At a time when poverty and chaos has taken center stage in our lives, the work of one individual decades ago has been the center of a movement that should focus on more trivial situations.  I say this to express my feelings in regards to actions taken against an Artists I've been supporting since I was a youth and still do today. I am lost to the reason he is being viewed as a supporter of violence when his message of peace is visible during his concerts and on all his albums since he converted to Rastafarianism.

  It's apparent to me that like many Jamaicans, Buju Banton's message of peace and love just don't seem to make its way to the ears of those who would see him rot in a foreign jail when his only crime was to sing a song about a situation that was affecting the youth in his time.  How can an organization rally against someone for a song that they don't know the true origin of and uses that same song as their proof that this individual is advocating violence against a specific group?  From my perspective, this is completely ridiculous and idiotic.  

Using the organization's funds on an ad protesting against the individuals well deserved grammy nomination truly shows that it's leaders need to re-evaluate their priorities because we are facing more pressing issue like health care, job loss, poverty and devastating situations in third world countries.   I found an article on a website that is in support of Buju Banton, and I decided to re-post it here.  Please read it carefully so you can understand how misguided these people are.  

I am not saying that all gays are misguided, I am saying those who spend money to demonize an icon of the people and of peace is completely misguided.  Ask yourself, have they every being to a Buju Banton concert?  Have they every listen his albums Til Shiloh, Inna Heights, Too Bad, or even Rasta Got Soul?  I bet you the answer is probably going to be NO! Do us a favor and stop wasting your money to demonize someone and spending on more relief efforts for the people of Haiti, Somaila and other poor nations.  I'm at the point where I just don't understand why people could be so devious.  Anyway, this is the article from http://thisisbujubanton.wordpress.com.  For all the true fans out there who would like to show your support through donations, information about donating is located on that website.

The Article

The Gargamel Music Family is disgusted by the vehement persecution of international Reggae star, Buju Banton, by a legion of misguided gay activists. We find it appalling that the LA Gay & Lesbian Center and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) would spend tens of thousands of dollars to take out a full page ad in Variety – solely to blast Banton’s well-deserved Grammy nomination for his acclaimed album Rasta Got Soul (Gargamel Music) — when those resources could have been better spent lending a helping hand to our suffering Haitian brothers and sisters. 

In the form of an open letter to Recording Academy President Neil Portnow, who stands by the nomination, the ad makes the sensational claim that Buju Banton has “promoted the murder of gay people throughout his career” despite the fact that his overwhelmingly positive music catalog proves otherwise. Predictably, they cite the twenty-year-old anti-buggery missive “Boom Bye Bye,” without ever contextualizing that the song was written by a 15-year-old Buju in response to a widely reported man-boy rape case back in Jamaica.

 Replete with misinformation, the letter curiously goes on to say that Buju Banton’s classic hit single “Batty Rider” glorifies the shooting of gay men – even though the song is actually about the popular skin-tight short-shorts young women wore to the clubs back in the ’90s. Meanwhile, not a peep from the LA Gay & Lesbian Center or GLAAD about white rap star, Eminem, who has a much more recent history of “verbally assaulting” gays and who continues to write songs riddled with “anti-gay sentiment.” 

His latest album, Relapse is up for several awards this year and he will be performing at the ceremony on Sunday. The 2010 Grammy nod for Rasta Got Soul is Buju Banton’s fourth. The artist was previously acknowledged by the Recording Academy for his albums Too Bad (2007) Friends for Life (2004) and Inna Heights (1999). Since its release in April 2009, Rasta Got Soul has received rave reviews from such prestigious media outlets as Billboard, Exclaim!, Hip-Hop Weekly and All Music Guide, who called the album an “instant classic.” A documentary-style video for the new single “Optimistic Soul” will premiere in Jamaica soon.

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