And While We Are Protesting …

Today we rally across the nation against the proposed loosening of FCC media ownership regulations – on Saturday the 31st, we rally against the dreaded RAVE Act, provisions of which were shoehorned into the unrelated AMBER Alert Bill:

Recently formed electronic music activist group the Dance And Nightlife Coalition of Electronic Music, a.k.a. DANCEmusic, presents Show Our Strength: Freedom To Dance 2 at the Westwood Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Blvd. on Saturday May 31st from 1pm – 8pm. This free event will feature LA’s top DJs, speeches by members of the electronic dance music community and other progressive groups, and tabling from a variety of activist organizations. A consortium of artists, promoters, organizations, vendors and other members of the electronic music community are sponsoring the event.

Show Our Strength: Freedom To Dance 2 is a rally to showcase the unity and power of the Electronic Music Community to our political leaders in Washington and locally. We will take this time to share with the larger community the concerns of our scene in this pivotal moment in US history. We will demonstrate that we are organized, dedicated, active, Americans who will not stand for the trampling of the civil rights of our vibrant and creative community, under laws like the RAVE Act or similar future incursions. Groups in New York City, Washington DC and Seattle are also participating by holding their own events in this showcase of the strength and positivity of the electronic music community.

The following DJs are confirmed for the event: Richard “Humpty” Vission (Powertools – 105.9 FM), Deepsky (Kinetic Records/LA), DJ Motiv8 (Black Eyed Peas), Liza Richardson (KCRW), Steve Loria (ICU Media), and Machete (Respect/Junglist Platoon).

Organizations who are actively using electronic music as a platform for social and political change will be tabling. DanceSafe (www.dancesafe.org), EMDEF – the Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund (www.emdef.org), NextAid (www.nextaid.org), the American Civil Liberties Union, (www.aclu.org), Dance For Peace, Rock The Vote (www.rockthevote.org) and others will be distributing info, signing people up for their mailing lists, registering voters and more.

Additionally there will be a variety of speakers including Francis DellaVecchia (DANCEmusic, former LA Mayoral candidate), promoters from B3Cande, Rock The Vote’s Executive Director Jehmu Greene, representatives from DanceSafe and more to be confirmed.

The Los Angeles group who organized the successful Freedom To Dance event last September, attended by over 600 people and all the local news media, formed DANCEmusic in the wake of the RAVE Act. In coalition with groups in New York City (Blakkat, the ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project) Washington DC (Ravers Against The Rave Act, BuzzLife, the Drug Policy Alliance), Seattle (Northwest Late Night Coalition), and San Francisco (San Francisco Late Nigh Coalition) the RAVE Act was defeated. Over 40,000 petitions were sent to Senators and even more calls, emails and faxes were received on Capitol Hill.

Unfortunately in recent weeks the RAVE Act’s sponsor Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) was able to sneak provisions of the RAVE Act into the popular AMBER Alert Bill. Senator Biden, has angrily deplored the fact that his bill faced “fierce resistance.” Senator Leahy, one of two original co-sponsors of the RAVE Act admits that the electronic music scene helped turn the tide against the bill and told reporters the RAVE Act faced “serious grass-roots opposition.”

DANCEmusic is devoted to introducing and reinforcing the positive aspects of electronic music culture to the community at large. We strive foremost to protect our civil liberties in the wake of misdirected government attack. We will work through the legislative process, litigation, and direct action to promote the best elements of the electronic music experience, including freedom to assemble and freedom of expression. We aim to educate and mobilize a community united through electronic dance music, and to broaden and deepen the political awareness of a new generation, so that they may grow into a true voice in American politics. We will rally in defense of our culture!

We look forward to a beautiful day of music and action on the lawn of the Federal Building on Saturday May 31st.

Passing the notorious RAVE Act this way is cowardly, utterly disingenuous, and the work of a famous plagiarist – don’t stand for it.