Speaking Out: A Century of Activism in the Music Industry

In light of the Grammys this past Sunday and a particularly interesting find in the archive, I wanted to talk about some examples of activism in the music industry in 1918 vs 2018.

An Archival Discovery

As we learned in my last post for #explore1918, the foundational stone of the Dunbar Theatre was laid in March of 1918, and the doors opened about a year and a half later. While I had previously been searching for any mention of the Dunbar in the Philadelphia Tribune online archives, this week, I instead focused my attention on the two founders of that theatre: Andrew Stevens and E.C. Brown.

Digging through obituaries and advertisements, I found yet another 1918 connection to the Dunbar. In the midst of fighting with contractors and soliciting stock holders for his new theater, Andrew F. Stevens was at the front lines of the 1918 Race Riots lambasting the police commissioner and demanding justice for the Black people of South Philadelphia. In the heat of July 1918, five days of fighting rocked South Philly and left five people dead (to learn more about this subject, you should read @kenfinkel's phillyhistory.org blogs starting here).

Started in 1884, the Philadelphia Tribune is the oldest, continuously published Black newspaper in the country.

Speaking directly to the commissioner in his office, Stevens said that he felt the "police were in sympathy with the white rioters" and left black citizens at the "mercy of the white mob." A few weeks later, Stevens made another house call to the police station at 61st and Thompson to submit a complaint against a known racist member of their force. In fact, after the riots of 1918, Stevens joined a committee to lobby the police commissioner and the Head of Public Safety at any and all occurrences of racist threats or attacks made against people of color.

The headline of an article in which A.F. Stevens steps to the mob bosses of Philadelphia. What a guy.

In short, the owner of the Dunbar was a millionaire radical. The Grammy's are a night chock full of millionaires, but nothing particularly radical happened last Sunday.

An Awards Show Disappointment

Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS

I should tell you that I did not watch the Grammys. As much as I love fawning over Bruno Mars and his band's choreography or weeping at dead artist tributes (these are not sarcastic comments. I really love doing both of these things), I see the Grammys as commercially biased, artistically sterile, and politically silent. Put simply, the Grammys are a safe institution that normally steers clear of political controversy or even commentary.

This year, however, was supposed to be different. In 2017, many artists boycotted the awards ceremony for the exact reasons I listed above, and many fans and musicians alike thought this might be the year for a culturally relevant redemption. Alternatively, the New Yorker warned us to get ready for the "woke" Grammys. As columnist Amanda Petrusich states so eloquently,

"Awards shows are notoriously self-congratulatory, and it’s hard not to read meta-narratives into the display: to sniff out precisely how its executors are performing enlightenment."

And unfortunately, her predictions were correct. While many news organizations and late night hosts talked about how "political" the Grammys were, it was really just part of the show. The Grammys have once again failed to recognize the importance of rap and hip hop--genres of music that are both historically politically conscious and produced by people of color. And they continue to underrepresent women in all categories. Grammy voters are old, mostly white, mostly men, and seemingly out of touch with their community. No standing up for homeowners being harassed by white racist neighbors. No lobbying police commissioners to protect black citizens. Just...Bruno Mars*

*Let the record show that I truly, deeply love Bruno Mars and listened to 24K Magic roughly 400 times. It just didn't need to sweep the entire night.

Sources:

"LONE WOMAN HOLDS A MOB OF 500 WHITE BRUTES AT BAY." Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), Aug 03, 1918.

G, Grant Williams. "MILLS STOPS MOB LEADERS." Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), Sep 14, 1918.

100% of the SBD rewards from this #explore1918 post will support the Philadelphia History Initiative @phillyhistory. This crypto-experiment conducted by graduate courses at Temple University's Center for Public History and MLA Program, is exploring history and empowering education. Click here to learn more.