We will be returning this weekend with a tons of content we’ve been holding back while we have concentrated support on the movement, and wanted you to do the same. But for now we would like to share with you a feature on last Sundays Musician March. Be safe out there Chicago. Wear your masks. Love each other. Stay Strong.

Black Lives Matter

all photos by Tina Mead

Chicago Crowd Surfer, being an active member in the local music scene, attended the Chicago Musician March for Equality & Change on June 21st. Our message recently has centered on Racial Equality but we still stay solidly true to our roots and that is the Chicago music scene and all that it supports. 

Organized by promoters Harmonica Dunn the march was a peaceful, yet impactful event. It started in Lincoln Park at Julia Porter Park and ended in Wicker Park in front of Big Star. The stench of institutional racism in America is so rife right now, more and more white people are standing up with people of color and shouting ‘enough’. What made this march important wasn’t the 300+ relatively socially distanced and socially charged white people in the crowd. It was the message brought from five powerful black voices. 

From the bed of a pickup truck, DJ Ca$h Era spoke to the lack of diversity and shameless blacklisting of artists of color in Chicago. She made no qualms about white DJs not standing up and acknowledging the fact they make money playing black music, saying: “Their silence is loud as fuck.” This only scraped the iceberg of distaste regarding the DJ scene and how artists of color seldom get booked in neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and River North, if at all. 

First to play was Wyatt Waddell. With his acoustic guitar, playing through an ad hoc PA, Waddell sang, “I Tried” with its island vibe twisted so thoroughly with soul. He then spoke plainly about how hard it is sometimes to express yourself in times like these, especially as a black person. He pooled his frustration into his song “Fight!”. This song talks about standing up and fighting against “divide” and how it's everyone’s moral obligation to stand against racism. You can hear his song and read his words here. It’s raw, but it puts you in his head and his heart. 

Matt Muse mounted the truck bed stage saying, “I fucking hate Lincoln Park.” He elaborated by talking about the stark difference between Lincoln Park and his neighborhood during the Chicago protests and subsequent lockdown after George Floyd was murdered in Minnesota. People in Lincoln Park were able to easily step down to the grocery store, contrasting him not being able to make it to his grandmother’s house because roads were blocked by garbage trucks. 

Muse continued his disbelief, gobsmacked by the idea that Chicago has a black, queer, female mayor and yet neighborhoods on the south and west sides are still marginalized by the Chicago Police Department. He also spoke about the lack of music venues on the south and west sides and challenged the crowd to openly acknowledge black artists, emoting, “Black art is incredible.” He performed “Ain’t No” and “Shotgun” from his Love & Nappyness album. 

Rapper and librarian, Roy Kinsey followed Muse and wasted no time urging the crowd to “Dedicate yourself to being anti-racist.” Clearly emotional, the artist let his material speak for itself with performances of his lyrically impactful anthems including “Mississippi Mud”, “Citadel Blues”, “Rbg”, “Jungle Book”, and “Awwwright Now”. Before leaving the bed of the pickup truck and giving way to the protest leaders. 

This was way more than a live music mini-fest. It was a march to speak out against racism. It was about abolishing the police in Chicago; everywhere, really. Before we started walking, slam poet Naira Bills from Blck Rising read the list of demands. What we as a group were marching for:

• Defund the Police with the ultimate goal of abolishing the police

• CPD is removed from CPS

• No Cop Academy 

As we marched through selected north side neighborhoods, some people would cheer from their windows or roofs or shoot video for social media. There was a mother with her child at her front door with tears running down her cheeks. You could tell the message from the crowd hit the mark with the mother. I reflected on everyone’s words before the march. 

“Show up and listen.”
“Defund the police.”
“Remove CPD from CPS.”
“Black Lives Matter.”
“Black art is incredible.”
“Acknowledge racism.”
“Know what it means to be racist.”
“Dedicate yourself to being anti-racist.”
“The system is criminalizing poverty.”

The march ended with a sit-in on Damen in front of Big Star in Wicker Park. This scene plainly illustrated the rift between the Sunday brunch crowd and the people in the streets. 

The protest was a place for people to come together under the umbrella of music and find some common ground. It was a chance for us as white people to show up and listen, and remember it isn’t about us. Black Lives Matter. Even beyond listening, though, we need to make moves to end racism. We should acknowledge our white privilege and learn how to leverage that to help our brothers and sisters of color. 

Muse’s words echo in my head, “Go to the south and west sides and eat at a black owned restaurant.” He’s right. Go beyond saying Black Lives Matter. Showing up and listening is a great start, but attend more protests outside of white neighborhoods and see with your own eyes and feel with your own souls how the police treat people of color.

-Aaron Pylinski 

If You want to know how you can do more in the struggle of Anti-Racism Here is aN extensive list of resources for educating White People on the subject. provided By Matt Muse, compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein.