HOT: Down with (Certain) Clowns
On Sept. 16, news networks spent much of the day covering three rallies — one supporting Confederate statues in Virginia, one in Washington, D.C. protesting people being mean to Donald Trump and another in the nation’s capitol advocating for fans of Detroit Horror Rap duo Insane Clown Posse. It says everything about 2017 that the clown rally (well, the one supporting those who wear facepaint) was not only the best attended, but also the most reasonable. The march of the Juggalos (as ICP’s fans are known) was to protest the FBI’s designation of the fervent fan base as a “gang” in 2011. The event was well-organized and included some of the best protest signs ever, including “Judge Me Not By the Color of My Facepaint,” “The FBI Listens to Nickelback,” “Make America Whoop Again” and “Dragnets: How Do They Work?”
WARM: Nazis Back Down
The radio show affiliated with the white-supremacist “Stormfront” website is in need of a new theme song. After being served with cease and desist letters from American Recordings and Universal Music Group, Johnny Cash’s version of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” will no longer be the theme song of Stormfront Radio, with the host conceding the song change, but insisting that they’re not “backing down.” Last month, the mere presence of a neo-Nazi at the infamous Charlottesville, Va. protests wearing a Johnny Cash T-shirt led to a statement from late music icon’s family denouncing hate.
COLD: Show Stoppers
Activists in Saint Louis found a clever way to get the attention of white people — get U2 and Ed Sheeran concerts canceled. Actually, the police in Saint Louis caused the last minute cancelations (as well as Saint Louis Symphony’s two sold-out Harry Potter-themed shows). Protests formed in the city after another acquittal of a police officer accused of killing a black citizen, leading the police force to inform promoters they could not provide the usual security for the events.
