A Dream Deferred: Black Rock
Austin Convention Center, Thursday, March 19
“Welcome to the vernal equinox of our discontent.” We won’t slam moderator Kandia Crazy Horse for her flubbing the date of the vernal equinox (tomorrow), because her lead into Thursday morning’s panel proved awfully relevant. This is the age of discontent in black rock music, the age in which it’s never been more possible, more encouraged, or more realistic for African-American youths to pick up a six-string and follow the road paved by Hendrix, Living Colour, Fishbone, and Bad Brains. Even Lil Wayne’s doing it. The general consensus from the panel of mostly academics was that climbing the black rock mountain may be more than today’s youth bargained for. It all seemed rather disheartening, save for Daphne Brooks’ scholarly yes-we-canism. The Princeton professor spoke on the themes – social alienation, starting the revolution – that unite all forms of music, not just the reggae/ska/punk conglomerations that have for so long typified what it means to be a black rocker. Here’s the verdict: Austin may not be the stomping grounds for Vernon Reid and Tunde Adebimpe this weekend, but the stage has been set, and the clock’s ticking. Black rock’s a dream realized when the whole culture engages in one giant “fuck the system” and tosses genres and categories out the window for good. That’s rock and roll.
This article appears in March 20 • 2009.