Feature Image: The Black Madonna by Aldo Paredes
“In our personal and professional lives we all navigate contradictions and unclear lines in a world that makes it hard to do the right thing.“
For many musicians, balancing the complexities of a career in the industry along with their personal views and ethics can be more difficult than one would think. Like in every career, sometimes it’s easy to find oneself in a situation where a career opportunity conflicts with one’s ethical standpoint; whether it’s musicians who are vocal about environmental issues yet are required to travel around the world for their careers (with air travel being extremely harmful to the environment) – to those who consider, or perform in countries that have a track record of humanitarian crises and exploitation.
Some of the situations musicians find themselves in can be up to choice, or may be inevitable – yet sometimes, musicians are put into situations that conflict their ethics, without even realising.
American DJ The Black Madonna has spoken out about her recent addition to Intersect Festival, set to take place from 6 -7 December in Las Vegas. In a recent development, the DJ has stated that she is ‘shocked’ after being booked to play the festival – specifically because without any notice, she learned that Amazon are one of the main sponsors of the festival. Amazon are responsible for an alarming amount of human rights discretions, ranging from extreme exploitation and dangerous work environments for those working in their warehouses, as well as their drivers, to fuelling gentrification and homelessness – and even hosting ICE’s (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) deportation files; with ICE being known for their human rights abuse toward immigrants in the US.
Evidently conflicting with her ethical views; when asked how she wasn’t aware Amazon were sponsoring Intersect, The Black Madonna stated that she had absolutely no idea, as there was no mention of it in any of the paperwork that she signed. Below are a series of tweets by The Black Madonna that outline her shock and outrage at the situation:
As of October 19th, The Black Madonna has announced she will be dropping out of Intersect Festival altogether, tweeting:
