Andrew, I don't need a patronising lecture about the conservative media. If, as you say, other places are covering this story then I'd love for you to link to them, I'd be happy to read about it anywhere. This place just happens to be where I saw it. It is the event that interests and disturbs me, not who is telling it, because I'm interested in Julius Eastman and I'm interested and disturbed by what seems to be a trend toward censoriousness in the arts. Art has always been suppressed and censored, but recently, rather than the church or the state, it seems to be other artists/academics doing the censoring/apologising, often at the behest of people claiming to speak for specific groups. Let's just forget, for a minute, what website I happened to read about this on and focus on the facts as we know them.
Mary Jane Leach was invited to give a talk at a festival on the gay, black composer Julius Eastman, about whom she has co-edited a book. She is someone who has devoted over ten years of her life to recovering and curating Eastman's reputation and legacy, for no remuneration and purely for love of the man and his music. She was also scheduled to perform some of her own compositions.
She gave the talk, during which she used Eastman's titles of his own compositions, some of which contain racially charged language. She gave prior warning of this before the talk.
In a Q and A after the talk her decision to speak Eastman's titles aloud was called into question by some number of people. Leach presumably tried to defend her decision.
Some time after the Q and A it was announced that Leach's performance of her own work would not be taking place.
The festival issued a 1,700 word apology in which the content of Leach's talk was described as an instance of 'anti-black racism' and 'violence'.
She had driven 13 hours to get to the festival. She is 70 years old.
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