Time to say 'bye bye' to homophobic reggae lyrics
By Zaheer Mustafa, Project Director, Organizing & Training, August 22, 9:27 am
Homophobia in the United States is sometimes too much to take, but if you’re lucky you can escape to some gay-friendly area where you can live openly and proudly. Imagine if you lived in a country with no such escape.
Imagine if you were beaten or burned to death there. Imagine if your killer went uncharged. Worse yet, imagine the country’s popular entertainers actually glorifying your killer and celebrating your death; imagine an industry that you used to patronize handing over its profits to help fund this celebration.
If you are gay and living in the Caribbean, there’s nothing to imagine — this is reality.
And now the brand of entertainment that promotes the killing of gay men is coming to the U.S. in the form of Buju Banton, a featured performer at the Aug. 25 Reggae CariFest in New York City. The festival, sponsored by Clear Channel Broadcasting through its radio station Power 105.1 FM and several local sponsors, will be held on Randall’s Island, a city park.
Banton, now a superstar on the Tommy Boy record label who gets sponsorship from major companies, has written an entire song about shooting gay men in the head. Not only does the song give specific instructions on how to kill gay men, it also gives a specific reason, basically saying “rudeboys” (cool guys) don’t condone homosexuality.
Some of the lyrics go like this:
“World is in trouble
Anytime Buju Banton come
Batty bwoy get up an run
At gunshot me head back
Hear I tell him now crew
“Its like Boom bye bye
Inna batty boy head
Rude boy no promote no nasty man”
When I was 4 years old and growing up in Guyana, one of my uncles was beaten. The injuries were serious and at the time I was not sure why it happened. I recalled a phrase being thrown around in the days following that incident, “batty boy.” After the chaos subsided, a marriage was soon arranged for my uncle and I forgot about the incident.
My next solid memory of that phrase came around 1991, when I was 10 years old. That year there was a hit reggae song in the Caribbean community called “Boom Bye Bye,” performed by Buju Banton. Throughout the song, the phrase “batty boy” is repeated in every verse and often to a beat that is the sound of gunfire.
As a youngster, the song was played at many of my family gatherings and I would dance and sing along in the broken English of my family’s native Guyana. When I was 13, I came to learn the true meaning of the word from other teenage boys, “batty” refers to butt in the Caribbean culture, and the words “batty” and “boy” used together mean “faggot.”
Unfortunately, the Caribbean remains a place of hate for gays and lesbians. Many people who are perceived to be gay are attacked and beaten, and there has been at least one known incident where a gay man was beaten following a Buju Banton concert.
Given the violent homophobia that exists in the Caribbean community, I find it disturbing that major U.S. companies continue to market this type of music. As of today, you can find “Boom Bye Bye” for sale by every major music retailer, including Amazon.com and Virgin Music.
I am taking a stand against this for a very personal reason: my uncle. As I look back on his life, I now know why he was beaten, and no one should have to suffer like he did. No one should be targeted simply because of who they are.
Whether you are from the Caribbean community and have witnessed the violent homophobia or just believe that no one should live in fear, I urge everybody to do all they can to stop this music from spreading to a new generation of young people. It’s time to put an end to the hate.
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UPDATE!
Friday, 8/24/2007, 11:43 PM (EST)
A small victory came early for our movement yesterday. Clear Channel Broadcasting gave into pressure from the coalition and withdrew its sponsorship of Reggae CariFest. Clear Channel was the primary corporate sponsor of the event.
I welcome Clear Channel's shift in position to one that is more respectful of the lives of the many LGBT people who patronize their product. While we would have loved for Clear Channel to have stood with us from the beginning this last minute change is recognized and will not be forgotten by the millions of LGBT people that use your services.
The LGBT community is well known for researching the companies they patronize. I urge Clear Channel and all corporations to better research the events they support and back away from supporting all forms of hatred and bigotry.
In regard to the concert, as of today the promoters are proceeding as planned While this withdrawal of sponsorship does not close down the concert, it sends a powerful message to music event producers that promoting performers who spout bigotry is unacceptable business practice.
Newsday broke the story yesterday, you may read it here.
Thursday, 8/23/2007, 3:23 PM (EST)
First, thank you to everyone who has responded to my posting (responses below). The coalition of groups and individuals taking a stand on this issue continues to grow and the dialogue being generated by the activism continues educate the public about this type of violence.
I just wanted to respond to some of your comments.
To clarify who has and has not signed/abide by the Reggae Compassionate Act, the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), and the British Black Gay Men's Advisory Group, Outrage! who developed the Reggae Compassionate Act confirms that Banton did sign the RCA however days later at a concert backtracked and said he will not honor the agreement. Bounty Killer, the second artist being targeted this Saturday, has never signed the agreement. Both artists continue to perform the songs and authorize continued production of the music, both key points in the agreement.
On the matter of free speech, the performance of this music and the beating and murder of gay men appears to be related. There are reported incidences of beatings following concerts in the Caribbean, however since most of these incidences continue to go undocumented by the authorities the relationship is not clear. There is a boundary free speech and the line is drawn at the point where speech poses a danger to the public. I believe that there is such a danger to the public.
Again thank you for your kind words and perspective on this issue.
Wednesday, 8/22/2007, 7:03 PM (EST)
Responding to Zaheer Mustafa's blog entry regarding Buju Banton's anti-gay lyrics:
I will forever defend Banton's right to say and write whatver he pleases (within the limits of reasonableness and the law, of course). If he thinks gay men should be shot in the head, so be it.
Banton, however, should not be surprised if an outcry against him and his music ensues, emanating from more reasonable and sound minds than his. [This is reminiscent of the Dixie Chicks thing several years ago, when Bush stated that he defended their right to slam him, but that they shouldn't be shocked when people (ignorant people, granted) started burning their records.]
Maybe a Buju Banton record-burning is in order.
Kip Davis
Beverly Hills
Wednesday, 8/22/2007, 8:29 PM (EST)
We should "The Lamda Legal and The Human Rights Campaign should not allow this singer to sing that song when in tour in the United States. They have done it before!
Donald V. Wedel
Thursday, 8/23/2007, 12:00 AM (EST)
Hey, didn't Butu Banton sign that pledge with Stop Murder Music last month, about this very song?
There's a story about it here: http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2132464,00.html
If he did, then the protests might be going to look pretty stupid, unless there's something I don't know about yet.
Let me know what happens, eh? Thanks!
Elise M.
Thursday, 8/23/2007, 2:31 AM (EST)
While I think it is important to speak out against harmful and hateful actions, absolutely including those of influential artists, I think it is misleading to look at Buju only in the light of this one song.
I am not an expert on Banton; I'm inclined to assume that most people in the US reading blogs on the Task Force site are not experts on him either, and probably the number that know his name if not more are probably in the minority. I suspect that he is in the US mostly known of in Reggae and Rastafari circles, and for those of us outside those spaces it is even more important to present Banton with a larger framework.
What I'm seeing online about Banton, however, leads me to believe that while he may still carry some strong homophobia, what he currently advocates is strongly contrary to the behaviors suggested in "Boom Bye Bye." The song was a hit in 1992; within three years Buju claimed Rastafari and began speaking strongly against the pervasive violence in Jamaican dancehall music, advocating Rastafari and positive action along with many other musical artists similarly disturbed by the increasing violence in Jamaica. His "Ultimate Collection" album of best hits, put out in 2001, leaves out "Boom Bye Bye". He has been criticized by many for moving so far from the aggressive music he used to make, but this does not seem to have affected his choice to make music with a positive, anti-violent message.
We all have histories; as we grow, we invariably will make mistakes, and acting out of prejudice is something that few people on earth will ever be able to claim never to have done. It is crucial that we acknowledge and critique each other when this happens so that we can grow, as individuals and as a society.
It is also crucial that we acknowledge change, even the baby steps. I don't know if Banton has apologized for his homophobia in "Boom Bye Bye". I do know that the message he has pushed for the last dozen years has been one condemning violence and that there is little reason to anticipate him advocating killing anyone, queer people included, in the upcoming show. I also know that this world needs all the voices of anti-violence that it can get.
Frank Wu in his book 'Yellow' said, "Believing something to be true does not determine how someone ought to behave about it." It is wonderful if people believe that being queer is not a bad thing. It is _imperative_ that people treat each other with respect regardless of what we believe about each other. Buju may still be very homophobic, but he appears to be practicing what he now preaches rather than what he preached in 1992. I'll take that.
I think it is reasonable to ask Banton to apologize explicitly for his hateful lyrics in the past as well as their effects, but it seems very clear that he has been consciously working to speak for a different mentality for a very long time now. Preventing the music from being available, however, is an effort at erasing history. It does not stop homophobia or any other sort of prejudice. All it does is create a Forbidden: look at how Disney has not made 'Song of the South' available and how, therefore, it has become a coveted item by many and simultaneously, because it is hard to get hold of, it is something difficult to educate about. We can't learn from history if we can't access it; there is no such thing as history that is best forgotten.
Zeo
Portland, Oregon
Thursday, 8/23/2007, 10:27 AM (EST)
In response to Zaheer Mustafa's article about Buju Banton's controversial anti-gay song:
Don't get me wrong, I think that it's terrible to write songs like this, and it scares me terribly to possibly go to the Caribbean now, but Banton does have every right to write this song. It's freedom of speech. If that's what he wants to write about, then all the power to him. If he goes and does this sort of thing himself though ... then that's an entirely different story.
What bothers me is how all of the cruise lines make the Caribbean sound like such a loving, hate free place. Clearly, this isn't the case. If there are things like people being beaten to death due to simple things like being gay, then I think that maybe the Caribbean isn't quite as peaceful as we all thought. Ofcourse I'm familiar with what happened to Matthew Sheppard (rest his poor soul), but even the US doesn't seem quite that bad, but I may not know, I live in a little blue town, in a little blue state.
However, I'm very sorry to hear what happened to Zaheer's uncle, I think that this song alone isn't any specific need for attention. There are plenty of songs out there that need equal or more attention, there are plenty of songs here in the US that sing out a deadly message to other minorities as well and they probably don't get nearly as much attention as this. Take for example a band that my transgendered boyfriend (I point that out to show that I'm obviously opposed to the message of Buju's song) pointed out to me, Prussian Blue. They have been described as white supremacists and racists, which they completely are though they may not admit it.
John Avitable
Branford, CT
