A Note From Ani DiFranco
(For
reference
.)
Hi. I’m Ani DiFranco. You may remember me from such things as singing like a wizard trapped inside an aged toad is trapped inside of my throat and being allergic to capital letters. I’m here to talk to you about something that’s very close to my heart today: writing songs on old slavery plantations.
Some people like to have Ideas quietly by themselves at home or at work. Not me. I like to have my Ideas on official Ideas Vacations and performance seminars, preferably in an enormous old building with a wraparound veranda. When I found out where the seminar was going to be held, I thought, “Whoa,” and then I stopped thinking about it and went back to teaching seashells about self-determination and some basic chord progressions.
It’s not like I hadn’t given any thought to how it would feel to spend four days writing songs with my Ideas Colleagues on an infamous slavery site. We were going to bring really good vibes with us. Vibes of compassion, and also transformation, which as everyone knows is how you heal a plantation.
But there will be no vibes now. I am taking my vibes and my ideas and my compassion and I am going home to my Tempurpedic mattress because of your negative and unfortunate energy.
Look, there’s a lot of slavery in the world. My shoes were made in China. They probably have slaves there. Does that mean I should be able to hold an Ideas Festival on a slave plantation? Yes. Yes, it does. Taxes are so messed up, too. We should be mad at taxes, not at me for trying to host an expensive feminist songwriting retreat on a massive plantation. GE is such a bad company. Don’t you agree? See how we’re already coming together? See how much more productive this is than your hurtful, divisive criticism of my actions? Let’s all send our vibes to GE. They’re the real villains here.
I was going to take a lot of kids — poor kids (SO poor, you can’t even imagine how poor) — on a field trip to watch us play music. They were going to get inspired, and realize that if they put down a weapon, they can pick up a guitar, and they were going to change the world, all because of my four-day Ideas Camp for Ladies. But that’s never going to happen now, because of your awful, negative, critical energy that didn’t like my first idea. Now they’re all going to give up in despair and become land pirates. I’m not going to point fingers — that’s bad vibes — but it’s not my fault those kids aren’t going on that field trip.
Look, slavery was awful, I bet, but what are we supposed to do, not host multi-day feminist songwriting retreats and seminars on massive slave plantations that still boast about how well the slaves who lived there were treated? Some sort of plantation ban ? Call me a dreamer, but I think we could have had a great time on that old plantation, fixing the horrors of the slavery legacy with our good vibes and our sweet guitar riffs and our unshaved legs. But some of us — I’m not going to name names, but you know who you are — didn’t even want to try.
It was horrible, the way you didn’t want to try, and the way you used your precious energy to tell me I’d done something wrong, instead of signing up for my Warbling for Peace seminar. I guess some of us don’t really care about peace or warbling as much as they say they do. I don’t want to overstep my bounds here, but I think the slaves would have wanted me to have my Words Campout at their old plantation. It’s what they would have done at the time, if they could.
If I can’t have my Ideas Jamboree on a giant Louisiana plantation, then I don’t want to have it at all, you monsters. You won’t have Ani DiFranco to kick around anymore.
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:D excellent
Message in a time-bottle to YOUNG ME:
Have confidence in your taste, that we might someday have Never Liked Her Anyway.
"being a wang" should be a punishable crime
(omg it shouldn't the repercussions would be awful but this was perfect)
Look, Mallory, if you're going to copy someone's Apology word-for-word, you should really cite your source.
…which I now see that you did and my joke is even less funny than it was before.
This is perfect. (Also, in the past week leading up to the fiasco, I'd loaded all my Ani onto my phone and had been listening to it a LOT, and now I feel weird about all my earnest alone-in-the-car belt-alongs.)
Yes. I was also listening to Ani just before reading about all this. And that is often what I listen to for strength to fight this sort of thing, and now I am sad. And I was tempted to say something about flawed people, and her music still being a strong positive influence, but that apology was just so obnoxious. Also, GE gets to be capitalized, but nothing else? And didn't you start your own label to get away from the inevitability of directing money toward bad forces/people in the music industry? And sing songs about it?
Perfection.
Bless this.
Also I was all sad I never got to go see Ani in my babyqueer phase, but according to many friends at lady college, she is kind of a giant asshole to her audiences.
Oh, no, actually, she was great. I saw her a couple of times in Seattle and she was really generous and funny and probably really high. She kept complimenting all the ladies near the stage, and would tell really weird jokes (again, probs super high).
Alas, Ani. This news breaks me bodily.
This is date dependent. She was great in the late 1990s and then terrible by the early 2000s. Young me, you idiot.
Yeah, I think I've seen her 12+ times in Seattle since the mid-90s and she's always been really sweet and funny to her audiences. But definitely super high most of the time, which for whatever reason I never picked up on until recently listening to live albums.
DAMMIT.
Whatever, I always listened to Dilate in secret anyway. Because that is no one's favorite :(.
Dilate is my favorite. Do not be ashamed!
My favorite too!
It's always my favorite. (Except for preachy-ass Napoleon.)
I've seen her a couple times in like 2008-2010 and she was great. Very friendly and funny.
Yeah, she came to my college in 2009-ish and was totally fantastic. (Not that that excuses the "apology" this article is based off, obvs.)
Uh, first of all, babyqueer. Wow.
Secondly, if you had actually been to her concerts, she is never, ever, ever ever ever, an asshole. Much less a giant one.
Thirdly, this kind of casual slander is disgusting.
WHY DOES HER VOICE SOUND LIKE THAT
It's a result of the vibes.
She's being softly choked by ghosts ALL THE TIME.
Kills me!!
If only there was something, a loaded word perhaps, an encomium adopted as a label that might have clued one in to how oblivious one might be.
My friend David in high school would only listen to Ani DiFranco, Queen, Sinead O'Connor's Irish folk songs album, and general Irish step dancing music.
We listened to a lot of Queen.
Never heard of her.
(OK, I have heard OF her, but I haven't heard any of her songs. This was perfect as usual though)
This is perfect, perfect, perfect.
perfectly captures the hand-wringing attempts at deflection littered throughout her non-apology. yeah, shit is generally terrible everywhere. that doesn't give you a free pass to make it worse.
(and the simpering, ingratiating descriptions of that plantation's history on its website are stomach-churning, so i was glad to see that referenced as well)
This is spot on and has brightened my day significantly. Applause!
She should have addressed the lengths to which many of her fans went to defend her. She should have done a lot of things differently, but still. This is particularly disgusting and it's dismaying that she's letting it fly by without comment: http://www.forharriet.com/2013/12/dear-ani-difran …
Ahhh I saw that on Karynthia's blog this morning and it was just so so disgusting and sad. I can't believe she didn't at least try to address that in her fauxpology.
Wow.. sock puppets. Why do people think that's okay?
The first time my partner and I went back to her apartment when we were first dating, she put on Ani DiFranco. I told her that if she did not turn off the Ani DiFranco, I would leave. She turned on the radio to NPR and I fell in love with her. (I miss my partner very much, she was a kickass lady with excellent taste in public radio.)
Back when I was a baby college feminist in 1995, I went to an Ani show and sort of got over it all a year later. The most shocking this about this whole event is that Ani is still a "thing" in the year 2014?!
I don't understand it. Her albums have all sucked for the last 10 years, IMO.
That would be because pretty much all music has sucked in the last ten years..
Well, she might not be a "thing", but it sounds like she is a music teacher and an idea hostess, which is noble in itself.
She is and always will be relevant.
To this, Mrs. Bingo's reply was long and eloquent and touched on the fact that in her last term at St. Adela's a girl named Simpson had told her (Mrs. Bingo) that a girl named Waddesley had told her (the Simpson) that the Pyke, while pretending to be a friend of hers (Mrs. Bingo's), had told her (the Waddesley) that she (the Bingo) couldn't eat strawberries and cream without coming out in spots, and, in addition, had spoken in the most catty manner about the shape of her nose. It could all have been condensed, however, into the words "Right-ho."
You gave her a right good Wodehousing, you did.
This is prefect!
The last time I checked in on Ms. DiFranco. I thought she had made a vow to improve Buffalo NY and to stay there forever in a nest of decaying comfort, dribbling small drips of cash on the main street. What I am most shocked about is that somehow she's escaped NY and been allowed to build a warren in New Orleans? When did that happen? How is Buffalo doing without its patron saint? I do not care enough to google, but if someone would like to update me on when she and Buffalo got divorced I would be interested enough to click on provided links.
PS- A plantation?! Good gad.
PPS- "I live somewhere where there are lots of slave quarters out back" does not in anyway help this statement.
PPS- "I live somewhere where there are lots of slave quarters out back" does not in anyway help this statement.
True, but it's an interesting point of nuance. A number of historically preserved old buildings in NOLA turned their slave quarters into apartments, or hotel rooms, and they are called so–advertised in the paper so, "slave qtr apt for rent." It's part of her point about historic buildings repurposed for modern uses. A flimsy point, sure, and not relevant in the instance of the plantation, because plantations today exist as shrines to plantations of yesterday, so you can't really avoid the plantation-ness of it. I think the slave quarter apartments are a little less creepy because they aren't necessarily rented on the basis of their having been slave quarters; it's creepy to still call them that, but the designation lets you know exactly what kind of building you're getting into (old; your front door opens into a courtyard; etc.) The Cabildo, which she also mentions, is even less creepy–it has has been many things over the centuries.
I don't know how useful it is to tease apart nuances like this, except that I prefer to see old buildings repurposed than razed, and if we are going to do that then it's helpful to think about what relationship we want our newly purposed old buildings to have to their pasts.
You are forcing me to google her move to New Orleans. This is unforgivable. Ok, she moved to NOLA in 2003ish. I know a joke about being from Maine that ends with the punchline, "Just cause your cat has kittens in the oven don't make em biscuits."
( http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_was_the_phrase_If_a_cat_has_kittens_in_the_oven_it_doesn't_make_them_biscuits_first_used )
I mean, yes, suffering is EVERYWHERE, its a historic fabric. But if you gave me some dude from CA, whose family was from a long line of spanish ranchers, who moved into the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, and started to tell me all about how that meant it was ok that he was going to have a painting competition at the site of the Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh and give the rent money to the people who owned it, I'd be all, to quote Ms DiFranco herself, "whoa".
Not sure I follow, at least in regard to what the length of her residence has to do with anything. But in case it wasn't clear, I'm not defending Ani's actions–neither the plantation party nor the nonapology. It's just that the latter brought up questions of interest to me, about where to draw the lines in the use of historic buildings and what factors influence those lines. But I suppose that's somewhat off topic.
Dar Williams would NEVER do this.
Mallory, I want to make out with your brain.
I thought, “Whoa,” and then I stopped thinking about it
AHAHAHAHAHA
Also, the Nottoway Plantation is owned by the Paul Ramsay Group, an org that has given millions of dollars to racist, anti-gay, anti-choice political causes over the years. But I'm sure the good energy created by this retreat would have negated that.
I knew I could count on you, The Hyphen Toast.
As others have pointed out, in the last 48 hours noted chucklehead Kevin Smith has given a more appropriate and forthright apology for public motherfuckery than Ani DiFranco. I don't even know how that works. I guess there's a certain sort of person for whom being humbled is unacceptable, all the more so when they're "doing good works".
Kevin Smith is a goddamn delight of a human being and I will continue to defend him to the death. He's not making high art, but he's happy with what he does, loves his family, and is pretty matter-of-factly feminist in a non-"give me a cookie because I accept that women are autonomous human beings who deserve basic respect" way.
With the caveat that I have not followed this incident or really even been aware of it until right now (because, as others have noted… it's almost 2014, Ani DiFranco is still a thing?), there is one very good point buried in her… thing, which is that chattel slavery and genocide are absolutely fundamental to understanding both the history of and present day fuckedupedness of this country, and that those things are not limited to one house or town or state or region. Every major port city in the Atlantic world was involved in the slave trade — and folks on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line profited. The most famous example is, of course, Brown University, founded with the proceeds from slave trading. Human beings were enslaved in all 13 original colonies, including all the territories that currently comprise New England, a region I have lived in most of my life and which likes to think that it is "more enlightened" than the rest of the country. Before New Englanders enslaved Africans, they enslaved the Indigenous peoples whose land they were living on. It's a piece of our history that we like to ignore or gloss over as we assign blame and shame southward. There is no moral high ground in this country, there is no site that is pure. This shit happened everywhere, and the aftermath and fallout belongs to everyone, not just black people or indigenous people or, for that matter, progressive people or historically aware people. It belongs to all of us.
All of that being said [*gets down from soapbox*], there is a reason why certain places still have an emotional resonance in the present day, and this is just so unbelievably boneheaded. I MEAN COME ON. Jeez.
Does anyone know of any research or writing on how former plantations are "rebranding" themselves as event spaces? I am fascinated by this (in the way that horrifying things are also sort of fascinating) and would really like to know more.
How can plantations rebrand themselves? Telling the truth about their history would be a start. Getting some black people on the board and the programming committee. Hosting office space or event space for black-led groups who are doing good work today. Throwing some of their tourism dollars at the NAACP. Something.
To piggy-back on this, I would love a survey of all subdivisions in the Southeast from.. let's say, 1990 on, that advertise "plantation-style" living/luxury as a feature. I think I've come across it at least once or twice in the past 7 years.
Ugh, gross. And also, what is this even supposed to mean? I mean, seriously, what does this signify in a real estate listing? Or is it a dogwhistle that means "no black people here" or something similar?
(Not a rhetorical question, I am sincerely puzzled by this, as a person who doesn't live in this region and also as someone who's never owned a home or really even cruised the real estate listings.)
All the gated communities on Hilton Head Island (which, taken together, comprise a vast swath of the island's beaches, restaurants, and parks) are referred to as "plantations." Like, on the maps and everything. It's super weird and super creepy IMO, even worse than regular gated communities. My fiance's family moved to HHI when he was a small child. He now retrospectively cringes at the memory of telling everyone in his elementary school class that he was moving to South Carolina to go live on a plantation, and he couldn't figure out why his teachers reacted so strangely.
Oh merciful snowflakes, *thank you* for writing this.
I heard about the controversy, was briefly elated when I saw that Ani had cancelled the retreat, and was then promptly horrified when I read her "apology". Good Lord, she would have been better off not "explaining" anything.
Would it *really* have been so hard to say "Holy crap. I really messed up; and I will be moving the retreat to another location. I am so, *so* sorry". The answer, apparently, is yes.
Ani, why you gotta be 32 flavors of WTF? :(
DARLING RAMEKIN!
:)
Also, randomly, ramekins are the BEST candleholders for those little scented ones. And for the times when your neighbours knock on your door & ask for sugar or coffee or whatever. BEST.
Her tone deafness was definitely disappointing. I'm glad you figured out a way to make it funny :-)
This was high-larious!!!!!
Pretty much exactly what I was thinking. Oh Ani, WHAT'S gotten into you?! I'm not mad, I'm just very disappointed.
Here in Virginia, people commonly stage events at former plantations. In the spring and summer I see many weddings and corporate events held at Woodlawn Plantation, Mount Vernon, and River Farm (home of the American Horticultural Society.) Ani Di Franco is not alone in her cluelessness. Many large corporate donors have given many a party at a plantation.
I personally think there is something inherently funny about having a 'retreat' at a plantation. I guess it's because retreats are meant to be relaxing and enlightening in some way, whereas everyone knows that weddings and corporate events are fundamentally stressful and boring. Still, if people started not apologising publicly for having their wedding or their corporate events at slave plantations, I would totally read Mallory's version of those apologies.
Here's another version I loved. http://racismremixed.tumblr.com/tagged/plantation …
Oh Mallory thank you so much for easing some of the bitter, bitter pain that comes from an idol not only revealing her clay feet but shoving both of them in my mouth.
I object strenuously to the lack of outrage over Ani's misuse of the phrase "beg the question". STRENUOUSLY
This is even better if you just finished playing the Portal games, and thus read it in GLaDOS's voice. I mean, trust me, it was great.
This piece isn't very funny. It's mean, in a sort of gleeful, grade school bully way. Is the point to expose her racism, or to mock her about a bunch of unrelated points to seem cool? To me this comes off as a very petty attack that is not really related to the issues at hand.
“There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, 'Do trousers matter?'"
"The mood will pass, sir.”
And then you quote Wodehouse? I think I love you.
I was a fan of Ani for a long time from about my mid-teens…but honestly, I never realised she could be this purely *clueless*. She always has to use more words than she needs, but in this case I think her mouth ran away with her and she put both feet in it. She could've – and should've! – just said pretty much exactly what wee_ramekin has already said up above, and left it at that! I'm horrified that someone I really admire for a lot of stuff and whose music got me through the hell of high school & losing a parent has come out with something so awful, and so hurtful to most of my black American friends, and not *actually* apologised properly.
Really, Ani? You've spent years fighting other forms of prejudice yet you can't see when *you're* the one derailing? Ye gods… *faceplants*
Ha. Brava. I'm exhausted from reading the comments of apologists shouting down the people who were offended.
I'm pretty sure I love you
okay…I'm going to hope this apology is sarcasm… because clearly she sees nothing wrong with hosting her event at a former plantation where families were torn apart, people rape and murdered because her shoes are made from china and slavery "is all around the world." God.
Good work there.
This one's pretty clearly about race, on account of all the racism.
I heart this piece SO much! I decided to check out the other side, feeling like I will be able to flex my intellectual street cred if I assess her statement and its supporters–kind of a know-your-enemy kind of thing. Sweet Sojourner Truth was this shit bad! SO much privilege absolving privilege, it was like a whirlpool of self-entitled suck! Honestly, if you didn't know her supporters were "feminist," you could easily assume that most of these comments were written by Tea Party wingnuts! I mean "get over it" and "slavery was a long time ago" and "those people (who disagree with hosting a retreat at a fucking slavery-revising plantation!) are so blind with hate" and on, and on, and on! I am so glad that people are calling her out, because this shit is unreal. Thank you, Mallory, for providing my first opportunity to laugh at it, if only for a little while.
I read this to my husband as though it were basically "Tiptoe" from Not A Pretty Girl. The cadence is all too easy to pull off. OMG.
dear ani, your self-importance and totally un-self-aware white privilege are staggering. no, none of us are perfect, but your apology is not an apology, it's a big ol' fuck-you to all your fans who have spent our lives cheering for you and everything you stand for. I should stay, "stood for." it's not up to you how women of color feel about trying to hold a creative retreat on a fucking slave plantation. the fact that your shoes were made in china and "they probably have slaves there" does not mean it's okay for you to hold your damn retreat on a slave plantation. right now you are nothing but a whiny, self-entitled rich kin on the playground who didn't like being called out on her rudeness to the other kids, so she just picked up all her nice rich-kid toys and took them all home. I can't believe you're the same person I've been cheering on for the last 20 years. yeah, that's all over now. go be a victim, we won't stand in your way. fuck.
To dehumanize people by calling them "slaves" is perpetuation of the mentality that allowed whites to subjugate others since the inception of this country.
Your "slaves" were men, women, and children. Not unlike you, not without feelings, and completely worthy of being considered people.
I looooove Ani's music. But I tooooootally agree with JennyAisenberg's critique. I do also believe that when people take a wrong turn they are often capable (if they want to) of turning themselves back in the right direction. We with privilege often make wrong turns in our actions and speech and writing. Some reflect on being called out (or reflect without even being called out) and grow from it. I'm hoping that you can grow from this Ani and reflect on how your white priv. got the better of your judgement on this issue. Thanks to those who spoke out on this.