju Banton to play in Jacksonville on Thursday
Buju Banton's lyrics about gays have led to protests of his U.S. tour.
By Heather Lovejoy
Story updated at 12:31 PM on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
Despite nationwide protests by gay rights organizations and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Jamaican reggae star Buju
Banton is "absolutely coming" to Jacksonville, says Plush nightclub owner Tom Fisher. Banton, aka Gargamel, whose real name is Mark Myrie, is scheduled to perform Thursday at Plush in Arlington with reggae and R&B artist Wayne Wonder.
His U.S. tour, "Rasta Got Soul," has been plagued by controversy because of lyrics in his 1988 song "Boom Boom Bye," which describes shooting gay men with an Uzi.
His concerts in some cities have been canceled because of protests. In Dallas, Orlando and Los Angeles, his shows were dropped from their originally planned venues but picked up by others.
According to the "Cancel Buju Banton" Web site, a September show in Tampa was canceled, but Ticketmaster is now selling tickets for a show there on Friday at a different venue.
Nadine Smith, executive director of the Equality Florida, said her LGBT group's demand is simple: "Stop singing the song. Renounce the lyrics. Stop profiting from it."
Smith said it is not official, but there has "definitely" been local interest in having a demonstration outside Plush.
"It's not simply that he says ugly things about gay people. That's unfortunate, but so be it," she said. "It is the fact that he advocates and incites violence against gay people."
She said that in 2007, Banton signed a statement saying he would never sing "Boom Bye Bye" but was then recorded singing the song during a Miami concert. "
He has absolutely no remorse for the lyrics," Smith said.
Tracii McGregor, a representative from Banton's record company, Gargamel Music, said by e-mail that he no longer sings the controversial song.
"Clips circulating online are not actual performances of the entire song but freestyle fragments," she said.
McGregor said Banton does not own the masters or control rights to the song, so doesn't profit from it. She said Banton wrote the song in response to the rape of a young boy by a man. He preaches against violence, she said.
Fisher said Banton has played at Plush several times in the past decade, and did not sing the song. He said this is the first time anyone has protested, so he did look into the issue.
"He did have some lyrics we don't agree with," Fisher said, adding that the song was written more than 20 years ago when Banton was 15. The message Banton has brought to Plush in the past is one of peace and love, Fisher said.
"He doesn't promote [violence against gays]. If I really felt that he did, then we wouldn't have booked the show," Fisher said.
The "Cancel Buju Banton" group has posted a note online that they say is from Fisher. It reads: "We are strictly a venue. We do not share the views of any artist booked. ... I wish we were in a financial situation in which we could afford to be more selective with the artists coming."
Banton was arrested in connection with a 2004 beating of several gay men by a group in Jamaica, but charges were dropped.
Sex between gay men is illegal in Jamaica, though being gay or lesbian is not. J-FLAG, a Jamaican gay rights group, describes the environment on the island as hostile and dangerous for gays.
heather.lovejoy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4539
Buju 10/29/2009 8:00 PM at
Plush, Jacksonville, Florida
Cost: $30
Plush
845 University Blvd N
Jacksonville, FL 32211-9224
(904) 743-1845
Tom Fisher, Marketing Director
904.743.1845
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Help Us Stop Murder Music in Florida
It's been just one month since five Florida performances were announced for Buju Banton. Since then, three venues have canceled the notorious singer whose lyrics call for the torture and murder of gay people.
His song "Boom Bye Bye" advocates pouring acid on LGBT people, "burning them up bad like an old tire wheel," and shooting them in the head with an AK-47. He also sings "Anytime Buju Banton come, f--gots get up and run ... they have to die".
Do your part to stand up to anti-gay incitements to violence.
Sign the letter to venue owners and elected officials.
Buju Banton is still scheduled to perform in three Florida cities this week. Thursday, Oct. 29th, in Jacksonville.Saturday, Oct. 31st, in Miami; and a new date was added for Friday, Oct. 30th, in St. Petersburg.
While other cities in Florida and across the country have canceled Bantons concerts, the venues in Jacksonville, St. Petersburg, and Miami have not yet responded. We're calling upon the venue owners and elected officials to take a stand against hate.
"Boom Bye Bye" has become an international gay bashing anthem. In 2004, Brian Williamson, Jamaica's leading gay activist, was violently chopped to death with a machete in his apartment in Kingston. A reporter walked to his street shortly after the murder and found a crowd of people gathered outside Williamson’s apartment singing and celebrating his murder and shouting the chorus of “Boom Bye Bye”.
Equality Florida staff have received an unprecedented flood of hate mail and threats in response toour public opposition to Banton's hateful lyrics. One staff member received a letter stating: "YOU ARE STARTING A WAR IN WHICH YOU WILL BE KILLED" And another says "YOU'LL BE 6 FEET UNDER PERMANENTLY."
WE MUST STAND UP TO THESE HATEFUL ATTACKS
So far, due to an outpouring of opposition from Equality Florida members and community allies, management at the venues in Tampa and Orlando have canceled Banton's performances; the Tallahassee event in now listed as withdrawn on the Eventful.com website; and Toyota has dropped it's sponsorship of the Miami event. Jacksonville management has not responded.
Join Equality Florida along with elected officials, community leaders, and partner organizations including Save Dade, Unity Coalition, and Pridelines for a community response to performers who incite violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
Friday, October 30th 4:00pm
at the James L. Knight Center
400 SE 2nd Ave
Amid controversy, Buju Banton to play in Jacksonville on Thursday
Buju Banton's lyrics about gays have led to protests of his U.S. tour.
By Heather Lovejoy
Story updated at 12:31 PM on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
Despite nationwide protests by gay rights organizations and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Jamaican reggae star Buju
Banton is "absolutely coming" to Jacksonville, says Plush nightclub owner Tom Fisher. Banton, aka Gargamel, whose real name is Mark Myrie, is scheduled to perform Thursday at Plush in Arlington with reggae and R&B artist Wayne Wonder.
His U.S. tour, "Rasta Got Soul," has been plagued by controversy because of lyrics in his 1988 song "Boom Boom Bye," which describes shooting gay men with an Uzi.
His concerts in some cities have been canceled because of protests. In Dallas, Orlando and Los Angeles, his shows were dropped from their originally planned venues but picked up by others.
According to the "Cancel Buju Banton" Web site, a September show in Tampa was canceled, but Ticketmaster is now selling tickets for a show there on Friday at a different venue.
Nadine Smith, executive director of the Equality Florida, said her LGBT group's demand is simple: "Stop singing the song. Renounce the lyrics. Stop profiting from it."
Smith said it is not official, but there has "definitely" been local interest in having a demonstration outside Plush.
"It's not simply that he says ugly things about gay people. That's unfortunate, but so be it," she said. "It is the fact that he advocates and incites violence against gay people."
She said that in 2007, Banton signed a statement saying he would never sing "Boom Bye Bye" but was then recorded singing the song during a Miami concert. "
He has absolutely no remorse for the lyrics," Smith said.
Tracii McGregor, a representative from Banton's record company, Gargamel Music, said by e-mail that he no longer sings the controversial song.
"Clips circulating online are not actual performances of the entire song but freestyle fragments," she said.
McGregor said Banton does not own the masters or control rights to the song, so doesn't profit from it. She said Banton wrote the song in response to the rape of a young boy by a man. He preaches against violence, she said.
Fisher said Banton has played at Plush several times in the past decade, and did not sing the song. He said this is the first time anyone has protested, so he did look into the issue.
"He did have some lyrics we don't agree with," Fisher said, adding that the song was written more than 20 years ago when Banton was 15. The message Banton has brought to Plush in the past is one of peace and love, Fisher said.
"He doesn't promote [violence against gays]. If I really felt that he did, then we wouldn't have booked the show," Fisher said.
The "Cancel Buju Banton" group has posted a note online that they say is from Fisher. It reads: "We are strictly a venue. We do not share the views of any artist booked. ... I wish we were in a financial situation in which we could afford to be more selective with the artists coming."
Banton was arrested in connection with a 2004 beating of several gay men by a group in Jamaica, but charges were dropped.
Sex between gay men is illegal in Jamaica, though being gay or lesbian is not. J-FLAG, a Jamaican gay rights group, describes the environment on the island as hostile and dangerous for gays.
heather.lovejoy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4539
REPLY FROM "Plush":
Molly,
I appreciate your concern. Plush does not promote these types of shows. We are strictly a venue. We do not share the views of any artist booked. As far as I know, nobody has confirmed that Buju is even coming.
I wish we were in a financial situation in which we could afford to be more selective with the artists coming. I will call the promoter to see if he is actually booked.
I am really sorry he is offensive. Again, thank you for for your thoughts. If you need more info or would like to express more concerns, please feel free to contact me here.
Kindest Regards,
Tom Fisher
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, Oct 29 2009, 11:15 AM EDT
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