Emo problems in Peru and Mexico

Peru: Understanding the Emo Youth in Lima

And they are defenseless because a friend told me that he had seen many of them beaten by gangs and by punks that hang out around the Spanish Cultural Center for their appearance.

In Peru misunderstandings abound and the media hit a new low using "fake" emos in a tv programme:

About a month ago, on the local television program Close Enemies, there was a program dedicated to emos, which ridiculed and treated them poorly. The blog Descarga Directa [es] published a video, which showed part of the program, on his post “Emos on the television: Noooo!! [es]” However, what had added to the controversy was the discovery that part of the program was made with emos especially created for the occasion. This is what El Blog de Cayo [es] said on his post “False Panelists… False Emos [es]“:

Once again evidence of how this is a worldwide problem.


MTV continue their examination of Emo attacks with some interesting research. Glad to see there are some true punks in Mexico.:

Behind The Emo Attacks: We Head To Mexico City
MTV.com

So why does the threat of violence persist? And why are these different classes of kids — punks, goths, metalheads and emos — at war with one another? Well, according to Josh Kun, a professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communications and the author of "Audiotopia: Music, Race and America" (which had a chapter dedicated to Mexican rock), the issue at the heart of all this is one of identity. In very simple terms, Mexican youth cling to the essence of what it means to be a punk or a metalhead — and they will fight to the bitter end to protect that identity from any and all infringement.

"In Mexico, rock culture has always been this super outlawed thing. ... Kids there attach themselves to a countercultural movement because it's about survival — it's an intensity we're not used to here in the States," he said. "In the '60s, rock was outlawed — you would be arrested if you were playing rock music in public, and your hair would be cut by the cops — and so there's always been this aura of it being 'rebel' music, and kids are drawn to that. To extremes.

"Punk has not been commoditized and mainstreamed to the extent it has here in the U.S., where something like 'emo' is in it's third or fourth wave, and there's nothing particularly 'alternative' about it," Kun continued. "In Mexico, it's still an underground identity, and it's taken to extremes. ... It's really striking how overly sexualized it is. Emo kids are so-called 'emo-sexuals' and punks are super-macho and straight. So when they fight, it's about identities."

And despite the rather glum predictions of those in the scene, Kun says there are already signs that emo kids are beginning to be accepted. He points to an instance in Tijuana, one of the sites of the original violence, where rather than attack emos, punkeros decided to embrace them, because it was the punk-rock thing to do.

"Basically, the punk leaders there came together and told all the other punks that violence was not the 'punk' thing to do," he explained. "They said that if you were a true punk, you'd learn to accept the emo kids, because they're different just like we are."

More Sophie Tributes - Basingstoke and Bacup

Sophie Lancaster charity gig

11 Apr 2008 Rock fans in Basingstoke have come together to arrange a show to raise money for the charity set up by the family of murdered teen Sophie Lancaster: Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred + Intolerance Everywhere. Details are as follows: Hosted ...

Bowls tournament in Sophie's memory
A MAJOR bowls competition will be held in the park where Sophie Lancaster was murdered in a bid to raise funds in her memory.

And he has had permission from Sophie’s mum Sylvia Lancaster and family friend Kate Conboy-Greenwood to hold the event on 10 August, the eve of the anniversary of the horrific incident, in which Sophie’s boyfriend Robert Maltby was also kicked and beaten about the head.

Chris, 44, from Weir, said: ‘I have written to 32 bowlers locally and 32 people from elsewhere in Yorkshire, Wigan and the Greater Manchester area.

West Memphis Three

Th case is back in court this detailed article focuses on the appeal:

Unfortunately, the key events in the WM3 case have unfolded within a community that had little trouble in believing that Satan is real and at work in the world, and that the three children were killed in a ritual sacrifice to the Devil. That, in essence, was the prosecution case – though the state prosecutors never did risk putting Satan on the witness stand, for cross-examination.

Echols in particular, became a target. He wore a black trench coat even in warm weather, rented books on paganism from the local library, listened to Metallica and other heavy metal bands, and wrote doomy, melodramatic poetry. Echols had received treatment for depression, and been briefly hospitalized. At 19, he also exuded an air of bored teenage defiance that did him no favours in the courtroom. Taken together, that was about all it took to make Echols a prime suspect – and from there, it proved a fairly short journey to death row.

Breakthrough for the West Memphis Three
Scoop.co.nz, New Zealand -Apr 13, 2008

MCR denounce attacks in Mexico

When My Chemical Romance took the stage in Mexico City (this past Saturday at Zero Fest), Gerard Way spoke to the crowd:

“I want to say something today before we continue. Recently we’ve been hearing a lot of stuff about some violence here in your country having to do with kids who want to wear black t-shirts…or some kind of bulls— stuff like that. We don’t want to see any f—ing violence! We came here for one reason, and that’s to be at the f—ing rock show!”

My Chemical Romance Speak Out Against Anti-Emo Violence
MTV.com

My Chemical Romance have consitantly promoted an an anti-self harm and anti suicide message. Of course there is a massive debate whether their music is emo or not, the band and many of their fans deny it, but we cannot really go into that here.

More reports provide some interesting background:

Subculture clash among Mexico youth
USA Today - Apr 14, 2008
But in other parts of Mexico, a spate of attacks by punks and other groups on the emos has thrown a spotlight on the rapid growth of these "urban tribes"

In Mexico, emo music fans face many who hate them to the core
Chicago Tribune, United States - Apr 14, 2008
Whatever the case, the dramatic dress style of urban music followers known as "emos" has struck a nerve in Mexico's macho society.


This following report highlights something we have talked about often not noted elsewhere :

Although nothing of this magnitude has been reported in North Dakota or the United States, there is evidence of disliking for the people that are known as "emos." On the MTV news Web site alone, there are several comments on the article threatening "emos" in America with an 800-person riot of their own.

Beyond the comments about the article, propaganda featuring anti-emo messages and imagery can be found on any popular Web site including YouTube and Facebook. Almost anyone can gain access to examples of anti-emo images from videos of "emo" kids being assaulted to a popular Facebook bumper sticker featuring Adolph Hitler sporting a thick earring, eye-liner, and hair covering one eye and the words "the original emo kid."

Although the intention of some of these images is for comedic purpose, but when a violent tone begins to surround a group of people it is anything but funny. One can't help but blame the origin of such hatred, which could possibly be the hardly comical videos and photos so popularly displayed on the internet.

Discrimination: Let's see how far we've come
UND The Dakota Student, ND


At the end of the day no-one has died in Mexico yet so its a bit hypocritical of people elsewhere not to bear that in mind when they criticis Mexican society specially if they are just over the border. But then it looks like Brian Denke who died in 1997 in Texas is forgotten by the popular press.

Latest anti-Emo news

'Emo,' goth subcultures thriving in Mexico
Arizona Republic, AZ
This article focuss on class issues. Lots of comments mostly anti-Mexican and Anti-Emo.


Good article which points out the violence is ongoing and explores earlier conflicts:

Although the Mexican public has been taken aback by the violence against Emo fans, Adam Gonzalez, a hardcore promoter in the Valley, said that conflicts between genres are common. Music used to have clear divisions, he said. But now music is melding together, pulling influences from different genres.

Hardcore is mixing with emo. There are hardcore bands with metal influence. And as genre's mix, fans mix too.

"There could be a hardcore that ends up going to a metal show," he said. "We end up going and it's different styles of music, different styles of thinking. Of course it's going to clash."

In the RGV, where there has always been a strong metal following, conflicts arose as hardcore tried to establish itself. "There were a couple of fights," he said. But in the past few years hardcore has found its niche the conflicts have subsided.

Why Mexico wants emo dead
Monitor, TX - 11 Apr 2008

Meanwhile this article reveals some authorities in Mexico want Emos removed from public spaces. Sounds familar.

MEXICO: "Emos" Under Attack
By Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Apr 8 (IPS) - "We are a komplex organisation, kapable of eliminating EMOS in this world, if you want to kontact us, our email is (…)" On-line messages like this one have been fanning a wave of intolerance against one of the lesser-known young counterculture groups in Mexico.

Over the past month, Mexico has seen several incidents of anti-emo bashings and harassment by members of other subcultures like metal heads, skaters, punks and Goths, as well as ordinary working-class adolescents.

Emo (short for "emotional hardcore") describes a counterculture that has its roots in punk fashion and music, with touches of gothic subculture and styles.

A typical emo look involves shaggy hair dyed jet black (sometimes with brightly coloured highlights) that sweeps over the forehead and sometimes part of the face, horn-rimmed or other "nerd" glasses, and usually black clothing including tight pants, overly small vintage t-shirts, studded belts, converse tennis shoes, eyeliner and dark nail polish.

The emo subculture is typically associated with depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, with emo kids celebrating teenage angst and generally drawn to pop-punk, hardcore punk and indie rock.

"Hello culeros (a derogatory Mexican term for gays), the Anti-Christ greets you….who are the emos, those abnormal asexual ones, the ones whose balls haven't dropped down, those fags who cry like girls…?" says the voice-over on a video posted on the YouTube video sharing site, which shows images of Mexican emos.

Although these different youth subcultures do not generally share interests and even detest each other’s fashions or music, in the past there has been little intolerance and clashes were rare.

But on Mar. 7, several emos were beaten by a huge crowd in a downtown public square in the central Mexican city of Querétaro, where emos hang out. The attackers chanted homophobic insults.

Youngsters describing themselves as "anti-emo" had previously circulated anonymous emails inviting people to "take back the square" from the emos, who they said were "gay" because they wear makeup and dress effeminately.

A week later, in Mexico City, emo demonstrators protesting the violence were the target of attacks, and the police had to intervene.

In the capital and other cities, the police have stepped up security in certain hang-out spots to protect emos, because the harassment and threatening email and Internet campaigns have continued.

The emos tend to come from a comfortable middle-class background and many attend private schools. Most of them are 15 or 16 years old.

By contrast, anthropologist Paulina Leipen told IPS, members of the other counterculture groups like metal heads and punks are often kids from poor barrios who have come together seeking mutual protection and a shared sense of identity and belonging.

"The recent expressions of intolerance are a sign of the increasing breakdown of the social fabric and growing marginalisation, which is why attention from the state is needed," said Leipen, who works with street children.

The anthropologist said that like other so-called "urban tribes", the emo subculture has spilled over into Mexico from the United States and Europe.

A few of the bands popular among emos today are My Chemical Romance -- whose debut album, released in 2002, was "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" -- Fall Out Boy, Escape the Fate, Paramore, Glassjaw, The Used and Funeral For a Friend.

"Emos describe themselves as melancholic and searching for solitude. But I see it as more of a fad, and in that sense it shouldn't be surprising that the group is also full of contented people," said Leipen.

Fausto Pretelín, a researcher of social issues at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, said "the ornaments of unhappiness form part of the emo aesthetic, which is complemented with styles and other elements that give them a Hollywood special effects look."

There are no reliable estimates of the number of emos in Mexico. But like other subcultures, the group is a minority, and many people were not even aware of its existence until video footage of the early March beating of three skinny emo kids in Querétaro was broadcast on TV newcasts.

Officials in different cities have called for tolerance, and have even organised meetings between different social tribes in an attempt to combat the wave of hatred

But some officials have taken a different stance. Mayor Gerardo Hernández in Celeya, a city in the state of Guanajuato, said emos should be removed from downtown public squares.

"We wouldn't want them to be in the city centre," said Hernández, who belongs to the conservative governing National Action Party (PAN). "They hurt our image and set a bad example. They should congregate elsewhere, where they don't hurt the city’s image."

The governmental National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination called for an investigation of intolerant statements and measures by officials, and an in-depth probe into the origins of the anti-emo threats.

The chairman of the Council, Gilberto Rincón, said that "a small, eccentric, easily identifiable group is an easy target of stigmatisation and discrimination," and urged the authorities and society as a whole to show tolerance and take legal action when necessary and appropriate. (END/2008)

Of course in the UK we shouldn't fel too smug. Look at this comment in the paper on Leeds corn Exchange which as we pointed out earlier was recreated to deliberately exclude emos, goths etc.

Everyone's got an opinion on the transformation of the Corn Exchange into a food emporium.

When I popped in the other day it seemed most of the dozen or so people in there were gazing wistfully at the rows of empty units as if imagining how it used to be.

As I stood there I overheard a man explain to his companion that the shopping centre had suffered because of youths hanging around outside. He was referring to the Emo kids – easily confused with Goths as they all dress in black and live by the rule that you can never wear too much black eyeliner.

So I almost fell over laughing when he added: "Yeah, you know the sort – those emu kids"!

"Emu" kids really would have got the security team in a flap.

Help! I think I'm turning into Cat Woman
Yorkshire Evening Post, UK - 8 Apr 2008

Attack on 14 year old left her feeling suicidal

This is exactly why something must be done now. This girl's life has been turned into a living hell.

Attack has left me feeling suicidal
Glasgow Daily Record, UK

Apr 14 2008 Joan Burnie

Q - I AM a 14-year-old girl. I have a lot of problems in my life but most of them are based around one thing.

More than a year ago, I was attacked by a group of girls a few years older than me.

They only did it because I dress as a goth and have long red hair.

Before this happened my life was more or less perfect. Everything was going right.

But I have been extremely afraid to leave the house since. In fact, I don't leave my house unless I really have to or go to school.

I have also lost my best friend of nine years because I won't go out. I know it's my fault but after I got attacked, I was shattered and my confidence went down the drain.

I have also been depressed and thought about suicide. I still think about it but I would be too scared. My attitude has also changed towards my family.

I hate my father. I know it doesn't sound like much but the worst of it is losing my best friend. I am nothing without her.

The thing that would help me build my confidence back up most is probably a little help from my so-called "best friend", although she tries to bring me down all the time.

She slags me off for things she used to do herself. She's a real hypocrite. I am always left out of things. Worse, one minute we are all good friends, then she treats me badly.

Also, when my mother asked why I never go out I told her, then a few weeks later she asked again, so I gave her the same answer.

But this time she told me I was talking nonsense. I don't know what to do with my life and I am really scared. I don't see the point in me being here any more.

A I'M sorry about the attack. It must have been a terrifying experience. I'm not surprised it's had such a devastating affect.

I don't myself understand why Goths, who are about as mild a group of people as you could get, invite this level of hostility, especially from other teenagers.

It's a huge pity you didn't report it at the time. Even if they hadn't caught the culprits, you'd have been directed towards victim support. It's not too late.

Contact them on www.victimsupport.com. You haven't said why you hate your dad, so it's hard to tell you what to do about it and I'm sorry your mum has chosen to disbelieveyou were assaulted.

As for your friend, have you tried to explain why you're frightened to leave the house? If not, give her a chance to understand.

I think you also tell your guidance teacher about the assault, as well as the bullying.

Finally, next time you have these suicidal thoughts visit www.samaritans.org.uk and contact Breathing Space's helpline on 0800838587 between 6pm and 2am.

It's time you got the support you desperately need.

This reminds me of the suicide of another glasgow goth girl bullied to death Nichola Raphael in 2001.

Meanwhile in Wrexham guess what another skate park has been vandalised. Exactly the same sort of problem as seen in earlier cases of skate park vandalism that we have noted here before.

Yobs trash £250000 Flintshire skatepark
Wrexham Leader, UK - 8 Apr 2008

NME covers Sophie plus Whitby Memorial

We got mentioned in an excellent article in the NME which highlighted the problems.

Following the murder of Sophie Lancaster, NME focuses on the dangers associated with subcultures. From mods to MCR, what is the resolution behind this subjective abuse? Gavin Haynes investigates.

Whitby Memorial ceremony details:





Plus there are plans for a coach from Whitby to the sentencing at the trial. Or if you are near Preston you can go separately .

On Monday 28th April 2008 the Sophie Lancaster hearing reaches it's conclusion. The sentencing takes place of Ryan Herbert and Brendan Harris, found guilty of her murder.

The family have asked for support and the plan is to hold a silent vigil outside the court, no shouting, no placards or banners, just a silent gathering of alternative people, a dignified protest and a show of defiance and strength.

If anyone would like to be a part of this then a coach trip is being arranged, leaving Whitby in the morning, and then returning later that day in time for the evenings festivities. If you would like to be a part of this, please contact martin oldgoth via www.thirteen13.co.uk with your name and email contact so that we can gauge the numbers.

At this point in time we have no idea of cost, but it will be kept to a minimum. All you will need to do to secure your place is to visit the info stall before midnight on the saturday and pay your fare.

Car sharing is also encouraged, and anyone not going to Whitby but able to make it is also welcome

Article in the Sunday Times on public violence mentions Sophie:

Too scared to stop the violence
Times Online, UK - 12 Apr 2008

Russia Mexico coverage

More on emos in Mexico:

Experts point to intolerance when violence against teens jumps ...
Houston Chronicle, United States 6 Apr 2008

Meanwhile in Russia violence flares when Anti fascist punks organise a demonstration about being targeted by neo Nazis (check out numerous earlier posts about Russian Neo Nazis):

Anti-Fascists Chased by Police

Friday, March 28, 2008

Sergey Chernov / The St. Petersburg Times Anti-fascist protestors participating in an unsanctioned march along Nevsky Prospekt on Tuesday evening.

A large group of anti-Nazi youth activists walked down Nevsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg’s main street, in an unsanctioned march protesting neo-Nazi violence in memory of a murdered activist this week. Twenty six were detained by the police soon afterwards.

More than 150 young men and women belonging to unaffiliated the Antifa (militant “anti-fascism”) movement, most with faces covered with scarves and carrying flares and banners, marched 1.5 kilometers from Alexander Nevsky Ploshchad to Ploshchad Vosstaniya during a heavy snowstorm at around 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

The protesters carried two large red banners reading “Make Nazism History” and “Trash Nationalism” and chanted slogans, such as “Antifa,” “Go into the Street and Take the City Back,” “The World is Multi-Colored, Not Brown” and “No to Nazis of Any Kind — from the Street to the Authorities.”

The march was held to mark nine days since the death of Alexei Krylov, a 21-year-old anti-Nazi activist who was stabbed to death by an estimated 15 neo-Nazis on March 16 as he was heading to a punk concert near the club Art Garbage in Moscow.

It was reported that the attack was planned using a website for fans of the Moscow Premier League soccer team Spartak. Three days later an anti-Nazi march that reportedly drew 300 activists was held in the center of Moscow.

Anti-Nazi activist and punk musician Timur Kacharava, 20, was killed in a similar attack in St. Petersburg in November 2005.

In St. Petersburg, the marchers distributed leaflets about Krylov’s murder and asking for financial help for his mother and two younger sisters. Another leaflet described the ideology of “Autonomous Antifascism” and called for street-level resistance against neo-Nazism.

“Antifascists went down to the demonstration to state that they are not going to tolerate neo-Nazi violence, which has become an acute problem in Russia. Reports about attacks on foreign students and killings of migrants have ceased to shock anyone. They have become routine,” said the Antifa group in a statement on website www.piter.indymedia.ru.

“Attacks are also committed on representatives of countercultural youths who try to resist neo-Nazis. Over the past 2 1/2 years, five anti-fascists from different cities were killed for their convictions, St. Petersburg musician Timur Kacharava among them.

“The whole history of the anti-fascist movement shows that it can only be a success if it uses all available tactics of resistance (not excluding direct physical counteraction).”

The police, which has disrupted most demonstrations with no official permission issued by the authorities in recent years — even though the Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly — were not aware of the march, which had been organized in secret, and only reacted when the march was almost finished, as protesters reached Ploshchad Vosstaniya.

Apparently taken by surprise, several policemen tried to stop the marchers from crossing Ligovsky Prospekt, and when they failed, blocked the entrance to Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro, so the group went down Ulitsa Vosstaniya and then turned in the direction of Ulitsa Mayakovskogo.

Arrests started near the Novotel hotel where a policeman attacked a straggler, pushing him to the ground. The protesters’ leader, who gave commands through a megaphone during the march, was detained soon after, along with other activists who tried to run away through courtyards but found themselves trapped.

After reaching Ulitsa Zhukovskogo, the main group ran away in an organized fashion. The police failed to catch them.

“Twenty six citizens were detained, but five of them turned out to be minors and were immediately released and turned over to their parents,” said Vyacheslav Stepchenko, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry in St. Petersburg, by phone on Thursday. According to Antifa’s statement, the minors were only released after 11 p.m.

According to Stepchenko, the activists were detained according to two clauses of the Administrative Code, Article 19.3 Part I (“Failure to Follow a Policeman’s Lawful Orders”) and Article 20.2 (“Violation of the Regulations of Conducting Meetings, Marches, Demonstrations and Pickets”).

The rest of the detained activists were released on Wednesday afternoon, when the court ruled to send their cases to their local courts. Failure to follow a policeman’s lawful orders is the gravest offence of the two and can lead to up to 15 days in custody.

“We didn’t inform the authorities about the march because they wouldn’t have permitted it anyway,” said a participant, who asked that his name be withheld, by phone on Thursday.

“We also didn’t need to advertize it because we can gather that many people without any publicity.”

This year has seen a rise in racially-motivated violence in Russia, with St. Petersburg following Moscow in the rate of incidents reported.

An Uzbek man and a woman either from Yakutia or Buryatiya, were reported to have been stabbed to death in St. Petersburg this week, in addition to three other racially-motivated killings and a number of beatings this month.

For a change someone is doing something positive in the States:
Students talk acceptance and friendship at summit
Greeley Tribune, CO - 4 Apr 2008
But I see people in school going, 'oh, they're emos,' or 'they're gangsters' and stuff."

a:

Academic study says dress codes in schools don't work

S-burg considers tougher dress code- The Pocono Record

April 03, 2008

Similar arguments are often made in favor of school uniforms, but their impact may be neither so dramatic nor positive, said David Brunsma, associate professor of sociology at University of Missouri-Columbia, who has studied the issue.

Brunsma, author of "The School Uniform Movement and What it Tells Us About American Education: A Symbolic Crusade," said efforts to standardize dress over the past decade often were surface attempts to solve deeper problems in schools.

"They kind of resonate with the public," Brunsma said. "After all, if our differences are perceived as the core cause of the problems we see, then trying to eradicate that difference makes sense."

But his research found that uniforms have no direct impact on behavioral problems or attendance, and negatively affect academic success in public schools.

"The simple fact," he wrote in the Journal of Educational Research, "is that policymakers who are interested in raising academic achievement should not count on school uniforms to deliver an academic miracle."

More on Mexico

Beatings and abuse give Mexico's emo teens plenty to feel ...
The Observer, UK - 21 hours ago
Burgeoning anti-emo sentiment exploded here last month when hundreds of young people in the central city of Querétaro heeded a call to rid the central ...

Why Are Emo Kids Getting Attacked In Mexico?
MTV.com - Apr 4, 2008
They shoved the three against a wall and began kicking and punching, shouting, "Kill the emos!" and filming the incident on their cell phones.

This article tells the usual unfounded lies about goth/emo. How about considering whether the parent in this case bears any responsibilty for the actions of his children rather blaming music.

Knowing what teens are into helps parents stay step ahead
Winston-Salem Journal, NC - Apr 2, 2008

“Unlike the Goth subculture of teen angst and disenchantment with society, emo is a cult of self-loathing,” he wrote in a recent e-mail, referring to kids who favor the forbidding “Goth” look of black clothing and dyed black hair. “Emo turns the malcontent a Goth may have towards the world unto the self. A disturbing aspect of emo is the use of self-mutilation to extract revenge for perceived slights from family and friends.”

Palmer Edwards, a Winston-Salem psychiatrist who works with adolescents, is familiar with emo and the acts described by Gene.

“The term has been around for several years,” Edwards said. “Basically it means emotional.… Emo kids are thought to be very emotional and down on themselves.”

Calling every kid who wears dark clothing and combs his (or her) hair down over the eyes “emo” would be a vast overgeneralization, but any sudden change in a kid’s behavior is certainly worthy of parental inquiry and investigation.

“Goth is so common that there’s a store in Hanes Mall that caters to the look,” Edwards said. “I’m not sure how rebellious something is if it has its own store in the mall. However, there could be some depression going on. It can range from the mild end that would require a period of adjustment to super severe in which a psychiatrist may be needed.”

Gene and Edwards agree that not every kid in dark clothes is considering suicide or self-mutilation.

“Parents should be leery and may want to speak with their kids about it,” Gene said.

More Sophie Events

Rock band's gig for Sophie
This Is Lancashire, UK - 22 minutes ago
By Helen Korn AN ACCLAIMED rock band have decided to end their UK tour with a tribute concert to Sophie Lancaster. Dear Superstar are hoping to raise cash

The number of events dedicated to Sophie continues to grow on her website with the next Whitby and MatStock III, a WOLFPACK FESTIVAL in NORTH SOMERSET, a three day festival, plus this event in Dudley.

Plus there are a number of smaller events in Spalding, Sheffield, Ipswich, Accrington, and Burnley

18 Apr 2008 17:00	MATSTOCK METAL FESTIVAL	@ HIGHBRIDGE
25 Apr 2008 16:00	WHITBY GOTH WEEKEND INCLUDING SOPHIE LANCASTER’S MEMORIAL BENCH DEDICATIO	@ WHITBY
25 Apr 2008 20:00	SPALDING S.O.P.H.I.E FUNDRAISER age 14+	@ SPALDING FOOTBALL CLUB
9 May 2008 19:00	NEW YORK ALCOHOLIC ANXIETY ATTACK	@ THE CORPORATION
20 May 2008 20:00	IPSWICH S.O.P.H.I,.E FUNDRAISER	@ SPREAD EAGLE PUB
25 May 2008 16:00	S.O.P.H.I.E FUNDRAISER	@ THE SANCTURY BAR
25 May 2008 20:00	S.O.P.H.I.E NIGHT AT DUDLEY	@ J.B.’s
7 Jun 2008 19:00	ACCRINGTON S.O.P.H.I.E. FUNDRAISER	@ brooks club

Important - Debate in Parliament due to Sophie

The success of the petition has led to a plan for a debate in Parliament:

Murder may lead to law change April 4th

"Now Rossendale MP Janet Anderson and Haslingden MP Greg Pope are set to request an adjournment debate in the House of Commons to call for the widening of the law to include such an attack under the definition of a hate crime as soon as possible.

Their debate will have to be responded to by the appropriate government minister, but they are prohibited from applying for the debate until sentencing has taken place later this month. They will also be putting forward an Early Day Motion calling on the government to give the matter 'urgent consideration'."

Please write to your MP about this issue and ask them to back the call for a debate after sentencing in the Sophie case on April 28th.
http://www.writetothem.com/

Remember you can make a difference. Let me know if you get a response.

The Rossendale Free Press delivered this news in a contination of its excellent coverage in a special pull out section - THE tragic story of Sophie Lancaster, the 20-year-old girl killed after being attacked in a Bacup park, gained national headlines. Follow the full story in our special section" which can be found online here:

Sophie Lancaster

Meanwhile the very popular brand Alchemy worn by many alternative people has added its voice to those denouncing the crime:

A STATEMENT OF SYMPATHY

Slash hates Emos? Mxico anti-emo row still going on

A classic case of irresponsible reporting.

Slash and Perez Hilton Split Votes On Emo
Exclaim!, Canada - 31 Mar 2008

And if things weren’t bad enough, guitar-master extraordinaire, Slash, has now stepped up to fuel the fire. In a recent interview with the Daily Star, the former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist weighed into emo, and modern rock in general. “Rock ’n’ roll is so diluted in this millennium, you just don’t hear good solos. And I hate emo,” Slash said. “With the exception of Jack White —who is great — the new breed of bands aren’t bringing out decent guitarists.” So it’s official: Slash hates emo.

Look again:

A - Slash wasn't talking about Mexico
B - Or assaulting emos

He was stating he hates emo music. A fair comment. What is not fair is to report that hating emo music and hating emos is the same thing and that Slash wants riots to happen. It is not a question of taking sides on whether emo music is any good. The question is whether it is right to physically beat some one because they listen to a certain type of music or dress in a certain way. If you advocate that you are arguing against the freedom of speech and expression which is at the heart of democracy, and you are on the same side as both the Taliban and the Nazis.

You might think anti-emo riots are funny if it was attacks against Jews or blacks would you be laughing?

"At the core of this is the homophobic issue," Victor Mendoza, a youth worker in Mexico City, told Time magazine. "The other arguments are just window dressing for that. This is not a battle between music styles at all. It is the conservative side of Mexican society fighting against something different."

Conspiracy theories meanwhile are rife:
Mexico’s media spotlight youth subcultures
Daily O'Collegian, OK - 31 Mar 2008

More important posts from Daniel Hernandez. Now an academic is arguing emos are not a bonafide 'tribu urbana' because they don't have a political ideology. >

The specialist in urban groups Héctor Castillo Berthier indicated that to consider the emos an urban tribe is incorrect, as they do not adhere to the characteristics necessary to be one, and they only represent a fad.

The article "also quotes someone who says 40 percent of emos are suicidal." Once again the typical lies are trotted out. I have yet to find any academic article which shows emos are more more likely to kill themselves than other groups.

Great so its ok to beat them up if they are sucidal or part of a "fad" then? Emos are a "fad" really - the man is a fool - the original Emo music was almost thirty years ago. Emo subculture in its modern form developed in the late nineties. It might be newish in Mexico but so was punk and goth once, both of which had popular "fad" periods in the UK and elsewhere. The main anti emo site in Mexico dates from 2006 alone which means emo must have been around for a few years before that.

Another school dress code battle - Mohawks

You might think it was about punks but no this time its the American football team.


Banning mohawks, upholding dress code is a smart decision
PennLive.com, PA
When everyone from offensive linemen to punks and Goths choose to thumb the same nose at authority -- or to band together in solidarity?

Hail Mary pass for mohawks cut down
The Express Times, PA - 31 Mar 2008
By COLIN MCEVOY The school board voted 5-3 Monday against removing a specific reference in the school dress code that prohibits the pointed hairstyle.

Prime Minister on Youth Crime plus other effects

Brown pledge to beat youth culture Manchester Evening News, April 1st

GORDON Brown has vowed to root out guns, gangs and knives in a bid to end teenage yob violence. Speaking in the wake of the brutal killings of student Sophie Lancaster and father Gary Newlove, he said his government was doing `everything in its power' to make people feel safer.Mr Newlove was attacked outside his Warrington home after confronting a gang of teenagers about vandalism. His head was said to have been `kicked like a football'.Sophie Lancaster, 20, and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were attacked by a gang in a Rossendale park - both were left in a coma and she later died.

Mr Brown said that the government's policy of neighbourhood policing was intended to create a visible presence on the streets, but on top of that, expert cops would take the lead on what he called these `difficult and heinous crimes'.He said it was right to have high-profile policing on the streets as a deterrent."As for these terrible crimes of violence, we are doing everything in our power to root out guns, gangs and knives," he told the M.E.N."We will take action against pubs, clubs or hotels selling to underaged people, or allowing them to drink, so that people generally can feel safer."There must be a presumption that people who carry knives are prosecuted." Mr Brown said new contracts would be drawn up between local people and police, giving residents more say on how anti-social behaviour and drugs are tackled.Mr Brown and Home Secretary Jackie Smith kicked off Labour's local election campaign, announcing an increase in neighbourhood police schemes.Shadow Home Secretary David Davis called this `a gimmick' and the Lib Dem's Chris Huhme said the answer was to put more police on the beat.

In Rossendale there is a move to stop youth drinking in parks as a result of
Sophie's death. Why now after the trial? Why not 6 months ago?
Call to ban alcohol in parks after Sophie's murder
This Is Lancashire, UK - 30 Mar 2008

It seems it may have been appeals by local media which helped in the naming of the acccused after the trial:
'Goth' murderers named thanks to court appeal by media
HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk, UK - 31 Mar 2008


In Burnley Sophie's death and another recent murder involving teenagers has lead to questions over park safety and new plans for improved safety.

Security measures planned for parks Burnley Express, April 1st
Are Burnley's parks safe? Burnley Express, 31 Mar 2008

Kerrang has very busy comment news on the Sophie trial.

More Corporate seizure of open space

An article in the Guardian notes how massive redevelopment seems to target areas favoured by alternative shops and people.

Cities for sale
Guardian, Saturday March 29 2008
Paul Kingsnorth

Liverpool - Architecturally, the Paradise Project will certainly be an improvement on what went before: something the city council, and the developer it is working with, is trumpeting from the roof-tops. What they are less keen to trumpet is that Paradise requires the first privatisation of a city centre anywhere in England.
Liverpool city council has sanctioned the corporate enclosure of the 42-acre city-centre site, which encompasses 34 streets and a public park. The development company Grosvenor, owned by the Duke of Westminster, the country's third-richest man, has been given a 250-year lease on this area. Grosvenor, with the enthusiastic blessing of the council, is putting into practice the kind of massive, consumer-focused re-engineering of the landscape previously seen only in private malls such as Bluewater...

The thing that bothers Don, apart from the Paradise Project itself, is that
no one else in Liverpool seems to care. Perhaps no one in Liverpool: Don is from
Manchester. About the only other significant opposition to the Paradise Project
comes from the place where we're headed now - Quiggins.
Quiggins is a three-storey shopping centre. A Liverpool institution, it's a chaos of clothes shops for teenage goths, secondhand clothes, furniture and books. It's about to be demolished to make way for Paradise. Quiggins' founders, brothers John and
Peter Tierney, set up the centre 18 years ago as a conscious attempt to keep alternative culture alive in an increasingly corporate city centre. They kept
rents deliberately low, and provided a space for creative talent to flourish.
The city council says it will find Quiggins another home, but the brothers are
not satisfied. "Quiggins is committed to Liverpool's cultural industry and has
been since its formation..." they write on their website. "It houses 45 local businesses, employing 25 local people, all helping to recycle within our local
economy." It doesn't matter much what the brothers say, though. Quiggins has
already had a compulsory purchase order issued against it.
In the noisy, wholefood cafe on Quiggins' third floor, Don and I sit down to talk. "It took me a long time, and a lot of correspondence with the developers and the council, before they finally admitted what was happening with this project," he says.
"There was a very low-key public announcement - you had to know where to look to
find it - that they were removing the rights of way from 33 streets in the city
centre. It took a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, but I finally got them to admit to
me that they were replacing these rights of way with something called 'public
realm agreements.' " He looks at me with raised eyebrows.
"Well, I'd never heard of these things, so I kept pressing them, and it turned out that these 'public realm agreements' would give the public very limited access to the
streets, on Grosvenor's terms." They would be within their rights, Don tells me,
to begin access half an hour before the shops opened and end it half an hour
after they closed. There would be nothing to say that they had to allow you in
outside those times. "Remember, these are streets - this is not some private
shopping centre. Yet now you will have no right to use them unless you're
shopping. While the public are winning new rights of access in the countryside,
they're having these rights taken away in towns and cities."

Quiggins was the Liverepool equivalent of Camden and the Leeds Corn Exchange both recently "improved". There was a massive campaign in Liverpool over its move.

Meanwhile in Camden...

H&M on the High Street, but what’s in store for old market?
Camden New Journal, - 13 Mar 2008

FASHION giant H&M has confirmed it will move into Camden High Street next month, sparking fears its arrival could threaten Camden Town’s vintage market

Goth - Media examination

An article celebrates goth's survival and discusses what goth is it also highlights Glasgow council prejudice against teenagers. [noted previously here Glasgow - Alternative teens banned from public place]

A light in the dark
Scotsman,

Kit, an 18-year-old Glaswegian goth, believes prejudice against the youth tribe is widespread. "Everywhere we go there are always people who don't like us," she says. "When I sit on a bus people will stare and shout things at me just because I'm dressed in black.

"I have friends who have been cornered and threatened because people don't like how they were dressed. Because of the area I live and people's hostile reaction I have to tone down what I wear.

"It makes absolutely no sense because we are not a threat to anyone."

The articulate teenager, who wears a skull necklace, was one of dozens of goths who were angered when Glasgow City Council recently barred them from their favourite hangout at Royal Exchange Square. Steps between Borders bookshop and the Gallery of Modern Art were cordoned off and security guards brought in. A council spokesman said large gatherings of teenagers were intimidating visitors to a "premier shopping location".

Thhis important article talks to Manchester goths who reveal an ongoing saga of facing prejudice.

Sophie Lancaster: Goths speak out
Manchester Evening News, UK - 28 Mar 2008

Sophie - More News

Long interview with Sophie's mother:
Mother of murdered Sophie: 'After looking into the thugs' eyes, I ...
Daily Mail,

Goth girl kicked to death: Grief stricken mum's sadness
Sunday People, UK

Columnist on Sophie:
We indulge yobs - and murdered Sophie Lancaster pays the price
Times Online, 29 Mar 2008


Interesting article on Bacup:

Sophie's murder prompts violence fall
Lancashire Evening Telegraph, UK - 28 Mar 2008
Police in Bacup have dealt with just one incident of violence involving alcohol-fuelled teens since 20-year-old Sophie was murdered last August.

Goth kill: Mums in hiding
The Sun, UK - 28 Mar 2008
By BEN ASHFORD

THE mums of two feral yobs who murdered Goth student Sophie Lancaster were in hiding last night.

Cops slammed the “appalling” parenting of Brendan Harris, 15, and Ryan Herbert, 16, who stamped on Sophie, 20, because of her fashion taste.

When The Sun confronted both women, they refused to talk.

Herbert’s mum Christine, 49, peered through her window but wouldn’t come to the door of her smart semi in Bacup, Lancs.

Harris’s mum Martine McGuinn — who had laughed as cops quizzed her son — ran into her terraced home and stayed holed up all day.

Harris was convicted on Thursday of Sophie’s murder and GBH on her boyfriend Robert Maltby, 20.

Herbert had admitted murder. They will be sentenced in April.

Emo Wars - Update

Problems spread to just south of the Texas border.

Police raise vigilance after 'emos' incident
El Paso Times, TX - 27 Mar 2008
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times

A confrontation in the upscale Las Misiones mall between teenage cliques of "emos" and "punks" on Wednesday night has Juárez police officials stepping in and asking for tolerance.

The mall incident, which police said might have been sparked by an exchange of words, might have been a copycat of highly publicized attacks on emos by mobs in Queretaro and Mexico City.

Juárez public safety secretary Guillermo Prieto Quintana in a news statement on Thursday said the police anti-gang unit would increase patrols at teen hangouts to discourage problems.

Prieto Quintana said that Mexico's northern border has traditionally been tolerant of all types of expressions, and he urged teens to respect others' right to self-expression.

The emo is a style and musical offshoot of punk music. Emos often sport dark hair covering part of their faces, dark clothing and an emotional outlook that has been described by some as effeminate, which might have fueled the mob attacks in the macho culture of Mexico.

The attacks on emos in Mexico have gained international attention, with television news airing videos filmed by the punch-throwing mobs chanting, "Kill the emos." On Thursday, Time magazine's Web site had a report titled "Mexico's Emo-Bashing Problem."

Latest from Daniel Hernandez:

It was supposed to have been a multi-tribe peaceful march for tolerance for the emos, from the Glorieta de Insurgentes to the one-and-only El Chopo street market, where for 25 years nearly every branch of alternative youth culture in Mexico City has gathered on Saturdays. Nevermind. It failed.

On a hot and rainy day here, emos arrived to El Chopo and were received with nasty resistance from some punks, skinheads, and darketos. It should have been expected. At the start of the march, I barely saw a single sympathetic member of any another tribu urbana.

In Mexico, violence against a youth subculture known as the emos ...
Los Angeles Times, CA - 28 Mar 2008

The YouTube Generation gets violent; “emos” shaking in their Chucks
Michigan Daily, MI - 27 Mar 2008

Even Perez Hilton has covered it:

And The Attacks Continue

Just Leave The Little Emo Kids Alone!

A number of online sources seem to blame the conservative feelings of Mexicans (with a thinly veiled feelings of racial prejudice) for the attacks. That indeed may be part of the problem but what sparked it off ultimately is in fact anti-emo trends which originated outside Mexico which have been documented on this site.

Meanwhile in Australia emos are abusing scene kids.

Inside the clash of the teen subcultures
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 29 Mar 2008
Because the movement is still young, emos and Scene kids often find themselves battling for territory. EJ said she, Kirra and Eliza received abuse from emos

Sophie - More reports

The Verdict coincided with a detailed report on Teen drinking.

Toll of teenage drinking revealed BBC News

Teenagers are drinking an average of 44 bottles of wine or 177 pints of beer a year each, a study suggests.

Almost 10,000 15-to-16-year-olds in the North West of England were questioned as part of the study into underage drinking and violence.

The report, produced by Liverpool John Moores University, found as many as 40% of teenagers in poor areas binge drink.

Recent high-profile murders in the region were carried out by teenagers who had been drinking heavily.

On Thursday, Brendan Harris, 15, was convicted of murdering 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster in a Lancashire park after drinking two litres of cider, peach schnapps and lager.

For Sophie's sake, Can It
Mirror.co.uk,

One thing is certain drink played a role in the crime. It fuelled the development of an underlying hostility into extreme violence.

Interesting to note while the "chav" word is absent from most coverage while it is ominpresent in internet discussions. In Glasgow however the Ned word is used more readily.

Drunken neds killed woman because she was a goth
Glasgow Daily Record,

We must remmber of course is that while some of the "chav" teenagers attacked others in the exactly the same group called the emergency services and tried to save Sophie's life. It is not "chavs" as a whole who are to blame but a violent minority within that group. Hating all "chavs" shows a level of intolerance which is no better than he hate they show.

One of the more interesting online discussions:

Drowned in Sound - Features - The Weekly DiScussion: wearing your ...

Remembering Sophie Lancaster - The Campaign