Pubdate: Sat, 05 Jul 2003 Source: Seattle Times (WA) Copyright: 2003 The Seattle Times Company Contact: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409 Author: Rosa Tyabji Note: Rosa Tyabji co-owns a record label and production company in Seattle that promotes African composers. STARK-RAVING FREEDOM: BROADLY WORDED RAVE ACT CRIMINALIZES YOUTH CULTURE The beats of hard-driving house music pounded on my skull. The air was filled with the booming bass and accelerated rhythms of techno music. The typical 4/4 beat blasted through Westlake Center from a huge PA system set up for the recent event. The "ravers" gathered to protest new legislation that was adversely affecting their scene. The "Rave Act" specifically targets people who promote raves and electronic music events -- not just any music event. The media often show rave parties as dangerous drug-fests frequented by strange-looking kids, all pierced in different places with fluorescent hair and wild eyes. The people who attend them are stereotyped as being criminals who use these concerts to sell or do drugs. But raves are an important outlet for youth culture today. Hundreds of teenagers and 20-somethings danced in the bright sunshine that day. Those twirling large batons with streamers gave a festive air, as did the acrobatics of the break-dancers. The event, however, was a serious protest of the continued breakdown of free speech and freedom of expression, seemingly because many of those involved are not politically or economically powerful, and have been stereotyped as "druggies" who stay up late on ecstasy. I watched and waded through a crowd of hundreds of young people. I smiled with nostalgia as I watched them. I used to listen to this music a lot. I loved to dance with my friends and to be whoever I wanted to be, able to express my individuality freely. My friends are in this scene, too, as DJs mixing the music, as break-dancers defying gravity with flips, as young people who had found something to claim as their own, a new identity apart from the commercialized mainstream of American culture. But that was almost a decade ago for me. Times have changed. Freedom is a precious commodity these days. Government efforts at achieving domestic security are targeting this youth culture, electronic dance music or rave culture, and the businessmen and women associated with these late night parties. The Rave Act was added to the National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2003 (S151), which is an entirely unrelated law, by a handful of senators. It was never formally discussed or voted on in the Senate or the House. It was signed into law on April 30, 2003. The Rave Act has another form: The Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003. The text in the bill is so broad that it offers no legal protection for law-abiding citizens who are involved in the electronic music scene. It assumes that everyone who participates in rave parties must be involved in selling or using drugs. It expands the federal "crack house statute" and makes it easier for the federal government to fine or imprison businessmen and women if they fail to prevent their customers or tenants from selling or using drugs on their premises or at events. The business owners may take steps to stop drug use on their property, such as posting signs to inform their customers of the consequences of the new law. The law is too broad. A criminalization of popular youth culture is occurring right now as electronic music events are unfairly curtailed by this law. Youth culture clashes, once again, with the mostly conservative agendas of the current policy makers. Raves are mostly for young people who love to dance, and aren't trying to be part of the status quo. In New York City, the "Cabaret License" stopped many parties. It prohibits dancing in unlicensed bars, and has been continuously protested for half a decade now. The answer in NYC is that the raves and other musical events just get driven further underground and away from public health and safety regulations. It also discourages business owners from investing in and enacting important measure to protect their customers. Times are hard. The economy is depressed. The politicians and corporations are not accountable. Everyone is insecure -- and we can't even dance to the music we want to. Rosa Tyabji co-owns a record label and production company in Seattle that promotes African composers. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens