“I’m sorry, I’m just so happy to see another brown person at Fest!”
January 27, 2015 2:36 PM Subscribe
Pilot Viruet writes about being black and punk.
You may remember the hilarious and brilliant Ms. Viruet from the time she interviewed Matthew Klickstein and realized that he's a complete tool who thinks diversity ruined Nickelodeon.
You may remember the hilarious and brilliant Ms. Viruet from the time she interviewed Matthew Klickstein and realized that he's a complete tool who thinks diversity ruined Nickelodeon.
My cousin is the black front man for an otherwise whiter than white ska/punk band.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:24 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:24 PM on January 27, 2015
Aw, the Fest. I always feel a thread of regret whenever I hear about it because I only went to one show that was a part of it (Matt and Kim, outside the now defunct 2nd Street Bakery) while I was in grad school because my grad school friends all thought it was dumb or something. I was being dumb, I guess.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:24 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
I loved that these bands had devastating crushes on people who would never love them back. I loved that they were angry because I was also angry, though I didn’t yet know what the hell I was angry about. I loved that these bands understood how awful and lonely it felt to be an outcast even if they were largely the reason that I was treated like an outcast.This is really, really well-said.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:24 PM on January 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
I want to go to this "Fest" she speaks of.
posted by staggering termagant at 5:30 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by staggering termagant at 5:30 PM on January 27, 2015
It is a place that feels like home, but one where I never resemble any of my family.
Damn.
Thanks for posting this.
posted by joycehealy at 5:30 PM on January 27, 2015
Damn.
Thanks for posting this.
posted by joycehealy at 5:30 PM on January 27, 2015
Wow. Excellent article.
posted by travertina at 6:14 PM on January 27, 2015
posted by travertina at 6:14 PM on January 27, 2015
So good. The few punks of color I knew growing up were constantly taking shit, and I wish I had been big enough to stand up for them all the time.
Thanks for sharing.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:14 PM on January 27, 2015
Thanks for sharing.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:14 PM on January 27, 2015
At these shows that sea of total whiteness is always so strange, especially here in the New York, NJ, Philly area which is otherwise so diverse. Is anything other than a Klan rally so white?
posted by caddis at 6:45 AM on January 28, 2015
posted by caddis at 6:45 AM on January 28, 2015
Huh, I guess I figured that there wasn't many black people in the American punk scene, but I keep reading that there is a ton of hispanic people in it, which is at least kind of born when I think about American punk bands. Maybe it's a east coast/west coast thing or like hardcore is brown, crust is white or something?
posted by fido~depravo at 12:21 PM on January 28, 2015
posted by fido~depravo at 12:21 PM on January 28, 2015
I know here in Chicago the division between Latinos and Whites is drawn along Southside/Northside and Hardcore/Garage lines.
posted by Juliet Banana at 2:22 PM on January 28, 2015
posted by Juliet Banana at 2:22 PM on January 28, 2015
This is really good! I liked this passage -
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 6:36 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I loved that Good Charlotte, much like the rappers I grew up listening to, talked about how shitty it is to be poor. I loved that these bands had devastating crushes on people who would never love them back. I loved that they were angry because I was also angry, though I didn’t yet know what the hell I was angry about. I loved that these bands understood how awful and lonely it felt to be an outcast even if they were largely the reason that I was treated like an outcast.- not only because it's well written, but also because I'd never thought of Good Charlotte that way.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 6:36 PM on January 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yea she's just a fantastic writer. I'd quote exceptionally good passages but it's really just all of it.
posted by zutalors! at 7:33 AM on January 29, 2015
posted by zutalors! at 7:33 AM on January 29, 2015
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posted by kmz at 3:03 PM on January 27, 2015 [6 favorites]