Afropunk Festival is an annual arts festival that features music, film, fashion, and art produced by alternative black artists. The Afropunk Festival began in 2005, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Afropunk Festivals have also been held in various major cities, including Atlanta, Paris, London, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa. The festival was co-founded by

James Spooner James Spooner is an American tattoo artist and graphic novelist from New York City, living in Los Angeles. He is best known for his seminal documentary film ''Afro-Punk'' (2003), exploring the African American experience in the punk and alternat ...

and Matthew Morgan, and grew out of the 2003 documentary titled

Afro-Punk Afro-punk (sometimes spelled Afro-Punk, Afropunk or AfroPunk) refers to the participation of African Americans and other Black people in punk and alternative subcultures, especially in the United States. History The term originated from the 200 ...

which studied black punks across America.''AfroPunk Started With a Documentary''
Village Voice

History

2005-2008

In the early years, the festival was targeted towards black alternative-minded punks. The festival was free and supported by The Brooklyn Academy of Music. As the festival grew, the musical genres shifted towards reaching a larger audience and the festival also began charging an admission fee.''Gentrifying AfroPunk''
New Yorker Due to festival alterations that deviated from the original Afropunk culture, former co-founder,

ended his involvement in 2008.

2009-2019

Jocelyn A. Cooper became involved with the festival in 2009. Afropunk Festival grew to 60,000 attendees in 2015, expanding into the cities of Atlanta in 2015 and Paris and London in 2016.

Criticisms

Having emerged from political punk roots, Afropunk Festival has faced criticism at times, including backlash over booking artists such as MIA, Ice Cube and Tyler the Creator. Attendees have also critiqued the values of Afropunk's organizers surrounding LGBQT concerns, treatment of employees, and its corporate leanings. Some attendees critique the festival for appealing to white audiences, including an instance of attendees being removed from an area of the festival for wearing a homemade t-shirt critical of the event. In August of 2018, Afropunk's Editor-In-Chief resigned after over a decade of work for Afropunk citing mistreatment and a corporate agenda he labeled "performative activism".''Festival Staff Abuse, Vibe Magazine''
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References

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