Boomshaka Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Perform in Public

I’ve stayed silent for too long, and I can’t stand idly by as the ones I love are hurt time and time again. Maybe I’ve been silenced by fear of repercussions, or by fear of percussion, but it’s time to speak up no matter how loud the drums/trash cans/washboards of tyranny bang: Boomshaka shouldn’t be allowed to perform in public.

I’m sick of this overwhelmingly PC (percussion-centered) campus. If anything can be a drum, doesn’t that ruin the sanctity of actual drums? For once, I’d like my acapella group or long-form improv team to rehearse without the incessant scratching on a washboard and small baby deer jumps made by the dancers who definitely just decided what the choreography was on the spot.

Whatever people want to do behind closed doors or in the dark corners of Shanley Pavilion is fine with me but please don’t shove your alternative percussion in my face.  How am I supposed to explain that to my children? That the white man can bang a ladder and we celebrate it.

In fact, they will bang anything - driftwood, mahogany stools, hijacked Safe Ride tires. Do they even have a type? Is that what we are teaching our kids? To be sluts? To sexualize inanimate objects? To bang with reckless abandon?

And if that wasn’t enough, they’re out here banging things that don’t move. I’m not saying they’re necrophiliacs, but have you ever seen anyone on Boomshaka get any action from a living person and/or thing?

This isn’t to say that I hate all STOMP/Bucket style drumming. In fact, I’ve seen the Blue Man Group 3 times and loved it more each time. But, I need to buy tickets to see the Blue Man Group.  Boomshaka, on the other hand, will PUBLICLY perform (without a permit, I might add) on campus’s most seen and celebrated spaces. The arch, tech, the arch again. Don’t get me wrong - I value free speech. The old man that preaches by the arch can sing his song all day long. But, for the sanctity of percussion and everyone’s ears, please, Boomshaka, I beg of you, get a room.

Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/boomshaka-stop-boomshaka-from-performing-in-public?recruiter=27913450&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition