Should we be protesting the BB show as well? Please suggest best approach

I just left a message for the booking agent at bb kings, saying my 1st name and strongly urging cancellation of the Buju Banton show; I said if they do not cancel the show I will be forced to no longer attend shows there.

(not that I go that often; it's kinda lame)

BB's phone #: (212) 997-4144

i wonder if bb kings is gonna install metal detectors for that show.

Boom! Bye-bye....

Boom! Bye-bye....

Not only is it illegal to be homosexual in Jamaica, some Jamaicans believe that gays should be killed. The primary musical genre, Dancehall, is replete with songs that encourage this. This belief is often acted upon, such as with the recent murder of Steve Harvey.

from: http://www.jamaicancaves.org/jamaica-crime.htm

how do promoters still try and get this guy on stage?

so sad. she's completely correct about if it was an indie rock band calling for the lynching of african americans, there's NO WAY ANYONE would stand for that

Sure there is free speech, for this is hate, plain and simple. At the very least, big venues shouldn't be housing these types of performers.

We need to get Pitchfork's "This Month In Dancehall" reporting team on the case. Failing that, we'll enlist their "This Month in Grime/Dubstep" team. I'm sure those are the most widely read columns on their site and thus their influence is probably huge.

I just called too. F*ck this guy. I can't believe that someone could seriously advocate murdering a group of people - and get away with it no less! This has nothing to do with white people or black people as suggested above. Us black folk are good people too and don't want to hurt fellow human beings. Buju Banton doesn't speak for us. I implore you to call BBs and get this show cancelled!

Steve Harvey the kings of comedy/WB superstar?
awesome!

"Steve" Lenford Harvey (1975–2005) was a leader in the Jamaican homosexual/transgender community, and led several programs to assist people suffering from HIV/AIDS, and to promote safer-sex education and AIDS awareness in Jamaica.

On the evening of November 30, 2005, at approximately 1:00am, Harvey and his roommates were robbed at gunpoint in their home, his roommates were bound, and Harvey was abducted. A gunman reportedly yelled "We hear that you are gay" to the trio. Harvey's dead body was found two hours later, early the next morning, in a rural area miles away, with gunshot wounds in his head and back.

Steve Harvey's killing has resulted in a far-reaching public outcry against the government of Jamaica, which has been accused of ignoring violence towards homosexuals. Several organizations, including the United Nations have demanded a thorough investigation of the homicide.
[From Wikipedia]

Sex between men is illegal in Jamaica and punishable with up to ten years jail.

I just called BB's and the guy who answered the phone said he was the one to talk to about the show. I asked about cancellation and told him that la show was already cancelled, and he said there's no way the show will be cancelled. I said that means I can no longer attend shows at the venue and he said OK.

Here's to his getting more calls from all of us for the rest of the day. How 'bout it? Phone # at top of this topic.

Anybody here have a way to contact B.B. King himself?

> Anybody here have a way to contact B.B. King himself?

BB Kings merely licensed his name to the club. He has nothing to do with the club except for signing the checks he gets.

He sold his name to a corporation, what makes you think he will care about this matter?

You can contact B.B. King at bb.king@gmail.com or you can reach him on AIM via SICKSHREDDER. If that doesn't work, I think he's on Friendster (I know, I know, but he's old!)

Buju Banton wrote Boom Bye Bye when he was very young. He has only performed it once in the past 15 years at a Jamaican Festival. None of his other songs include anything having to do with homosexuality. The whole thing is a lot of nothing. There are indeed some dancehall acts with very strong homophobic lyrics and overtones, but the protesting is disproportionally aimed at Buju.

While I do not condone his one song or what many of the dancehall artists promote.. there are many artists such as NWA or Ice-T who advocated hurting police officers and we don't ban them.

If there are people in the community who want to attend his concert, let them go. It is not a big homophobic rally.. Its a concert with songs and in all likelihood, not one of them will have any mention of homosexuals or their lifestyle.

Done.

Banton has incited a considerable amount of international controversy because of his 1992 song "Boom Bye Bye" which calls for violence against homosexuals — including shooting them in the head, pouring acid over them and setting them on fire. As a result, Banton was forced by his label to issue a statement; nevertheless he refused to apologize, citing his Rastafarian religion, citing the Bible (Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13) as the basis for his beliefs. Banton still performs the song, notably at the Smirnoff Festival in Negril, Jamaica 8 August 2004. As a consequence, Banton's concerts are often met with protesting crowds and calls for cancellation.
[From Wikipedia]

A performance by controversial reggae star BUJU BANTON has been cancelled in America over fears his homophobic lyrics will spark violence. Banton, who glorifies gun crime against gays, was scheduled to play the Highland nightclub, Los Angeles, in October (06), but organisers are now refunding tickets to the show after a flood of complaints. The venue's manager ADAM MANACKER, says, "We felt it was the right thing to do after doing some research on the matter." It's not the first time Jamaican-born Banton has been barred - in July (06) UK concerts were axed after he refused to drop his controversial lyrics. BEENIE MAN gigs were also scrapped for the same reasons. In 2004 Banton was tried but acquitted on charges he participated in the beating of six gay men by a Jamaican gang.
A performance by controversial reggae star BUJU BANTON has been cancelled in America over fears his homophobic lyrics will spark violence. Banton, who glorifies gun crime against gays, was scheduled to play the Highland nightclub, Los Angeles, in October (06), but organisers are now refunding tickets to the show after a flood of complaints. The venue's manager ADAM MANACKER, says, "We felt it was the right thing to do after doing some research on the matter." It's not the first time Jamaican-born Banton has been barred - in July (06) UK concerts were axed after he refused to drop his controversial lyrics. BEENIE MAN gigs were also scrapped for the same reasons. In 2004 Banton was tried but acquitted on charges he participated in the beating of six gay men by a Jamaican gang.

irie, man irie

as much as i support the protestors, isn't this censorship?

It's only censorship if the government forbids it, b.b. kings is a private club which doesn't have allow (and profit from) a "torture and kill all gays" performance...what will they schedule next, a hitler youth conference?

He's got a myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/bujubanton

I think all of this is pure white hypocricy. Period.

Why weren't there any attendant GLAAD protests and threats made when BB King's hosted the metal band Dissection, whose lead singer murdered a gay man with a knife, pled guilty and served time for it? Which is a little more extreme than just singing about it. Could race be a factor here?

Hypocrites.....

I think all of this is pure white hypocricy. Period.

Why weren't there any attendant GLAAD protests and threats made when BB King's hosted the metal band Dissection, whose lead singer murdered a gay man with a knife, pled guilty and served time for it? Which is a little more extreme than just singing about it. Could race be a factor here?

Hypocrites.....

I think all of this is pure white hypocricy. Period.

Why weren't there any attendant GLAAD protests and threats made when BB King's hosted the band Dissection, whose lead singer murdered a gay man with a knife, pled guilty and served time for it?
Which is a little more extreme than just singing about it.

Hypocrites.....

Dissection frontman Jon Nödtveidt committed suicide last month on August 16th. The concerts he had scheduled at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA and at B.B. King Blues Club for this month had already been cancelled because Nödtveidt was denied legal entry into the United States as a result of his conviction.

um... owned.

SNAPSSSSSSS

It doesn't help to start an arguement in the middle of a message that could lead to something actually happening. Whether or not people attended the GLAAD protests or not is irrelevant. Let's move on and change the future, not check out everyone's resume.

It doesn't help to start an arguement in the middle of a message that could lead to something actually happening. Whether or not people attended the GLAAD protests or not is irrelevant. Let's move on and change the future, not check out everyone's resume.

Amen, let's shut this concert down!

The campaign to cancel Buju Banton's L.A. show was launched by Jasmyne Cannick, a Los Angeles-based blogger and activist, who had previously been involved in the New York-based campaign to stop Beenie Man and T.O.K. from performing at a LIFEbeat concert. As with the LIFEbeat incident, victory came in just a matter of days.

"The concerts he had scheduled at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA and at B.B. King Blues Club for this month had already been cancelled because Nödtveidt was denied legal entry into the United States as a result of his conviction."

That doesn't change the fact that those venues booked the dude's band. However...

"Could race be a factor here?"

More likely it was because of a lack of publicity. As the previous commenter noted, a blogger (a black woman, if I'm not mistaken) sounded the call to cancel those concerts.

And don't forget that last decade, the LGBT community criticized G N' R and this decade, they criticized Eminem.

yes, it is actually the black gay community that is spearheading the protest.

http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2006/07/07/banning_homphob

Jasmyne Cannick is a black lesbian, here is an excerpt from her blog:

"The misogyny found in today’s hip hop lyrics is no worse than the homophobia found in Beenie Man and Buju Banton’s lyrics. As a Black woman, I cannot protest rappers for their use of misogynistic language and then say nothing about the equally offensive language used by some reggae artists. Black America has an ethical and social responsibility to call out its own."

http://www.jasmynecannick.com/

I have a story for you to print about an "indie rock"
record store in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Sound Fix
Records. Not sure if your familiar with them. Well,
the owner called me and told me he wanted to hire me
as a consultant to help grow his website where he
sells CD's. I have been a customer there for years so
I trusted him and gave him a 1 hour consultation and
gave him an entire marketing plan to help his
business. I told him my fees and the cost and he said
he definately wanted to move forward and the next step
was a contract. He then made me come in for a 2nd
free consultation to meet with his web designer, a
"super genius" apple guy. He then made me repeat
everything to his designer and told me to make the
contract to have to him by Monday. He would just tell
me the exact amount of his spending. Anyway, come
Monday and I give him a call. He tells me he has
"hired" someone else and he had the right to interview
me. First of all, I gave him 2 free hours of my time
(I have 8 years professional internet marketing
expereince) and an entire marketing plan under the
pretense that he commited to hire me. This man is a
crook. I would really like the community to know that
so they don't support such a crooked man. Please
email me with any questions. I would much appreciate
it if you can print this on Brooklyn Vegan. Don't go
to Sound Fix Records in Williamsburg!!!!!

The guy claiming this is an example whites discriminating against blacks has it 100% wrong. Here is what Jasmyne Cannick said on the issue in her blog:

"I think it’s shabby reporting to not mention who conducted the campaign. The Highlands Nightclub didn’t just decide to cancel Buju Banton. No, it was a coordinated campaign led by Blacks, Black same-gender loving people to be exact.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am happy the concert is cancelled and I am happy the news is spreading far and wide. However, a crucial part of this campaign involved a community that is constantly overlooked and this is yet another example.

I spoke with this particular reporter, in fact, I am the one who called him and tipped him off. We had two conversations. I deliberately explained how this was a campaign led by Black gays, many of whom were from Jamaica. I offered him numbers of West Indian lesbians and gays that would be willing to speak on the record. But no. Instead, the reporter choose to copy and paste from the email that Adam Manacker sent to me announcing the cancellation.

Part of the reason why this campaign is so important is because it’s the Black LGBT community coming together to deal with its own, a hard pill to swallow by some.

This wasn’t a white gay thing this was a Black gay thing. This was us handling us. Unfortunately, now the Black mostly heterosexual reggae loving community here in Los Angeles and abroad, now feels that the white gays are again protesting Black artists, when that’s not the case. While I am sure that there were white gays that joined in our campaign, this was definitely led by the Black SGL community and any accurate reporting in what happened should have reflected that."

Here’s the latest on Buju's tour:

Buju Banton’s Too Bad Tour has been rescheduled in Los Angeles at the Century Club for October 3rd. This is also the club where Beenie Man is set to perform on October 22.

After activists in San Francisco got his show cancelled, it was rescheduled in Oakland at the Historic Sweet's Ballroom.

Seattle activists were able to get tonight’s concert cancelled.

Buju peformed "Boom Bye Bye" calling for shooting homosexuals in the head, pouring acid over them and setting them on fire on 5/29/06 at MemorialFest 2006 in Miami despite an earlier letter from his management saying that he no longer performs the song.

Here is the contact information at b.b. kings:

B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
237 W. 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
212-997-4144
Amanda Presser
amanda@bbkingblues.com
Rena Siwek
Rena@bbkingblues.com

The Buju concert was actually supposed to be 10/21 at Nokia Theatre before they cancelled it. Then B.B. Kings, opportunistic as they are, picked it up for 10/25.

No matter what you people do, you will never transform Jamiaca into a pro-gay country or society. Cancel all the concerts you want. This will force the Genre underground and make it more militant.

No apology for morality!

We're not trying to transform Jamaica into a "pro-gay" country, we're just trying to counter any public speech inciting violence against homosexuals anywhere. If you're suggesting we don't speak up for what's right beacuse of fear it will get worse, I couldn't disagree with you more. Sure, life would have been easier for Rosa Parks if she went to the back of the bus...

I realy wander how many reggae shows you people have attended. I am at a reggae/hip hop event twice per week and in most cases statements opposing homo-sex are normally made. However, people are not leaving and going out gay bashing.

You can not point to one example of reggae fans leaving a reggae concert and going out and commiting violence against gays. I am totally against violence against gays or anyone for that matter. However, our African culture and society believes that it is immoral and detrimental to the wellbeing of our community.

If you are allowed to have gay dating on shows like UPnext on MTV, aren't allowed to say that we believe that to be immoral? It seems to me that your community is not interested in equal footing. You want the gate to the city to lock out those who oppose the spread of homosexual behavior.

Jamaicans society is largely Christian and Rastafarian. Due to their religious beliefs most Jamaicans like most people of non-western cultures strongly disagree with homosexuality but they do not react violently towards gays. Many dancehall artists like most Jamaicans think that homosexuality is wrong, however they do not advocate for the actual killing of homosexuals nor do they incite violence against them. These accusations are based on a misinterpretation of dancehall lyrics and are not based on the facts.

When the lyrics of many Jamaican dancehall songs are translated into other languages they appear extremely violent. The literal meanings of these songs are in fact violent. However, these lyrics are not meant to be taken literally.

Dancehall artists discuss a number of issues with violent terms making reference to a "lyrical gun" as explained by an expert on the subject Dr. Carolyn Cooper a professor at the University of the West Indies. Artists discuss issues from sex to lyrical competitions violently. They talk about “killing” competitors, their sexual partners, informers, and homosexuals in their lyrics. However, these lyrics are merely allegories. Similar to the one Bob Marley used in his song “I Shot the Sheriff”.

Dancehall artists like Buju Banton, Sizzla, and Bounty Killa are following in the footsteps of Bob Marley. They uplift the people with their music and encourage them to fight to improve the system. These artists should not be crucified; they should be crowned.

Nonsense, Buju Banton's Boom Bye Bye's lyrics not only include shooting gays in the head, but also pouring acid over them and setting them on fire like used tires. It's very difficult to misinterpret something so clearly stated. Perhaps you need to read the lyrics rather than be a dancehall apologist.

yall r trippin the only thing i can say is that who r we to judge one of gods children he controls dem if god makes u gay thats who u r if god makes u anti gay thats what u r if we cant get through to people when they r wrong either way or either side of the fence depending witch ur on let god deal wit dem when we die we only have one thing to answer to and that is him jah rastafari god the head creator
also they never meant it for real its lyrical fire burning not real fire or real murder altough their r always un educated people so they always do un educated things somwich r violent and im sorry for that so keep people educated
nati one love

what a storm in a tea cup! i recently booked buju for a show in finland, europe..and had the same pressure that y'all are giving bb now. but stood my ground, and the show was great! not once was any animosity against anybody mentioned. it is so very sad that people still grasp to this one tune that buju did as a teenager in 1992..have you people listened to his production of spiritual lyrics promoting love and unity since then? like i said, in 1992 he was a baldhead teenager from the ghettos of kingston, the tune was merely a reflection of life in his community..AND the tune was directed at pedophiles. a few years later buju found his calling and is since a spiritual messenger to many.
buju did a tour in europe a few months ago and there were no problems what so ever. a few rainbow-flags were seen at the shows..which is not a bad thing either.
blessed love.

Sadly most of pedofiles that has visited Jamaica has happened to be gay and taken advantage of the young and vurneable, therefore I can understand how it has affected the feelings of many toward gays. Including me.

RasTafarians don't kill homosexuals we just don't mix up in their culture. We know it to be a bad behavior which those who partake in such behavior have the right to do. Why are homosexuals worried about something they can not change? Why are they trying to stop RasTafarian artist from performing? Rastas are not going around killing homosexuals. We do not like homosexual behavior we have that right. Rasta artist make music for Rastas if others listen to it beautiful. It is amusing that they are worried about I an I and we don't change.

show was hot.

screw u i agree with buju banton all batyman(gays) are wrong and should be protested against

please get off buju's back, 15years ago! let it go, he is a great artist, enjoy his music and feel irie. buju forever

Buju is an awesome performer. I go to his concert every year at B.B. Kings and he promotes love and peace. He protests the war at his concert and has never sang Boom Bye Bye. He actually has another song in the same tune that says nothing of gay ppl. America boasts of being a place where everyone and their cultures are welcome and tolerated, yet that is total bullshit. A song is just a song. I went to a college where gay people were the majority and I never wanted to hurt them after listening to his songs. All you LGBT people should put your guards down and go to one of his concerts one day. You will be uplifted as I always am after I leave his concerts.

Yes, he promotes love and peace to everyone but gay people because the bible says that homosexuality is a sin.

these ignorant rastas think gayness is so terrible that it should be punishable by death...is there something on their mind that they need to talk? something about themselves that makes them cringe? the biggest homophobes are the biggest queers themselves, theyre just making the most noise so that everyone, including themselves, will believe the opposite. such ignorance and sad stupidity is leading to an aids crisis in their own country. you can preach to kill gays all you want, but its your own idiocy that will kill you.

homosexuality is a crime in jamaica and who are we to tell a society what is right and what we wrong. Rastafarians and many christians in jamaica abhor the lifestyle because the bible says it is a sin. Isn't it the reason, repbulican refused to allow gay marriages? dancehall music should not have to be taken literally and I have yet to hear of a gay man being shot in the head because of buju's lyrics, the same can't be said for many rock song.

Judy,

People HAVE died because of buju's lyrics. I lived in Jamaica and traveled the VERY underground lesbian/gay life in Kingston. Death was always around the corner. Here is an article on the death of someone I knew: http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2004-09-02/news/jamaica-yes-problem/

And P.S., before you make blanket statements, do your freakin research.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Jamaica

not too bad
nice!! i can't express how much I love IT, oh yeah, the nation are pretty good too.