Capleton starts a new U.S. Tour Pt 1 .... call to action by activists in the US

Pamhouseblends wrote

Jamaican dancehall performer Capleton, who performs songs that call for LGBT people to be killed or makes comments from the stage calling for LGBT people to be , is starting a U.S. tour this month. He has 11 performances scheduled, of which six are listed below. I will add the other performances later.

Capleton scheduled a U.S. West Coast tour starting in February 2010. Respectful calls and emails from wonderful Pam's House Blend readers along with the same from a nationwide network of activists and local LGBT activists got Capleton's California performances in Arcata, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Oakland and Long Beach canceled. A performance in Crystal Bay, Nevada was also canceled.

Right now, of the major Jamaican "murder music" artistes (see "Dancehall Dossier" http://bit.ly/cl8OnG ), only Capleton is able to perform in the U.S. due to visa restrictions.

Capleton and his colleague Sizzla are ultra-orthodox Rastafarians ("Bobo Ashanti" or "Bobo Dreads"). They are known as "fyah burn" ("fire burn") artistes because of their calls to God to burn wickedness. The calls are supposed to be metaphoric, but sometimes people take it literally in the Caribbean and set LGBT people on fire.

Respectful phone calls and emails to the venues listed below at least let the them know the background of their

scheduled performer and that we are interested. I think protests are great. Sometimes just the threat of a protest will get a hateful performer canceled.

If you live in an area near one of these venues, please contact your local media, local alternative media, local LGBT press and local LGBT activists. Anyone who opposes the promotion of hatred, violence and vigilante killing should be encouraged to speak out against this and the other performers.

If a performance is not canceled, it is very helpful to have documention of the performance. Were "kill LGBT" comments made? Were "kill LGBT" songs performed? Video and audio documentation is helpful. Be a spy for freedom! Post the homophobic stuff on YouTube. Let us know if the performance is not homophobic.

Twitter: http://bit.ly/cSQT0r

____________________________________

Wed 09/22/10

http://www.toadsplace.com/

Toad’s Place
300 York Street
New Haven CT 06511(203) 624-8623

HOLLIS MARTIN

Hollis@toadsplace.com

____________________________________

Thur

09/23/10

http://www.portlandasylum.com/

Asylum
121 Center Street
Portland Maine
(207) 772-8274

KRISTA NEWMAN
(207) 232-6556

knewman122@roadrunner.com

____________________________________

Fri 09/24/10

http://www.wonderland-ballroom.com/

Club Lido
1290 North Shore Road
Revere, MA 02151
(781) 289-3080

office@clublido.com

____________________________________

Sat 09/25/10
http://www.amazura.com/

Amazura
91-12 144th Pl
Jamaica, NY 11435
(718) 298-6760
____________________________________

Tue, 09/28/10

http://www.bbkingblues.com/index.shtml

B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
237 West 42 St.
New York, NY 10036
(212) 997-4144
____________________________________

Wed 09/29/10
http://www.lupos.com/Splash.html

Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
79 Washington StProvidence, RI 02903
(401) 272-5876

info@lupos.com

ENDS

my notes:

In fairness Capleton's lyrics although highly caustic and very animated with the tone of voice and high energy fervor in his performances thus inciting homophobic violence has never himself actually called for the death of any lgbt person although his emphasis on "FIRE Burning" in his recordings over the years have been interpreted as such.

Let's watch this one closely and also carefully review the actual lyrical content of the artists that are targeted before launching any full scale measures, while we welcome your support to gain justice we must also be fair in our actions as we too may become guilty of bias and over zealous in seeing our demands for rights through while we appreciate the interventions on our behalf.

Update (7:23am)

here is a reminder of a live show that Capleton and Sizzla were on as follows:

Listen closely and you can hear:

3:36 Capleton: "All who bun battyboy and sodomite?" Sizzla performs "Big Long Guns" (a song to incite murder by gunfire).

Capleton returns: "All a who a bun battyman n sodomite, show both hands and you don't suck cocky or pussy" and uses chants "tun e up" (a subtle way to say kill). He urges participation and indicates that those who don't are gay.

6:22 Sizzla: "Kill battyman n sodomite" and continues "Kill dem outa de place."
09:45 Capleton: "Battyman fi dead di yuth em right bout that."

YouTube video "SIZZLA and CAPLETON" http://bit.ly/bk6FJn (see video below)
This video was recorded at "GT Taylor Christmas Extravaganza" in Jamaica (Independance Park ,Black River, St. Elizabeth on December 25, 2007.

The video shows both Capleton and Sizzla violating their RCA agreements not to promote hatred and violence.
People with sharp ears. hear

Much Love

Peace and tolerance.

H