Why Are Some People Still Angry About My Coverage Of Black Pussy’s Show?

Black Pussy at the Redwood

As I could have guessed it, some people got mad at me because I covered Black Pussy’s show at the Redwood, and posted a few pics and videos on social media… They felt betrayed and wrote to me among long litanies ‘why supporting a racist band?’

First of all, every time someone sermons you about something like that, no matter how they present it, they sound condescending. Don’t they think I am not old enough to have made my own opinion. Don’t they think I have made a minimum of research about the situation before writing about it? Yes, I have checked Facebook, Twitter and other social media, and that was precisely why I went to the Redwood Bar, to see Black Pussy. People who are accusing me of supporting a controversial band because of a one-minute video posted on Instagram, should realize that I would have never checked the band out without the controversy. They gave them plenty of free publicity when the Hi Hat show was cancelled, but I am the bad guy because I am posting a few pics? There is no bad publicity, this is very true.

My account on Instagram is a window on the LA scene, I support certain bands but I go to see everything, because this has to be the best way to document what is happening, there is no way I will censor myself and won’t go to a show because I disagree with a band’s view. This would be a slippery slope and I am not going to ask every performer for whom he or she has voted before going to their show. That would be an insane idea.

Are Black Pussy racist? This is part of the problem, people who have declared they were racist based on their social media, didn’t even try a conversation with the band, they had made their mind up without even a second thought. You have to keep in mind, everything in this business is an act, even a very stupid one, and let’s not forget that some punks once wore shirts with swastikas, while being fully aware of the meaning of the imagery… it was not a good thing, sure but did this make them racist?

So I don’t know if Black Pussy are deep down racist rednecks, may be they are, may be not, the evidence from social media just show they are into bad-taste jokes, but I probably could find many comedians who have made scabrous jokes about races. Should we condemn all of them? Should we take stupid decisions and distasteful monikers for racism?

I am not making an excuse for them and their deliberate choice to keep their offensive moniker, but none of their songs were offensive. Before anything else, I am big on freedom of expression, and once we use censorship, we are on a slippery slope. People are free to rage and scream their disdain for the band on every social media platform they want, but when threats were made, threats so serious that the club had to cancel the show, a line was crossed and the incident could be compared to terrorism. It’s deeply regrettable that people who are/were oppressed, are using the same weapons that have tried to silence them, and are using the same methods that have harmed them in the past. Don’t they realize that the anti-racism camp looks very bad when violent threats are made? Don’t they realize I don’t want to be associated with people throwing pig blood on musicians and club staff (this threat was actually made). Furthermore, these threats were so empty that nobody showed up when Black Pussy’s show was rescheduled at the Redwood bar, making these keyboard warriors even less credible and the whole situation even more ridiculous.

They picked on a band mostly based on a name/symbols they didn’t like, but in pure logic, shouldn’t they protest for any other offensive band? And there is no shortage of them, there is a list here, here, here, and here, of bands with crazy offensive monikers, and I am sure anyone can find a name on these lists that deeply offend them, from Fuck the Retarded Girl, to Queer Cum or Twodeadsluts Onegoodfuck…. And who knows what these bands are posting on social media to promote their stupid monikers? And shouldn’t we focus on acts rather than names? What about bands which are really offending people by their actions? What about musicians who have abused women in real life? The list is very long since the Me Too movement… shouldn’t these people protest every time these people play?

As for the Rolling Stones, who wrote ‘Brown Sugar’, they had originally named the song ‘Black Pussy’ and this anecdote was part of the inspiration behind the band’s name. If the Stones were so ashamed of the song as the social justice warriors pretend (Jagger: ‘I never would write that song now’), why did the Stones perform it so many times and almost at each show of their last tour?

On another note, if Black Pussy is offensive to black women, why are all these rappers getting a pass on their sexist lyrics? As far as I can remember, Hip Hop festival Rolling Loud was not a great example of female respect, I didn’t see one single female performer in two days! And if listening to Gucci Mane’s singing ’I love the way she fuck me (but I don’t love her)/I love the way she suck me (but I still don’t love her)’ in front of his wife parading her good looks was not an objectification of women, I don’t know what is … But I get it, he is black and the Black Pussy guys are white, carrying a century of guilt and this is where the PC police draws the line, despite the fact that the hip hop world is the least female and gay friendly world you can imagine

I cover all kinds of shows, I just want to get a good view of what is happening in Los Angeles, and my social media accounts reflect what I am witnessing. Censorship is not a good thing for journalism, and I don’t want anybody to dictate me what I should see or not. Whether you like it or not, Black Pussy performed in LA last week and I still don’t understand the insanity of the protest. The social justice warriors should save their energy for real causes.