Music and Anti-Racism: Musicians’ Involvement in Anti-Racist Spaces

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rpms20 Popular Music and Society ISSN: 0300-7766 (Print) 1740-1712 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpms20 Music and Anti-Racism: Musicians’ Involvement in Anti-Racist Spaces Anna Rastas & Elina Seye To cite this article: Anna Rastas & Elina Seye (2018): Music and Anti-Racism: Musicians’ Involvement in Anti-Racist Spaces, Popular Music and Society, DOI: 10.1080/03007766.2018.1526527 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2018.1526527 © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 22 Oct 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 4683 View related articles View Crossmark data Music and Anti-Racism: Musicians’Involvement in Anti-Racist Spaces Anna Rastas and Elina Seye Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland ABSTRACT This article explores connections between music and anti-racism. Based on our analyses of recent anti-racist demonstrations and musical media productions, we have constructed an ethnographic description of musicians’involvement in anti-racism in Finland. Our study makes visible how in predominantly white societies, individual musicians’own relations to (anti-)racism, as well as different articulations and meanings of race in general, have become issues that an increasing number of musicians must negotiate. By relying on a multidisciplinary theoretical framework, our study provides different approaches to the complexity and the multidimensionality of the meanings of race, racism, and antiracism in music. Introduction There is plenty of research on the role of music in struggles against racism. However, most studies have focused on the interrelations among specific music cultures, genres, and political movements. In some societies, such as in the U.S.A. and the UK, music has played such a central role in mobilizing protest movements and creating and sustaining collective political, racialized identities that particular music genres cannot be understood without comprehending the connections between music and (anti-)racism (Eyerman and Jamison 74–105;Garcia 275). For example, “black music”refers to various musical styles created by people who have faced and fought against racism at different times and locations. The African diaspora, especially the black population, is considered as comprising communities, based not only on their real or imagined engagements with Africanness and experiences of and struggles against racism, but also on their music cultures linked to those struggles (Back 127–49). Despite the different theorizations concerning their origins and links to other music cultures (e.g., Gilroy 133–35;Zeleza 211), the social meanings of African and black diasporic music are studied and discussed in connection to racialized social relations (Hamilton 6–8). When the music genres originating in these cultures have travelled to new locations, they have often been embraced as signifiers of anti-racism and resistance to oppression. Blues, jazz, reggae, and hip hop can be heard all over the world, and even when their political dimensions are not emphasized or they have been transformed and CONTACT Anna Rastas anna.rastas@uta.fi POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIETY https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2018.1526527 © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. reinterpreted in their new locations, as genres, they are known to be rooted in particular political fields. This study’s starting point is the idea that the connections between music and (anti-) racism are more complex and multidimensional than what has been shown in research focusing on the histories of specific music genres and their relations to particular political movements. We argue that because of the rapid demographic changes that have resulted from migration over the last decades, a growing number of music professionals are forced to think about the different meanings of race and negotiate their own relationship with anti-racism. Finland, along with the other Nordic countries, provides a good example of how racism has become a topic of discussion in predominantly white societies that have been characterized by denials of the existence of racism rather than by attempts to acknowledge and contest its different articulations (Loftsdóttir and Jensen 1–9;Rastas, “The Emergence of Race”). Changes in racialized social relations, populist movements, many of which are openly racist, and reactions to racism and xenophobia have made racism an issue that cannot be denied anymore. In addition to immigrant and other new ethnic minority communities, new racialized communities of non-white people who were born and have grown up in the predominantly white European societies have started to address and react to their experiences of racism through music. In Northern Europe, demographic changes, the emergence of political and collective racialized identities, and anti-racist activities of ethnic and racial minority communities have created a new discursive climate where the normative whiteness has also become a topic of discussion (Keskinen and Andreassen 65–66;Rastas, “Reading History”90, 100; Rastas, "The Emergence of Race" 372). These reactions to racism and anti-racism and individuals’negotiations of their racialized identities occur especially in the fields of arts and cultural production, including music. Regardless of their own positions in racialized social hierarchies, a growing number of musicians, producers, event organizers, and other professionals face the need to understand and reflect on the complex meanings and workings of racism and their own commitments to anti-racism. Theoretical Background, Research Materials, and Methods of Analyses In this study, we use broad definitions of racism and anti-racism. Racism refers to not only particular ideologies and intentional, oppressive practices based on them but also to racializing discourses and practices by which racial hierarchies and essentialist, oppressive ideas of some people and cultures are produced and reproduced. In cultural studies, race is a socially constructed, discursive category. The notion of racialization refers to the processes whereby “the discourse of race is employed in an attempt to label, constitute or exclude social collectivities”(Miles 73). By anti-racism, we mean policies and practices opposing racism, which comprise collective and individual interventions in those discourses and practices that are discussed as racism or racializing practices in the research literature and among racialized minorities. Studies on racism and anti-racism constitute a multidisciplinary field of research with various subfields, such as whiteness studies (e.g., Bonnet 181–89;Doane 3–18;Dyer 1–40) and theorizations on intersectionality (e.g., Collins and Bilge 31–42). Additionally, our discussion has been informed by visual 2A. RASTAS AND E. SEYE methodologies (e.g., Rose 12–26) and research on digital forms of cultural production, both of which can be considered particularly topical in studies on racism (Buccitelli 2–4;Nakamura 14) and on music videos. Our analyses of music video productions have also been inspired by Björnberg’sanalyses. Our approach and theoretical framework are built on the ethnographic tradition and discussions in cultural studies. To produce an ethnographic thick description of the studied phenomena, we use different methods of analyses (e.g., content and discourse) on selected pieces of our extensive materials and then bring our findings into the discussion with multidisciplinary theorizations concerning the questions under investigation. To examine musicians’involvement in anti-racism, we have employed two approaches. First, we have looked for musicians’agency and the roles of music in what can be defined as “spaces for anti-racism”in Finnish society over the last couple of years when racism and anti-racism have become common topics of public discussions. Second, we have identified anti-racist discourses and practices in different scenes of Finnish popular music. In addition to the materials selected for closer examination in this paper, we rely on the findings and the research materials produced during our previous ethnographic studies on racialized relations and identities in Finnish society, as well as on African diaspora communities and cultures. We have undertaken ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation, both in the anti-racist spaces (e.g., demonstrations, nongovernmental organizations [NGOs], online, and other communities) discussed in this article and on specific sites for popular music, especially related to events and productions, where people who identify with ethnic and racialized minorities also perform a central role as artists and producers. Some of our projects have focused on musicians. Several have included collaboration with artists, for example, action research projects aiming at exhibiting and archiving knowledge of African diaspora music and African and black musicians’contributions to Finnish culture. 1 Besides our studies, our knowledge of anti-racism and certain music scenes in Finland results from our roles as activists and teachers in these fields. The materials from which we have chosen our examples include over 30 music videos, field notes and other documents from our participation in dozens of concerts and other events, and hundreds of media texts from the internet. To find materials related to the media coverage of particular anti-racist events and to observe the reception of the events and the productions that are the focus of our analyses, we have undertaken what Kozinets calls netnography. We have also interviewed Finnish musicians, producers, and journalists to clarify musicians’roles in planning and organizing the discussed events and to obtain information that is usually shared only among insiders. Most of these interviewees (n = 10) wanted to remain anonymous. All these materials have inspired our analyses, but only those chosen for closer examination are included in the works cited list. We first provide a general description of musicians’involvement in anti-racist spaces in Finland. We have examined the musicians’agency by paying attention to how their own positions in racialized social hierarchies matter in these contexts. Along with our analyses of (a) the significance of music in anti-racism demonstrations and (b) antiracist music video productions, we discuss the meanings of race for the construction of POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIETY 3 anti-racist spaces in music and the complex ways in which race matters and becomes an issue to be negotiated. Musicians’Anti-Racist Spaces in Finland Finland is a northern European country where rapid demographic changes due to immigration have occurred since the beginning of the 1990s. However, racism has only recently become a public topic of discussion in Finnish society. In the early 2000s, the discursive climate was still different, characterized by denials of the existence of racism and the lack of political movements focusing on anti-racism, although racism against particular immigrant groups and racialized minorities was common (Rastas, “Reading History”90–91;Rastas, “Talking Back”198–201). The growth of ethnic minority communities and the number of Finns who identify with racial minorities have made it more difficult to ignore racism. Recent racist and xenophobic reactions to immigration have been followed by a rapid increase in antiracist activities in Finnish society (Rastas, "The Emergence of Race" 368-372). Racial and ethnic minorities have started to speak for their rights in various forums, and other (white) Finns have also begun to react to racism. Notwithstanding this development, in predominantly white social spaces, racism and anti-racism are often still understood as issues that concern only non-white people and other racialized minorities. This view became evident when we approached white music professionals with our questions concerning musicians’involvement in anti-racist activities. White musicians, journalists, and producers usually started to offer us lists of non-white musicians’names as potential interviewees, as if questions concerning racism had no impact on white musicians’lives and work. People who are positioned as racialized minorities can hardly avoid negotiating about and reacting to racism, which applies to both immigrants and the rapidly increasing population of non-white people who were born and have grown up in Finland. Therefore, the sites with the most potential for musicians’involvement in antiracism are those spaces where non-white musicians can be found. Similar to all social spaces, music genres are racialized fields, but as shown by theorizations in whiteness studies, the normative whiteness creates false ideas of innocence that prevent people from acknowledging and discussing the whiteness of some spaces (e.g., Wekker 18). Practically all music scenes in Finland are predominantly white, but some music genres are more inclusive of non-white artists than others. Unsurprisingly, these genres are commonly categorized as “black music,”especially hip hop/rap and reggae. Until the 1980s, when the first few African immigrant musicians (most of them from Senegal and Tanzania) settled in Finland, the only black musicians in the country were a few jazz artists from the U.S.A. Currently, the presence of the rapidly growing new generation of young non-white Finns can be seen, especially in hip hop and rap genres. Although the first rap artists in Finland were white Finns, a photo exhibition on the history of rap in Finland (Kädet ilmaan) has made it evident that non-white rappers have also shaped this genre’s history in the country since the 1990s. As illustrated in a video jukebox produced for another exhibition, focusing on the history and the social and the cultural contributions of the African diaspora in Finland, young rappers of African descent have in recent years become important voices of the new generation of 4A. RASTAS AND E. SEYE non-white Finns. 2 Artists such as Deogracias Masomi, aka Gracias; James Nikander, aka Musta Barbaari (Black Barbarian); and Iyouseyas Belayneh, aka Prinssi Jusuf (Prince Jusuf), whose videos were included in the jukebox, use hip hop to negotiate their situation as both African and black diaspora subjects and non-white Finns. 3 Thus, in Finland, young people who identify with racialized minorities have primarily embraced those (black) music genres that are most commonly associated with antiracism. In contrast to hip hop, classical music has always been associated with whiteness, andthemyththatracedoesnotmatterseemsespeciallystrongintheclassicalmusic scene. Even a pioneer of postcolonial studies, Edward Said, considers Western classical music universal, speaking to anyone regardless of ethnicity or race (Capitain 56). In an event where immigrant musicians’situations and work conditions in Finland were discussed, a famous Finnish orchestra’s general manager explained that racism was not an issue in classical music because when new musicians were recruited, auditions were arranged in a way that the candidates could not be seen, only heard. This statement suggests that the meanings of race are limited to discrimination in job-seeking situations. It also illustrates what Leppänen describes as the persistence of romantic notions of the autonomy and the presumed abstract nature of classical music. According to Leppänen 2015,“Issues of race and racism are problematic in connection to the idea of musical autonomy, as the ideal holds that the music itself does not have anythingtodowithextra-musicalphenomena such as gender, nationality, race and ethnicity”(19). However, several initiatives promote (safe) spaces in classical music for black and ethnic minority musicians (see, e.g., Duchen), reminding us that race matters even in spaces associated with whiteness. The presumed neutrality of these spaces, constructed by the normative whiteness, ignores the meanings of race for non-white people; doing so may make the spaces unwelcoming and less attractive to this group. If some music genres are unlikely spaces for musicians’involvement in anti-racism, what about those sites where minoritized musicians can be found? In predominantly white societies, where white people have occupied even the rap scene, the emergence of black rappers inevitably raises the question of how individual rap musicians’“hip hop literacies,”to use Richardson and Pough’sterm, depend on their racial identifications. Furthermore, rap is shaped not only by the global hip-hop culture but also by local languages and cultures, as well as local expressions of racism and anti-racism. As mentioned, several young non-white Finns who identify with blackness and/or the African diaspora have now become active agents in the Finnish hip-hop and rap scene. Some of them have also become well-known anti-racism activists in Finland, talking about racism through their music, on media (including their own social media sites), in demonstrations, and as guest speakers in schools. A few young black Finns, such as the above-mentioned James Nikander and Iyouseyas Belayneh, have made discussions about racism and other issues related to the everyday life of ethnic minority youth in Finland practically their profession. They have provided Finnish audiences with new encounters with blackness that is shaped not only by the global (“foreign”) black cultures but also by local experiences through their own YouTube channels and their popular TV show Mamu–suomi–mamu (Immigrant–Finnish–immigrant) in the POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIETY 5 2015–16 season of the Kioski series, aimed at young audiences and produced by the Finnish Broadcasting Company. They have also been featured on other TV shows. Musicians of color are also active in different genres of what is often categorized as ethnic or world music. These genres have very small markets in Finland, but some people have been able to employ themselves as musicians and music teachers due to their expertise in certain African music traditions. The increasing number of events supporting multiculturalism has offered additional work opportunities for these people, not only as performing artists but also as speakers and representatives of different cultures. Although in many festivals and other multicultural events, anti-racism is a self-evident context rather than an openly discussed topic (Rastas and Seye 88–89), these occasions have become important avenues for networking. Representatives of different NGOs, professional event organizers, and musicians of both ethnic minority and majority backgrounds who want to be involved in anti-racism meet and become acquainted with one another. Regardless of individuals’own positions in racialized relations, participating in these events can be interpreted as a political statement, as the willingness to promote certain ideas and policies and resist others. Although these celebrations of multiculturalism can sometimes be criticized for focusing on essentializing cultural views rather than questions of racism and power hierarchies, they have created new spaces for interracial encounters and negotiations about individual musicians’attitudes toward, knowledge of, and relations to racism and anti-racism (Rastas and Seye 89–92). Since the mid 1970s, when the Rock Against Racism movement (studied by Dawson; Goodyer; among others) was founded in Britain, musicians in different European countries have similarly reacted to the increase in xenophobia and racist incidents. They have organized concerts, collaborated with NGOs that promote anti-racism, and publicly talked about racism as a social problem. For example, as shown by De Cleen’s study in Belgium, concerts have been organized to oppose racism and extreme-right populism in other European countries as well. In Finland, very few musicians have participated in such activities until recently. Karri Miettinen, aka Paleface, a white Finnish hip-hop pioneer, is an exception in this case. With the choice of his stage name and his many political activities and collaborations with musicians of ethnic minority backgrounds, Miettinen has positioned himself as an artist for whom hip hop is not only an artistic and cultural but also a social movement. Unsurprisingly, he was the key person in organizing the musical program of Finland’sfirst major demonstrations against racism, as discussed in the next section. Music and Musicians in Anti-Racist Demonstrations Two major anti-racist demonstrations in Helsinki (Finland’s capital) have occurred in recent years. Both were reactions to the increase in hate speech in general and to specific instances of populist politicians’public statements and of racist violence. The first one, Meillä on unelma (We Have a Dream), was held in 2015, followed by Peli poikki –rikotaan hiljaisuus (Stop Racism –Let’s Break the Silence 4 ) in 2016. These large demonstrations were supported by smaller protests in many other Finnish cities. The same core group of people initiated both demonstrations, with musical performances playing a central role. 6A. RASTAS AND E. SEYE The first one was organized in July 2015 on short notice as a reaction to a Facebook post by Olli Immonen, a Finnish Parliament member under the populist party Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party). In his post, reminiscent of Nazi-German leaders’ speeches, Immonen described multiculturalism as a “nightmare.”The organization of the We Have a Dream demonstration similarly started on Facebook, when Aleksi Pahkala, a DJ, music producer, and event organizer, voiced the idea that “something should be done”to make visible the opposition to such racist statements (Miettinen). The demonstration took place three days later, gathering about 15,000 people on a square near the Parliament. The speakers comprised politicians, religious leaders, and other cultural figures, including several individuals belonging to ethnic and religious minorities. The musical program consisted of performances by a range of well-known Finnish pop, rock, and hip-hop artists. Apart from the two above-mentioned rappers/ social media celebrities (Musta Barbaari and Prinssi Jusuf), the musicians represented the white majority. The famous musicians’participation in and comments on the event that were posted on social media received substantial media attention. The second large demonstration (Stop Racism) was held in September 2016 as a reaction to a violent attack by a member of the neo-Nazi organization called Finnish Defense League (FDL) against a young man named Jimi Karttunen. Karttunen, who was attacked for expressing his contempt for an FDL gathering near Helsinki’s main railway station, died a few days later from his injuries. According to Karri Miettinen, who actively participated in organizing both demonstrations, the 2016 demonstration was somewhat more carefully planned than the previous one; the first meeting was held a week before the event (see also Lahtinen). This demonstration attracted (according to different estimates) 15,000–20,000 people, who marched through the city center from the location of the previous demonstration in front of the Parliament to the historical Senate Square in front of the Helsinki Cathedral, where speeches and performances took place. Miettinen told us that for the 2016 demonstration the organizers wanted to have a more balanced program, rather than a maximum number of musical performances by “front-line artists,”as described on the Facebook event page for the We Have a Dream demonstration. As soon as the 2016 demonstration was announced, Miettinen received several performance offers from individual artists and their record companies. According to him, artists and their managers, usually wary of taking a public stance about anything, clearly remembered the previous demonstration, which had gathered thousands of people and gained significant media attention, and viewed the second event as an opportunity for gaining positive publicity. He explained his claim by comparing the situation with a recent concert in support of asylum seekers’demonstration against deportations: “The organizers of that event told me that it had never been as hard to find artists to perform.”Since finding artists to perform at smaller political events with similar goals had been difficult, it seemed obvious to Miettinen that some artists offering to perform at the Stop Racism demonstration were more interested in promoting their new singles and albums than supporting the cause. For the 2016 demonstration, the organizers wanted to limit the number of artists and allow more space to minoritized groups. Malang Cissokho, a Senegalese musician who has lived in Finland for about 30 years, was invited as the opening performer. His song with kora (a traditional West African string instrument) accompaniment was certainly POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIETY 7 intended and received in the demonstration as a symbol of diversity in Finland, especially since many Finns would associate Cissokho’s voice and instrument with J. Karjalainen (one of the most popular singer-songwriters in Finland) and his hit song “Väinö”(1996), which featured Cissokho. Significantly, not only was this key space allotted to a musician representing a visible minority, but the fact that he was also Cissokho further emphasized that black people and even traditional African musical styles had already become part of Finnish society and culture. Another central musical performance at the Stop Racism demonstration was Miettinen’s (or rather Paleface’s) rendition of his recently released protest song “Emme suostu pelkäämään”(“We refuse to be afraid”). Set to the melody of an Irish folk song, it directly opposed racist and fascist groups, especially Soldiers of Odin that organized street patrols in several Finnish cities on the pretense of protecting women and children from immigrants. Right after its release in June 2016, the song and the music video were actively circulated on social media by anti-racism activists. Several of the demonstrations supporting Stop Racism that were held in other Finnish cities over the following weeks were even named after the song. Both the music video and the live performance of the song at the demonstration featured clowns from the Loldiers of Odin 5 group that produced carnivalistic street performances, as well as media performances that were spread through the group’s website, YouTube channel, and Facebook page in opposition to the Soldiers of Odin’s patrols (see also “A Three-Ring Circus in Finland”). The Loldiers of Odin’s main anti-racist strategy was to break down the threatening image of the Soldiers of Odin by embarrassing them and their aggressive masculinity. However, in the Stop Racism demonstration, the musical performance that gained the most visibility in media reports was a symphony orchestra’s rendition of the Finlandia Hymn. It is the last section of Jean Sibelius’s orchestral composition Finlandia, which can be performed either by an orchestra alone or with a choir joining in for the hymn part, whose lyrics are known to most Finns. 6 Finlandia carries historical associations with the country’s struggle for independence in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries (see, e.g., “Finlandia by Jean Sibelius”). The Finlandia Hymn has also been repeatedly suggested as a replacement for the current national anthem, demonstrating its position as a national symbol in Finland. The orchestra at the event included musicians from a few orchestras operating in the greater Helsinki area. Miettinen told us, “I had the megalomaniac idea of a symphony orchestra, and I called the manager of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and presented the idea. They said that as an orchestra, they could not participate in demonstrations, but the musicians would be allowed to participate as individuals if they wished and that they could present the idea at the orchestra meeting. . . . Jan Söderblom, the first violinist, then took the responsibility of organizing it.” 7 The instrumental version of the Finlandia Hymn was performed as the final number of the demonstration’s program. There was a moment of silence in memory of Jimi Karttunen just before the orchestra started playing. A symbol of Finnish nationalism, Finlandia was turned into a massive performance with a more inclusive and welcoming Finnishness, which became a powerful statement in the context of an anti-racist demonstration. Judging by our own observations, as well as the video materials from the demonstration, this rendition embraced and touched everyone, including minorities 8A. RASTAS AND E. SEYE rap seems to be more of a tool to have their voices heard than a result of artistic ambitions. However, young black rappers who clearly aim for a music career have likewise used their pieces to express their political opinions. Some do so directly (e.g., Maikal with his song “Maan tavalla”), several (e.g., Gracias) actively by contributing to other artists’anti-racist projects, and others more subtly in their music by including references to global black cultures and to local discussions on racism. Until recently, racism had rarely been a topic of public discussion in Finland, and musicians with a white majority background had not necessarily considered racism an issue to which they should react. Musicians are usually not paid for charity gigs, and becoming public opponents of racism may decrease the artists’popularity and income in a society where anti-immigrant political parties have gained a significant percentage of the votes in recent elections. Along with the color blindness that prevents many white people from acknowledging racism and its consequences for other people, this situation may explain music professionals’relatively low participation in anti-racist activities. Nonetheless, the radical change in the discursive climate in relation to questions of racism –especially people’s reactions to the increase in hate speech and racist violence –has clearly inspired some musicians to take a stand against racism. In societies where racism has become a common topic of public discussions, white people are also expected to be aware of the issue and the complicated discourses concerning race and its various meanings. Some musicians may have adopted an antiracist worldview and agency because of the genre of the music they perform. Encounters and collaboration with fellow musicians who are positioned differently in racialized social hierarchies provide opportunities to learn from their situation as racialized subjects. In the case of many, but not all, white Finnish rappers, this understanding, along with studying the histories and the social forces embodied in their music genre, has resulted in their commitment to anti-racism. However, an anti-racist agency is not limited to rap and other “black”music genres. Many white Finnish musicians representing different music genres have recently commented on racism, either in their lyrics or by supporting anti-racist initiatives. In predominantly white societies with a xenophobic and racist discursive climate, even performing with non-white colleagues can be understood as a gesture against racism. Even some musicians, whose fans probably include supporters of populist politicians promoting anti-immigrant politics, have lent their voice in support of anti-racist actions. One such example is Pate Mustajärvi, a famous singer and the bandleader of the Suomi-rock band Popeda, whose statement is included in the YouTube channel of the We Have a Dream demonstration. We do not know the identities of those musicians who have refused to participate in anti-racist projects and events, but clearly, such a decision by a famous artist can also be interpreted as a statement. The two demonstrations discussed in this article were exceptional events because the preceding racist incidents were so extensively condemned in Finnish society. Therefore, the pressure to join these demonstrations and the related social media campaigns placed many musicians in a new situation that compelled them to take a stance against racism. As our analyses of a few music videos show, it is difficult or almost impossible to analyze music as if it could be a race-free zone, at least when the audience members view a non-white body in a setting where they are used to seeing white people. An anti-racist message can sometimes be conveyed just by bringing a non-white body into a setting where whiteness is POPULAR MUSIC AND SOCIETY 15 the norm. However, when people step out of their white comfort zone, white bodies can also contribute to creating anti-racist spaces, such as the group of classical musicians who participated in a political event promoting anti-racism and multiculturalism in front of a Christian church. Their rendition of the composition that is known for its nationalistic meaning in Finland carried a strong anti-racist message. Anti-racism is still understood as an issue that belongs, above all, to non-white people and/or to particular music genres. There is ample scholarly discussion on the role of music in particular anti-racist political movements, but our analyses suggest the need for further research on the meanings of race in different music cultures and social spaces and on the potentials of music in the fight against racism. Notes 1. For information on research materials produced during our previous projects, see “Music as a Site for Africanness and Diaspora Cultures”(Rastas and Seye), “Afrikkalaisten muusikoiden historia”(Seye), “Society in the Museum”(Sancho Querol), and “Studying African Diaspora Communities”(Rastas). 2. ElinaSeyeandUyiOsazeeplannedthevideojukeboxwithover20musicvideosby Finnish artists who identified with the African diaspora and which was included in the African Presence in Finland exhibition at the Finnish Labour Museum Werstas in 2015. 3. The lyrics by some of these artists have been discussed in detail in the articles on the politics of belonging (Leppänen and Westinen) and on the ethnic otherness of a black man (Westinen and Lehtonen). 4. Our translation. 5. The name Loldiers of Odin is in itself a mockery of the Soldiers of Odin patrols, as the letter sin the first syllable sol is changed to lto form the acronym LOL (laugh out loud), often used in text messages and social media comments. 6. Some readers may know the melody of the Finlandia Hymn as “The Song of Peace”by Peter, Paul and Mary, but in Finland, most people know only the original orchestral composition by Sibelius, particularly the hymn part. 7. Translation from Finnish to English by the authors. 8. For a detailed analysis of the lyrics and the visual narrative of this video, see “Migrant Rap in the Periphery”(Leppänen and Westinen). Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Funding This work was supported by the Academy of Finland [grant number 286195]. Notes on contributors Anna Rastas, Dr.Soc.Sc., is an Academy of Finland research fellow, a docent (an adjunct professor) in social anthropology at the University of Tampere, and a docent in European ethnology at the University of Helsinki. 16 A. RASTAS AND E. SEYE Elina Seye, PhD, works as an independent researcher and a part-time lecturer in musicology at the University of Helsinki. ORCID Anna Rastas http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1430-0357 Elina Seye http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1299-1644 Works cited “#joulurauhaa.”YouTube, uploaded by HOK-Elanto, 5 Dec. 2015 <https://youtu.be/_ tObU0xki1c>. “A Three-Ring Circus in Finland: Soldiers, ‘Loldiers’and Asylum Seekers.”The New York Times, 9Feb.2016 <https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/world/europe/a-three-ring-circus-infinland-soldiers-loldiers-and-asylum-seekers.html?_r=0>. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018. Ahmed, Sara. Strange Encounters. Embodied Others in Post-Coloniality, London, Routledge, 2000. 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