Punk Spreads

Punk and Activism

With resistance and refusal as its founding principles, punk culture has always blurred the line between art and activism. In “God Save the Queen,” the Sex Pistols attacked the empty commodified symbols of the fading British Empire, while “Anarchy in the U.K.” issued a call to think and act outside existing institutions.

Punk and punk-inspired DIY zines soon became a vehicle for reporting on key social and political issues, especially with the tide of conservatism that swept the U.S. and the U.K. in the 1980s and early 1990s. The rise of white nationalist organizations in Britain gave rise to the Rock Against Racism campaign that united punk, ska, and reggae performers; in the U.S. the failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment by the deadline of 1982 led to punk-inspired third-wave feminist zines and a decade later riot grrrl bands such as Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney; increased poverty from diminished social welfare programs inspired demonstrations on behalf of the homeless in People’s Park (Berkeley, CA), as well as benefit concerts at 924 Gilman Street; the slow reaction of governments to the AIDS epidemic decimating the gay community, and the demonizing of that community, was challenged by the zine and record label Outpunk in the early 1990s, and queercore bands such as Tribe 8, Pansy Division, and Limp Wrist; institutional investments in apartheid in South Africa were confronted by global demonstrations and multi-racial Afropunk bands such as National Wake. Food Not Bombs, AK Press, and hundreds of other national and local grassroots and DIY organizations sprang up from punk communities to actively support poor and underserved populations and produce an alternative to mainstream capitalism.

Peace Punk

Picking up on the anarchist principles of U.K. bands like Crass, Discharge, and Zoundz, and drawing on the Bay Area’s own long tradition of anarchist protest, “peace punk” bands like Crucifix, Trial, Christ on Parade, and Atrocity described the brutal consequences of capitalism, religious dogma, and the quest for power in the age of Reagan. Like the hippies before them, peace punks promoted animal liberation and vegetarianism, but their message was filtered through darkly distorted guitars, frenetic drums, and an apocalyptic lyrical and visual vocabulary that encouraged peace by holding up a mirror reflecting the worst horrors of the world. As Crucifix sang, “it’s a shame to give birth in a world that is dirt.”

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