Why Is Jesse Jackson Protesting The Grammys?

To many,  the Grammy award nominations this year seem quite diverse. After all, African American rapper Kanye West has the most nominations (7 in total), followed by British singer Adele, as well as Hawaiin Bruno Mars. But Reverend Jesse Jackson and his group, the Rainbow Push Coalition of U.S Civil Rights, have come forth to protest, claiming that the Grammys aren’t diverse enough this year at all. Since last year’s Grammys, the Recording Academy cut out 31 categories from their list of awards. After discussing the issue with a few offended artists, whom he won’t name, the 70 year old activist and minister, has decided to defend the artists who feel unfairly excluded from this year’s awards. Jesse Jackson sent a letter to Neil Portnow, the president of the Recording Academy, saying that those 31 categories were all ethnic and minority categories, that were crucial for Native American, Hawaiin, Latin, and R&B music stars. Jackson also requested that Portnow meet with him about the issue immediately, and has brought up the possibility of setting up a protest against the Grammys if he does not get cooperation. He said,

“We are prepared to work with artists and ministers and activists to occupy at the Grammys so our appeal of consideration of mercy really might be heard… Music of all arts should be expansive and inclusive. So much talent comes from the base of poverty and those in the margins. You limit the base, you miss too much talent.”

Portnow has agreed to meet with the Reverend and explain how the nomination process works, and why he feels that the Grammy categories are still diverse, despite the changes that have been made. He said,

“We are receptive to meeting with the Rev. Jackson to explain how our nomination process works and to show the resulting diverse group of nominees it produced for the 54th Grammys – many in the musical genres he cited in his letter. We also agree with the Rev. Jackson that the Grammys are about music, not sales. They have, and always will, stand for excellence in music and celebrating the impact all music has on our culture.”

People have been protesting against, and complaining about the major category cut for months now. A few Latin artists even filed lawsuits, asserting that their exclusion from the Grammys would severely damage their careers. Do you think that Jesse Jackson’s concerns are valid?

[TVNZ, HuffingtonPost]

-@Kami2Kute