Drop the petition against Buju Banton’s Grammy nomination

The words of Buju Banton’s song from 1988, “Boom Bye Bye”, are a foul stench to humanity. My response to that song and anything like it is (as Austin-based organization, allgo, put it succinctly) the promotion of violence and hate is not entertainment, ever! Yes, the story is told about the song referencing a man/boy rape in Jamaica at the time, however the song lyrics read like a general death sentence to all sexual minorities (we, queer people, also know full well that whenever these musicians, like preachers, speak so vehemently against our lives, there is a personal interest or familiarity greater than what they admit, at least right away). What’s unfortunate is that his more recent (and I think, better) musical work is obscured because of that single track. The ongoing protests and now, the petition sponsored by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD), Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD), and now, National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and to ban his recent Grammy nomination leave me puzzled, though, as if the real agenda is to malign his career as much as possible. So, what is the fascination with queer activists who not only want to continue to be confrontational, but adversarial concerning artists like Banton?

This question is coming from someone who was not only a participant of the recent protest in Dallas when Buju Banton came to play at Club Trinitron in Deep Ellum, but was the main person speaking on television on the side of the protesters. While there, I knew that my message of “No Black on Black crime for Green” was slightly different than just addressing the homophobia. I felt it had to be different. My personal concern was not that Banton be banned from the stage forever, but a desire to say to him and others that we who are twice identified as Black and bisexual/transgender/gay are also humans who have suffered the same unmerciful violence and institutional racism from the hands of people quoting their religious authority to believe and promote such hate. By saying, “No Black on Black crime for Green”, I begged that no other Black artists, regardless of musical genre, use our cultural gifts of rhythm and song against us in support of a system that does not hold the artist (let alone the Black artist) as anything more than today’s cash cow and tomorrow’s roadkill.

While I defended our right to protest in the Dallas Observer, I admit that the chants from my colleagues grew more adversarial towards Banton himself although admittedly many of the participants knew little of his music beyond that one song and the assorted YouTube video clips. It wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case with many American gays against Banton’s song. But why are mainstream gay advocacy groups currently protesting the current Grammy nomination of an album on which there isn’t a single homophobic lyric? Why does Buju Banton continue to be a popular gay pariah, and how does the identification of such a pariah help build our case for tolerance and acceptance? At least if we’re going to go after someone with a current streak of homophobic logorrhea, where’s the petition against Donnie McClurkin’s nomination?

I am not saying that we should forget that “Boom Boom Bye” was created and act as if it didn’t exist. I am not saying that we should not call out homophobia when we see and hear it. However, I am saying beleaguering protests and shortsighted petitions against musicians will not bring anything except more attention on what we abhor and less on what we are for. Speaking of what we are for, where are the press statements congratulating supportive and openly bisexual/gay artists like Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Ton3x, Tracy Chapman, and Ruthie Foster? Such a press statement would truly promote and ensure fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of people in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia by honoring people who’ve shown integrity in their life and work. Buju Banton’s current Grammy nomination isn’t our problem, and making a news story about a petition against it doesn’t assist our case at all.

With a current cocaine possession charge recently in Miami, Buju Banton may be forced to have the time to think about his past work. Perhaps a live version of this song, “A Little Bit of Sorry”, from his latest work may shave off some time.

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