Afropunk Festival is a famous event not only in Brooklyn but also in other American cities. Despite the changing world, African Americans continue to fight for their culture and actively spread it to the masses. Afropunk Festival features all kinds of creativity, including cinema, music, fashion and alternative art. Find out more at brooklynski.
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The history of Afropunk Festival began with the leading music university in 2005. Its founders were James Spooner and Matthew Morgan. They shot a documentary for African American punks, depicting their lives in the American environment and their struggle for their creative future.
The first festivals from 2005 to 2008 aimed to provide conditions for the development of independent music among black punks. At that time, the festival was free of charge, as the music academy covered all the expenses. The establishment attempted to promote this narrow-focused genre in music. Subsequently, the festival started to shift its focus towards more popular things because initially, they represented quite a narrow segment, and fests are a rather profitable business.
When the festival became multigenre, the organizers started charging guests. Due to necessary changes, Afropunk Festival co-founder James Spooner left his project in 2008. His only interest was the Afro-punk culture and after losing the opportunity to develop it, he quit the festival.
In 10 years, from 2009 to 2019, Afropunk Festival significantly expanded. In the first years, only a few dozen people, if not less, attended it. However, in 2019, the festival attracted several thousand people. Despite not being as large as the globally famous Coachella, Afropunk Festival became known in other countries.
Afropunk Festival began to be held in Paris, London, South Africa, Brazil and many cities in America. In 2020, Richelieu Dennis and Essence Ventures acquired the rights to the festival. This is a common practice, as festivals have long become a lucrative business.
Critics of the festival
The idea of the festival originated from punk roots and Afro culture. Significant events in American society induced the founders of the fest to support this culture and create something new and unique. Nevertheless, the festival, and especially some artists, has been repeatedly criticized on many sides.
In particular, the invitation of such stars as MIA, Ice Cube and Tyler, the Creator, sparked outrage in public.
A number of creative changes were made to the fest to please the spectators, which in turn caused a lot of negativity. The management was accused of excessive fixation and favoritism towards the white population. For the purposes of profit, the organizers started inviting artists whose audience was predominantly white.
At one point, an unpleasant incident occurred at the festival, which did not escape the press. Some attendees came in t-shirts with critical remarks printed on them directed towards the organizers. The founders did not like such decrial and security was ordered to escort these people out of the event.
Afropunk has also been a subject of criticism from the LGBTQ+ community. It is alleged that their aspiration to make extra money outweighs the need to be tolerant and consider the problems and needs of each guest.
Within the organizational structure, there were some troubles as well. The festival staff have repeatedly complained about wrong corporate views and policies. In 2018, the festival’s editor-in-chief resigned. He had worked for 10 years on the festivities creation but left due to the “specious activism” of the head office. It seemed that the management promoted false dedication to the cause and active involvement in order to incite the team. Although Afropunk was a sincere endeavor in the beginning, unfortunately, it turned into a regular profit-driven festival.