SXSW PANELS
Say It Loud! I’m What? and I’m Proud
Austin Convention Center, Saturday, March 17
“White folks, it’s time for us to listen. It’s time for us to stop trying to lead.” Music critic Dave Marsh provided his best ironic advice for a dysfunctional society built on race-based marginalization and exploitation. Scheduled panelists Garland Jeffreys, Chuck D, Cyril Neville, and Alejandro Escovedo were joined by impromptu participants Charles Wright and Rosie Flores for an analysis of being a nonwhite musician in America. Soul legend Wright was especially disturbed about what he described as a “washed out” SXSW experience. “As far as I’m concerned, our people have built a multibillion dollar industry, and we’re still struggling to make $25.” Public Enemy rapper Chuck D evoked the civil rights movement and the idea that true equality constitutes readily available, nonwhite alternatives. As local singer Neville reiterated, “In the Fifties and Sixties, it wasn’t so much about being able to eat hamburgers at Woolworth as it was about having our own stand.”
This article appears in March 23 • 2007.