St. Pete

Open House Conspiracy is asking our Tampa Bay house community to answer the call of these difficult times by coming together and joining in solidarity with the ongoing daily St. Pete protest marches on Saturday, June 13th and Saturday, June 27th. Protest groups meet at 2pm and 6:30pm at City Hall to begin their march routes. Attendees are encouraged to wear a mask and practice social distancing.

While we believe this is important, we also acknowledge that this is just one piece of the process and it alone is not enough. It is clear we must do more to take up actionable calls outside of this current period of unrest, including in our own music community.

Normally the June 27th date would be our annual St. Pete Pride party, but let us use it instead to remember the spirit of Pride’s origins. Each year celebrations throughout June honor the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, an uprising that Black trans women like Marsha P. Johnson played a prominent role in and an event that served as the turning point for the queer community finally taking a stand against police brutality.

Dance music as we know it today would not exist without the contributions of Black and queer artists. Their communities gave birth to disco, house music, techno, and many of the musical forms that have precluded these or come after.

We owe it to our brothers and sisters to march in solidarity with the movement fighting for their lives, an end to police brutality, justice for all, the dismantling of systemic racism, and the equality that was promised, but is still yet to be delivered. We are tired of seeing the results of this in the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others. From Ferguson to Minneapolis, there is a long list of names extrajudicially executed for what this nation has shamefully criminalized, being Black in America.

Our organization has always prided itself on facilitating an inclusive safe space for all in both principle and practice. Locally, we were one of the first and only to make these intentions explicit and lay them out in policy form on a dedicated page. When asking ourselves what more we can do to foster diversity and equity in our own dance music community, a few initiatives have been proposed:

• Conduct research into the lineups and booking practices of our prominent local promoters and venues. Findings will be compiled into a report that examines the level of equity in programming for the Tampa Bay region. With this information, we can better understand some of the problems at hand involving racial disenfranchisement and disproportionate representation within our own community. This is not without precedent and will be done in the spirit of and under the example set by other groups of a broader focus like female:pressure and their FACTS Survey.

• Regardless of the survey’s outcome — though the findings are expected to uncover large disparities that need to be addressed, including reflecting on any of our own blind spots — we are committed to creating an annual scholarship for DJing lessons and mentorship with three slots that prioritize Black, female, LGBTQ, and low-income recipients.

• Organize and add into our programming rotation an annual Southside-centric event to serve as a platform for Black voices with a focus on highlighting Black artists (both musically and visually), businesses (venues and suppliers), vendors (food, clothing, etc.), and organizations (non-profits, community groups).

• Continue to facilitate free, community oriented DJ and dance workshops, as well as music and history lectures, around our events.

• Host a panel discussing diversity in our local dance music community with speakers that include key, prominent stakeholders like venues and promoters in addition to DJs and patrons.

• Better communicate and solidify our long-standing door policy that does not exclude people because of their socioeconomic status. We have always tried to keep our cover charges as low as possible so that more people can enjoy our events. This has included waiving it for those down on their luck financially, struggling creatives, and even the homeless. Money should never be a barrier to dancing and connecting with likeminded people. We will create a more concrete pay-it-forward donation fund and free ticket option to help us maintain these practices and continue to bring vibrant parties to people from all walks of life in the Sunshine City.

If you have other suggestions or ideas regarding practices and initiatives we can implement to harbor a more equitable community, please feel free to reach out.