Last week, the Music Video Asheville team announced the official selections for this year’s festival. The 58 total submissions were culled down to the best 90 minutes for the program, as determined by a selection committee. And, while the 27 chosen videos run the gamut from rock (Crank County Daredevils) to hip-hop (Martin Snoddy), well-known acts (Jon Stickley Trio) and relative newcomers (Nathalie Jane Hill), what is not well-represented on the roster is videos by artists of color.
“We only had submissions by five African American-fronted acts this year,” says Kelly Denson, who adds, “I believe events like ours should be held accountable by the media and the public to ensure that we are not, even unintentionally, racially biased.” Black musicians whose work will be shown at this year’s Music Video Asheville are Mook and TEYG (both hip-hop) and Virtuous (Christian hip-hop and R&B)
Denson says she was concerned by the lack of artists of color and discussed that disparity with her team. The selection committee includes an African American member who “felt confident in our process and assured me that we had chosen the selections based on merit,” Denson says. “We make a very concerted effort to be able to curate a program that is as beautifully diverse as our music community.”
She adds, “We look forward to future submissions from [bands] fronted by all races, genders, sexual orientation, ages, and physical and mental abilities.”
Ideas about how this event and others can be more inclusive? Please share them at mountainx.com or by email to amarshall@mountainx.com. — Alli Marshall
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