Beenie Man could face charges for homophobic lyrics

UK police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and a leading barrister met Aug. 26 to discuss whether charges could be brought against the Jamaican reggae star Beenie Man over lyrics which allegedly incite the murder of gay men and lesbians.

The move coincides with attempts by leading companies to dissociate themselves from the homophobic lyrics of the singer and fellow dancehall artists including Buju Banton.

J-Flag, the Jamaican gay rights group, believes that violent lyrics have contributed to attacks upon and even the murders of gay men and lesbians in the country.

Puma, the sportswear company, last week announced they would not support singers who target these groups through lyrics or performances, following controversy over Buju Banton’s appearance at an Olympics show it was sponsoring. RJ Reynolds also dropped Beenie Man from their sponsored tour in the US.

A CPS spokeswoman said: “An offense of incitement can be committed through a performance of written material or its distribution or broadcast. It doesn’t just cover the writing itself.”

Beenie Man’s new album was released Aug 16 on Virgin Records. The songs which incite violence have been released on smaller labels, most if not all of which are based in Jamaica.They include lyrics such as “Hang chi chi gal wid a long piece of rope” [Hang lesbians with a long piece of rope] and “Tek a bazooka and kill batty-fucker” [Take a bazooka and kill gay men].

It might also be possible to bring charges under the Public Order Act, such as using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, said: “It’s absolutely appropriate that there should be legislation [protecting the gay community] that matches incitement to hatred in relation to race. In a civilized society the right to free speech does have constraints and one of those is that you shouldn’t incite violence against other people.” (Guardian (UK))

The ‘wall of shame’ to be used as a screen

Chilean director Miguel Littin plans to complete his film “La última luna” (The Last Moon) in September, aiming to release it in Chile this year and also project it onto the “wall of shame” that the Israeli government is building to close off the Palestinian West Bank.

The film deals with the friendship between a Palestinian and an Israeli and was shot in Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2003. Littin will now be able to complete production thanks to a state grant he won from Chile’s National Arts Fund (FONDART).

Littin, of Palestinian origin, is one of Chile’s most internationally well-known filmmakers, with many films to his name. In 1985 he presented “Acta general de Chile” (Final Statement on Chile) on European television. He filmed this documentary about the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile after entering the country under a false identity.

Littin was born in Palmilla, around 125 miles south of Santiago, in 1942. He has never failed to identify with his Palestinian roots and his political vocation led him to become mayor of his hometown for two terms in the 1990s with the backing of the co-governing Socialist Party.

In 2001 he returned to his documentary bent with “Crónicas palestinas” (A Palestinian Chronicle) dealing with the second Intifada (popular uprising) in the territories occupied by Israel.

Now, with “La última luna,” Littin is keeping the Palestinian territories in view while returning to fiction with a project that seeks to delve into the crucial issue of coexistence between Arabs and Jews.

The director has said the film ”deals with the problems between Israelis and Palestinians. It is hard-hitting and is tremendously relevant to the moment, with regards to the problem experienced by these two peoples.”

The script is spoken in Arabic and Hebrew and will be subtitled for screening in Chile and elsewhere, although the Palestinians will see the original if Littin is able to pull off his plan of using the West Bank wall as a screen. (IPS)

Beer-can promotion leaves sour taste for black stars

Miller Brewing is celebrating the “50th Anniversary of Rock’n’Roll,” with eight commemorative beer cans with cover shots from Rolling Stone magazine showing artists such as Elvis Presley, Alice Cooper, Eric Clapton and Blondie. The promotion takes Presley’s debut at Sun Studios in Memphis in the summer of 1954 as the birth of rock’n’roll.

But what is missing from the joint promotion -- conspicuously so, say critics -- are black performers. Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, called the absence “beyond conspicuous,” because black artists were often credited with inventing rock’n’roll.

Critics point out that six of the initial 10 artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1986 were black, including Chuck Berry and Little Richard as well as James Brown and the late Ray Charles. (Independent (UK))