EVOLUTION OF PUNK : WHAT BIENG BLACK AND PUNK MEANS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Bad Brains DC Mindpower 1978
before hip hop, punk was the most popular genre of music among young people of certain demographics. at the time, common black folk never really had the chance to explore their interests and have a presence in the punk scene, they had much bigger and pressing matters to care about.
The whole punk narrative was based on caring and not caring because the world is so fucked up. To put things in context white people were on the outside looking in, while black people were feeling the most of the laws that were being deployed by states and government at the time, it was the perfect umbrella for the two demographics (black & white). If you look back on South Africa's history in regards with punk music, you'll notice that a lot of people were using this genre of music to unite the different demographics that were segregated from each other, by forming bands and performing in the lokshin (hood). We're entering a dawn of a age where hip hop, something that was a " black people thing " & punk, something that was a "white people thing" are now merging. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying hip hop is the new punk, these are two different substances of music that each have their own core principles but together they work to create something unifying and other worldly.
Re-shaping the definition of punk in the modern age of the 21st century. The core roots of punk stem from the idea of expressing individuality; expressing one's self in his or her own way & being apart of a community that accepts you for who you are. Punk is doing something that regular people don't care to do, well nowadays that's caring, most people don't care to care. Caring about your environment, your fellow mates,etc. Thats how its always been, alot of what was punk back then was based on protecting human rights and striving for better living conditionsfor other fellow human beings, either that ortotal anarchy (caring & not caring). We've moved on the idea that everything needs to burn down in order for things to be okay, we've acknowledged that things will never be 100% okay but they can always be better and punk is believing that there's always a reason to be fighting forthe betterment of everything. The pre-existing narratives that mainstream has for punk are currently outdated, we no longer need to be chasing self/global destruction but instead fighting for the destruction of mechanisms built to keep people at the bottom, built to keep a person's confidence at its lowest level, for example people of color, the lgbtq community, human rights, etc. I think itsimportant that people know and understand this, the next generation needsto be better than us. We've already seen the truth of the matter, which isthat the world isfucked up, why not try to do better. Some people could say the world has become a bit too soft, maybe thats what we need.
The world has changed, violence is no longer a viable medium to express yourself so it only makes sense that we rid the hurtful, violent tendencies that punk first came with. If you love hurting people and doing dumb shit, its cool bro, that's you, its not punk though. There's different ways ofshowing rebellion, you don't need to break anything to validate that you're a punk, you can just do that by expressing yourself in a unique way that nobody else does. Kids need to embrace the idea of being free and alternative. Mainstream has turned punk into an 80s and 90s “look”; an aethetic, but that's just the surface level, the true principals at which punk is based on are forever evolving and can never be replicated and sold to the masses, they are intangible. For far too long, being a black kid who liked "white people stuff" I've thought of myself as a fraud for not living up to the punk standards of the old world, until Irealized those standards don't match up with the state of the world we're in right now, as the world evolves, so do the punks, we need to find a way to stand up for what we still believe in, ourselves, our up bringing, ourrights, our youth and truth.
We need to go back to our history books and retrieve solid ideas that can help shape a better world and I think punk is one of those ideas, it was great, it was a community, it was a statement, let's stop the mainstream act and continue a legacy at which punks can be remembered in.
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