The Very Black History Of Punk Music| AJ+

Wed, 10 May 2023 05:53:33 +0000

Stories about punk music tend to picture thin-framed white guys and girls with shaved heads, part of an angry, energetic scene born out of the working class angst of young white England in the 1970s. But the actual history of punk – as a type of music and movement – is more complicated than that.

Black punks have been an integral and pioneering part of punk history – and they're keeping the movement alive and growing today. Host Sana Saeed explores that history and talks to proto-punk band Death, musician and journalist Greg Tate, the band The 1865 and festival organizer Shawna Shawnté.

Learn more here:
New York Times. “This Band Was Punk Before Punk Was Punk.”http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03..../15/arts/music/15rub

Vice. “The Bands Taking British Punk Back to Its Multicultural Roots.” https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/....article/padjev/decol

GQ. “Nazi Punks F**k Off: How Black Flag, Bad Brains and More Took Back Their Scene from White Supremacists.” https://www.gq.com/story/punks....-and-nazis-oral-hist

Relevant links:
A Band Called Death: http://drafthousefilms.com/fil....m/a-band-called-deat
The Universe Is Lit: http://www.theuniverseislit.com/
Bay Area Girls Rock Camp: https://www.bayareagirlsrockcamp.org/
The 1865: https://www.instagram.com/the1865band/

Presented by: Sana Saeed
Edited by: Brian Joseph and Michael Zipkin
Animations by: Chia Liu
Produced by: Sana Saeed and Kathryn Wheeler
Executive Producer: Sarah Nasr

Music tracks courtesy APM, YouTube and The 1865.
Footage and images courtesy of Getty Images, The Universe is Lit, Keep on Knocking, LLC, Ed Marshall Photography NYC, Evan Carter and Paul Rosenfield.