I remember so vividly when #AllLivesMatter was trending years ago.
So swift and revealing was the effort to digitally wash over #BlackLivesMatter, with a tag so incredibly aggressive whilst appearing so seemingly humanitarian. The tag verbally embodied the being of the intentionally misguided advocate for ‘human rights’ – addressing first feelings of being left behind and addressing last the most pressing problem at hand. But more than this the tag became an almost automated response for those on the far right, and the battle between Black Lives Matter and ‘All Lives Matter’ became for a moment a topic more discussed than the murder which had just taken place before our eyes on our screens.
The danger of neutrality has always been apparent for a lot of us. We’ll find that typically this kind of blind ‘peace and love’ approach uttered through painfully passive aggressive smiles is only ever hurled to escape true accountability. For so long we’ve known that passivity and neutrality ultimately serve to work in the favour of those demonstrating the most violence. Neutrality after all can’t really stand firm in the face of conflict, she’s far too easily blown over to make way for an attack against a people, and so all we can only see neutrality for being the prettier pig.
The Face of ‘Peace’ and ‘Love’
Last night’s annual Grammy’s saw events that at best toiled with the essence of neutrality and at the worst adopted a stance that de-emphasises the suffering of tens of thousands to the tune of a few violins playing a delicate tune; adding further insult to injury.
CEO of the recording academy, Harvey Mason Jr took the stage to honour victims of the Israel Supernova Festival attack on October 7, with Hamas having claiming it as retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians. I’m sure those of you reading this can already see where this is going, and though it’s true Israeli citizens suffered that day, the Academy’s decision to centre the speech around Israeli lives lost despite the historically and contemporarily more prevalent nature of Palestinian suffering reveals to us a very clear attempt to ‘level the playing field’ at such a publicly institutional level. Last nights ‘All Lives Matter’ approach sought to somehow make comparable the attack on October 7th with a history of ethnic cleansing and genocide and didn’t even stop here.
Mason compared the attack to terrorist incidents at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris (2015), Manchester Arena bombing (2017), and Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas (2017),
“
We
felt that at the Bonnequin Concert Hall in Paris,we
felt that at the Manchester arena in England,we
felt that at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, and on October 7th we felt that again whenwe
heard the tragic news from the supernova festival for love that over 360 music fans lost their lives were kidnapped. That day, and all the tragic days that have followed have been awful for the world to bear aswe
mourn the loss of ALL innocent lives”.
I could talk about the almost embarrassingly stark attempt at garnering sympathy for a zionist approach here. I could talk about the insidious nature of using tragedies from the past as a means to an end, and for now I’ll leave you to pick apart the speech acknowledging both of these clear truths. But I think largely I’m fixated on this frequent use of the word ‘we’ as Mason aims to collectivise those in the west, in a way that assumes us on the side of oppressive forces on such a globally renowned stage.
Mason went on to emphasize the importance of music as a safe space and called for unity in the face of tragedy…
“We live in a world divided by so much, and maybe music can’t solve everything. But let us all agree that music must remain the common ground upon which we all stand together in peace and harmony”
Here we’re reminded that propaganda doesn’t always look you in the face and tell you exactly what to believe but will a lot of the time aim to show the promise of peace (so long as you ignore the suffering of a blameless people).
The graceful melody in the background of such a speech perfectly epitomises the usual camouflaging of violence with such carefully curated niceties in perfect dystopian fashion. But it seems Grammy executives no longer know their audience, because the generation tuning into this year’s award show are far too sceptical not to recognise contradiction as it stares us in the face so blankly. Online I haven’t seen too many responses to the speech that seem to stand in solidarity with The Academy’s message, and luckily there were those present at last night’s award show who aimed to make their messages clear and visibly anti-Zionism.
The Faces of Just Resistance
The night also saw stalled arrivals on the red carpet due to a protest supporting Palestine and calling for an end to Israel’s ongoing attack on Gaza. Protesters gathered outside the Crypto.com Arena in downtown LA, using the hashtag #ShutItDown4Palestine. The protest sought to prevent individuals from entering the venue, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation shared footage, stating that the protest had hundreds of participants despite the fact it was also raining.
We must also give credit to Annie Lennox, who paid tribute to Sinéad O’Connor during a lengthy in memoriam segment, in which she covered the late musician’s signature song, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” At the end of the performance, Lennox lifted her left hand and said, “Artists for ceasefire, peace in the world.” The organisation features a collective of musicians, actors and advocates who have joined together in response to the genocide in Gaza. This follows the signing of a latter demanding Joe Biden stand against Israel’s bombing of Gaza by artists like Kehlani and Yara Shahidi.
It's no surprise that Annie Lennox's tribute performance was allegedly cut off after she raised her fist and called for a ceasefire. This kind of censorship is so reminiscent of the black-balling Sinead O’Connor faced after her 1992 SNL performance, and so Lennox’s tribute, in which she was so willing to publicly advocate against those with power and influence pays such appropriate homage to O’Connor, who was so willing to do the same. In the same way we look back with regret on disparaging O’Connor’s revelations about Pope John Paul and the catholic church, perhaps those who took issue with Lennox’s message will look back in regret as recognising themselves as having been in advocacy for a position so clearly aligned with terror.
The comparison between so obviously biased messaging from Mason and Lennox's speech brings to light a resistance against art institutions from the artists that exist under them. The solidarity shown with Palestine from several artists allows us to see the real ways in which performance can be meaningful. Ironically Mason was right about the essence of collectivism and solidarity through art, even though solidarity shown here in its truest essence conveyed a message far more formidable than the weakness shown by a so-called prioritisation of ‘peace’.
Tuning Out
In all fairness a lot of people don’t watch award shows anymore, and ceremonies have seen a decrease in viewership by up to 50%. The significant drop could of course be attributed to the feeling that these shows are mostly rigged. There hasn’t been a year I can remember where one artist or another has been ‘snubbed’. For example, Jay-z spoke about Beyonce unjustly losing out on Album of the year in his acceptance speech. What’s also interesting here is the different choices people are making in the moments where they take the stage about the messages they feel are important to share. But in reality the research for my last article talking about celebrity in-activism means that I am hardly surprised here.
Anyways there is more than one reason to stop watching award shows now besides seeing our favourite artists get the credit we think they deserve. The 66th Grammy’s saw the clear demonstration of political alliance and if we had to guess years ago we could’ve known this is how the sides might look. We see neutrality at every level whether it’s interpersonally or commercially, but this years award show reminds us that it’s getting hold of bigger and more powerful microphones to spread the message of ‘Unity’,
- A message from the academy,
Asisa
Sources
https://variety.com/2024/music/news/palestine-protest-grammys-red-carpet-1235897370/ Pro Palestine Grammy’s
https://www.newsweek.com/grammys-accused-israel-propaganda-1866790 Grammy’y accused of Israel Propaganda
“Here we’re reminded that propaganda doesn’t always look you in the face and tell you exactly what to believe but will a lot of the time aim to show the promise of peace (so long as you ignore the suffering of a blameless people)”
THIS! People with influence keep spreading the same lazy, uninformed messages and calling it activism when it’s really just propaganda for the oppressor, packaged “nicely”. I loved this article so much!!
Great read! I say let’s stop giving these platforms attention and power at all. Whether the energy be in support or not? It feeds the energy of more of the same. F*ck the Grammy’s! Let’s focus, our energy and attention on what we can actually do in support of what it is we believe in or it will always just be more of the same. Just my 10 cents.