So Is He Gonna Meow Or What  

PSA

padawanryan (who some of you may know has been accused of grooming minors) has either been harassing or has been complicit in the harassment of a friend of mine. for her privacy ive edited her username and icon out of the following screenshots. i will be providing relevant context.

this is the first post she made regarding her harassment earlier today. according to her, she did not publicly respond to this ask specifically because it mentioned his account by name, and she wanted to avoid any hate being sent to him. (post from 11:52 am)

here is the second post she made about the harassment she was experiencing. again, she does not mention his username, just explains why she thinks this may be the cause. (post from 12:26pm)

here is the first time she answers any of the harassment, which mentions his username. (post from 4:22pm)

important context for this ask: there is a roughly 5 hour window in which hate would be sent. in this window, the only posts i can find (and the first posts on his blog for the day with the previous post from tuesday at 10:30pm) are from 4:09pm, 3:56pm, and 3:33pm. his blog does not indicate him publicly acknowledging any hate sent to him after this window. this means that whoever is sending this harassment must know about whatever hate he is receiving from him directly.

moving on, that ask also came with screenshots of the conversation between the two of them. here are those screenshots, which include the first conversation they had, where she told him she was unfollowing and he said he understood that shed do that, and last conversation they had, where she asks if he has anything to do with the harassment she is receiving and he accuses her of bullying him.

note: she has mentioned his username exactly once, posting these screenshots in reply to an ask which already mentioned his username, of which she received several, which she avoided answering up until this point specifically because they had his username in them. additionally, she unfollowed him last october, according to the exchange they had.

here is another message from this anon. she has not indicated knowing who this could be.

this is a suspicious message, because generally, people who send anonymous harassment do not consider it to be harassment. as a rule, people dont think of themselves as doing awful things on purpose, especially if they are thinking of it as doing something in support of someone else. its also ironic that this anon would mention that since he never mentioned her, they wouldnt know who to go after, but she never mentioned his username, only getting more specific when the harassment would not stop, and frankly did not say anything identifiable. (posted at 6:33 pm)

tldr: even if he is not the one sending all of these anons, i cannot see any logical way that he is not hugely complicit in these being sent. she did not mention his username nor did she give any specific details that would allow him to be identified until she had received countless messages bringing it up, and posted screenshots proving she tried to settle this privately.

please steer clear of this person

what does the revolution must not be televised mean?

Maybe it’s just because I’m Jewish but I do truly believe that life gets ten times better when you learn to complain cheerfully

what if

it's a good album you guys are just mean

the used really went off with paralyzed

reblog and put in the tags the song you’re already absolutely certain will be on your spotify wrapped this year

So you want to talk about racism in the alt music scene?

Okay. Then let’s do something constructive about it.

Note: I personally think looking toward a celebrity / rock star / influencer / fandom BNF for performative allyship is a waste of time. I think there’s a lot of nuance lost in generational and life experience gaps and I’m not going to engage in that conversation.  

What I want to do instead is focus on what I can do for myself and my local community to take active steps in making the alt music scene are more inclusive and less racist space. I’m a big believer in building up and supporting your local music scene as much as possible, so the (totally not comprehensive, but def a starting point) list I’ve curated below will reflect those core values I hold for myself.

BROADLY, QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:

What POC artists are you listening to? Are you buying their albums? Buying their merch? Requesting their songs at your local radio station? 

YOUR LOCAL MUSIC SCENE:

When shows return post-pandemic - will you go see any local POC artists? 

Are you able to use your contacts to help these artists books shows? 

Maybe request the local music club to book certain bands? Show promoters will listen if there seems to be enough interest for them to make money on ticket sales/door fees. (You can usually google your local music venue + booking to try and find this information)

College music stations - if you’re in a college town - there’s a great opportunity to get involved (esp if you’re a student) with helping curate what music gets put in rotation.

Are you able to host a show? House shows are the ULTIMATE music scene DIY - if you’re in a position to offer up your house/space as a venue for bands to come and play, why not make a point to seek out POC artists and have them be part of the line up? 

SoFarSounds.com is another great avenue for the house show route.

Follow: To The Front DIY   

DIVERSIFY YOUR NARRATIVE:

LISTEN:

POC ALT PLAYLIST

INDIGENOUS PUNK

POP PUNK LATINO

ASIAN PUNK ROCK

READ:

Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s: A Secret History of Jewish Punk

Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix

Punk Rock Hora: Adventures in Jew-Punk Land

Evolution of Modern Popular Music: A history of Blues, Jazz, Country, R&B, Rock and Rap

Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, a Chicana Punk Story

The Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk Band

Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-And-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe

WATCH:

Racism in the Punk/Alternative Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgekmBGt4E8

The Very Black History of Punk Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgIWDZ1xxdM

The Very Latinx History of Punk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSyo1zd9jcw  

The Asian Punk Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZKcd8Dn0SA

Anarchy in the Philippines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtSZt_KeiGU

Punk Jews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c29lJ3U_A0

Your Favorite Entertainer is Problematic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sru88ArTFw

Racism in Metal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlQ-KxS5xUs

HELP THE NEXT GENERATION OF MUSICIANS WITH DONATIONS & SUPPORT:

https://www.musicandyouth.org/opportunity-gap/

https://www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/music-kids-hispanic-heritage

https://www.harmony-project.org/

http://www.musicunites.org/

https://icyola.org/

https://www.musicforallseasons.org/who-we-serve/youth-at-risk/ (New Jersey!!)

https://www.latinoartsinc.org/

https://aimusic.us/new-student.php

https://www.rcmusic.com/learning/learning-through-the-arts/indigenous-programs

Or Google your city + “youth music programs” or “youth after school programs” and volunteer / donate / support!