“If You Don’t Show Up for Black People, You’re Not Supporting Rock Music.”
FEVER 333, a band known for their sociopolitical music, hosted a live demonstration online on June 3rd, as a “ concentrated effort to encourage people to go beyond awareness and take action.” In a press release, Jason Butler shared - "With localized efforts in the name of justice for a specifically targeted group of people in this country, this will serve as an artistic activation as well as a platform to activate necessary measures for social and racial reformation.”
The demonstration was and still is free to watch, though the band asks viewers to consider donating to Black Lives Matter & Minnesota Freedom Fund. Watch the full demonstration above and read frontman Jason Butler’s full speech below..
FULL SPEECH:
“For those of you that are familiar with this project, you’re aware that we try to create a safe space that is for everybody. No matter where you come from, no matter where you sit on the spectrum, we genuinely believed that we must open up a space that is safe enough for everyone to have a discussion.
“For years we’ve been fighting, due to ideals, constructs known as ‘race’, and the fear of each other. Right now in America, there is a fire that is being stoked, flames that are being fanned by people in power. The people are relinquishing their power – the very power that we possess, simply by existing, as a people, as a nation, as a constituency. We are giving up our power to someone, and to people, and to a system, that does not care about us – not the way it cares about itself.
“I don’t care where you sit on this spectrum: if you’re able to watch the atrocities that are happening every single day – much like our brother George Floyd being slain on the streets in front of a camera – and you don’t think that there’s a problem, then you are that fucking problem.
“Like I said, this is a safe space, and we can have that conversation all day. But do not retreat when I tell you what the fuck it is that you are. These are facts laid out on paper. These are policies written out, systems in place. You can find this out for your very self. This is not bias. I promise you: if you seek this out, you will find it, and it will be verified by our system – the one I mentioned earlier.
“What I ask of you today is to have the conversation. Don’t be afraid to have the conversation – so afraid that you impose violence upon another person. I challenge you to have the conversation today. I’ll have it with you.”
“Rock music specifically has benefitted from black bodies from the beginning of times, and it never shows up for black people,” he said. “The [rock media] has benefitted off of black culture and black music, and they need to continue to represent black culture in a way that is positive and understood. They should show up for black people, show up for trans people, show up for immigrant people, show up for everybody that literally helped comprise this music. Rock music has become homogenized, and very, very safe and it typically looks like a white, hetero normative male – and that is not rock music.”