Regardless, I’ve started to challenge myself and ask, “Do I really stick out at these shows?” Partly because I always end up leaving with a new friend when I attend a show alone.
And mostly because whenever I go to a show, the band’s lead singer stops their set to discuss a political issue that belongs to the ideologies of the left. As a black woman, this makes me feel safe. As an avid music fan and someone who is hyper-fixated on the history of anything and everything, I’m intrigued.
Uncovering Punk’s Anti-Establishment Roots
For the next few days after the concert, I did a deep dive into punk music and its anti-establishment roots. In the mid-70s, the punk subculture emerged in the United Kingdom and New York.
The punk movement began among teens and young adults looking for a more combative approach to rebelling against societal norms compared to the tamer peace and love movements of the 60s and early 70s. Punk music is and has always been grounded in counterculture — from fighting for working-class inequality to fashion to non-conformity in the realm of self-expression.
I discovered that you can’t separate punk music from politics, even in the slightest.
@mycelium_queen Replying to @mycelium_queen ♬ original sound - Mycelium Queen 🦋
Death Versus Bad Brain
As soon as I was old enough to go to shows alone, I submerged myself in the DIY scene. I had no idea what I was doing, I scoured the internet to find “small concerts,” as I called them, in Boston, where I went to high school.
I identified with punk for myself. But when I made the connection between punk and politics, I opened myself up to a whole new world of music.
Lyrics like: “Politicians in my eyes / They could care less about you / they could care less about me as long as they are to end the place they want to be,” from the band Death — considered to be the pioneers of punk music as a genre — spoke to me.
I was even more pleased that the actual founders of the genre — originally a jazz fusion turned hardcore punk band called Bad Brain — were Black Musicians.
I once declared that I’m only an amalgamation of those who came before me, so hearing this quite literally brought tears to my eyes (I’m so far from joking, it’s almost funny again). At my favorite DIY punk, emo, and rock concerts I belong just as much as anyone else.
I’ve always loved that punk music and its subculture take a stand for its listeners.
Feminist Punk: The Riot Grrrl Movement
Shortly after fully immersing myself in the scene, I was introduced to Bikini Kill and the Riot Grrrl movement. Emerging in the early 90’s, the Riot Grrl movement came about out of necessity for a space for women in the punk scene. Riot Grrrl directly combats sexism and works to normalize female anger and sexuality.
In 2023, I began filming a documentary about Boone, North Carolina — a small town rich in music, culture, and activism, especially for the LGBTQ+ community. My production team and I soon noticed that the conversations solely about the music scene quickly became political, especially for Babe Haven, a Riot Grrrl band hailing from Boone.
I now have the pleasure of calling the band members my friends. They’re an integral part of the history of punk and the Riot Grrrl movement, from their songs about objectification of women, like “Uppercut” and “Daddy’s Little Girl” to firsthand accounts of the band from those who believe that punk music has always been all about men — particularly white men.
“Riot grrrl is the way we dress, the way we talk, and the way we stand up for ourselves and other feminine folk. It’s aggressively inclusive, and that’s why we’re so drawn to it. We have on one hand, this outlet for our collective anger and grief, and on the other, we have this platform for queer and feminine celebration.” – Babe Haven
Jonathan Courchesne
Through the Looking Glass
Now, my eyes are peeled for signs and signals of the punk scene and its connection to politics. From the moment of silence for Gaza at a November concert to the New Jersey-based punk band Funeral Doors’ moment of silence for Gaza, and Brooklyn-based band Talon in February.
I remember standing in the crowds at that concert in February as the business casual people entered the bar, expecting a relaxing after-work drink with some light chatter in the background. I watched their faces as they slowly backed out of the door. While they heard howling, the fans listented to Juni, the lead singer of Funeral Doors, screaming, “F*ck trans genocide!”
Everyone was immersed in the safe space the band had provided us. Somewhere in the crowd, there was someone — or 3 or 4 individuals — struggling to truly be who they are. And — if only for a brief moment — they felt like they belonged.
Lead singer of Funeral DoorsERYNN WAKEFIELD
Inevitable Misunderstanding
Although there are essential conversations happening within the punk and DIY communities about what it means to be a part of the subculture, we still have work to do. Recently, I had an extremely jarring experience as I was peacefully scrolling through TikTok.
I came across a string of videos about right-wing punks trying to claim the subculture for themselves. Soon after my feed was flooded with stitches and clapbacks from left-wing people explaining the subculture of punk music and the inability to remove it from left-leaning political discourse.
@c4b1n_1n_th3_wxxds_ Sorry i look kinda bad 💀 ive bad a rough few weeks . . . . . . #punk #punkstyle #punkclothing #punkrock #punkfashion #crustpunk #folkpunk #queer #gay #lgbtq #pride #leftist #leftistpolitics #anarchism #Anarchy #Socialism #anarchocommunism ♬ original sound - C4b1n 🔻
Punk's Proclamation: A Movement Rooted in People’s Power
I’ve said it time and time again: artists must reflect the times. It’s both comforting and empowering that this genre I love so much does not deny me. And it wouldn’t be what it is without me. As silly as it sounds, I often return to a meme, one that declares that people — if they choose to create — need to carry the burden of the world they’re living in. This has only proven to be true.
Punk music and the subculture behind it aren’t merely screaming and studded belts from your local Hot Topic (if they’re a thing anymore). The punk scene highlights the struggles of the working class, sheds light on political issues relating to marginalized groups, fosters community, and fights for what’s right.
Punk music has always held a space for me; all I had to do was claim it.
@wormtriip via Instagram
September Time Capsule: A Look Back in History
September 1, 1939— At 5.30 a.m., Hitler's armies invaded Poland beginning World War II in Europe. During the invasion, which lasted one month and five days, there were 66,000 casualties, 133,700 wounded, and 694,000 captured.
September 2, 1666— The Great Fire of London (pictured above) began in the house of King Charles II's baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. Over the next three days, the fires raged, destroying most of London. Miraculously, fewer than twenty people are reported to have died in the fires.
September 3, 1838— In his second attempt to escape slavery, Frederick Douglass boarded a train in Baltimore disguised as a free black sailor. Twenty-four hours after embarking on his journey — in which, he wrote in his autobiography, "Minutes were hours, and hours were days during this part of my flight" — Douglass arrived in New York where he came under the protection of the Underground Railroad.
September 4, 1609— Henry Hudson "discovered" Manhattan. On the same day, nearly two-hundred years later, the city of Los Angeles is founded by the Spanish Governor of California, Felipe de Neve. The original name was El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles (The Town of the Queen of the Angels).
September 5, 1997— Mother Teresa died in Kolkata, India at age 87, where she had lived her life serving those in extreme need — including lepers, the homeless, and the poorest of the poor — through the organization she founded, the Missionaries of Charity. "The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved," she said.
September 8, 1974— A month after resigning the presidency in disgrace as a result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon was granted a full pardon by President Gerald R. Ford for all offenses committed while in office. "It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it," Ford said. "I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must."
September 9, 1776— The Continental Congress gives our country the name by which we are now known, renaming the United Colonies, The United States.
September 11, 2001— The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history occurred as four large passenger jets were hijacked then crashed, killing nearly 3,000 people. "U.S. Attacked," reads the New York Times coverline the following day. "Hijacked jets destroy Twin Towers and hit Pentagon in day of terror."
September 12, 1953— In the social event of the season, future president John F. Kennedy, 36, married Jacqueline Bouvier, 24. There were so many guests, it took the couple two hours to greet all of them in the receiving line.
September 14, 1927— Dancer Isadora Duncan was killed in a freak accident when her long scarf became caught in the spokes of a car wheel in which she was riding in Nice, France, strangling her. The same day, fifty-five years later in 1982, Grace Kelly died when her car her car plunged off a winding mountain road in Monte Carlo.
September 16, 1620— The Mayflower departed from England's shores with 102 passengers and a small crew, reaching Provincetown, Massachusetts on November 21st.
September 19, 1893— After two decades of campaigning by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote.
September 20, 1973— At the Houston Astrodome, 55-year-old tennis player Bobby Riggs is defeated in three straight sets by 29-year-old Billie Jean King in the much-hyped "Battle of the Sexes." "Ever since that day when I was 11 years old, and I wasn't allowed in a photo because I wasn't wearing a tennis skirt," Billie Jean King said, "I knew that I wanted to change the sport."
September 25, 1690— The first single and only edition of America's first newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick, appeared in Boston, Massachusetts. The paper was intended to be published monthly, "or, if any Glut of Occurrences happen, oftener." Four days later, on September 29, the paper was shut down by British authorities.
September 30, 1955— Actor, heartthrob, and Rebel Without a Cause, James Dean, died in a head-on collision in California while driving his brand-new Porsche 550 Spyder. He was 24.
