djraykang Posted October 31 Report Share Posted October 31 Fellow DJs, Producers, Dancers, and Partygoers,For the past decade, Washington DC has witnessed the birth of one of the most vital and respected Electronic Dance Music scenes in the world. Thanks to the support of people like you, we are privileged to enjoy access to a broad variety of parties, venues, and musical styles. Recently, however, we have witnessed a series of incidents which threaten to destroy our culture:* The closure of Buzz in part due to the misuse of DC's undemocratic liquor laws* The introduction of a bill in Congress which unfairly links our scene to illegal drug use and threatens innocent promoters with jail time for activities which they themselves strongly disavow and work to prevent* The growing proliferation of so-called "voluntary agreements" forced on venue owners to limit the options they can provide their patrons as a result of blackmail brought on by small groups of private citizens who threaten to blockliquor license applications unless their demands are met* The introduction of a bill by DC City Council member Jack Evans which would have restricted the vast majority of the music venues in the city to 10 foot by 10 foot dance floors and made cover charges illegalIf we are to save our scene in this city, we must band together and act. A broad coalition of DJs, producers, dancers, and partygoers - cutting across musical boundaries - have joined together to create the District of ColumbiaNightlife Coalition. In December, the DC government is going to begin a process of rewriting our liquor laws. These liquor licensing laws are the primary tool used by oppponents of a dynamic nightlife in DC to harrass venue owners and promoters and impose their vision of a silent, boring city on the rest of us. Today'slaws allow groups of citizens as small as five people to bring any liquor license application or renewal to a standstill - costing license applicants thousands of dollars and months of wasted time - unless the applicant agrees to whatever terms these five people wish to impose upon them. This situation hasresulted in a patchwork of "voluntary" agreements between venue owners and a tiny minority of uptight citizens who have made it their mission to shut down nightlife in our city. It is critical that we make our voice heard when these laws are rewritten. Come December, the DCNC will be a visible and vocal representative of our interests as members of the DC EDM scene. We will fight to be sure that the tiny minority of uptight people who want nothing more than a lifeless andboring city are not the only voices in the debate. Beyond representing your interests in December, we will continue to act as a voice for our interests.What can you do? At this point, please join the DCNC yahoo group so we can count you as a supporter - a critical element in giving us the political power we need. The group is located here:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DCNC/You can also read our draft mission statement on this site and learn more detail about our objectives.We are very sensitive to your privacy and the size of your e-mail box, therefore we have elected to moderate the messages going out to the group - so YOUR INBOX WILL NOT BE FILLED by joining this group. We will only contact youregarding important issues and meetings. Additionally, you should know that this group will not be taking a position on drug policy or harm reduction to avoid having our message misunderstood or intentionally misrepresented by ouropponents. If you are interested in these issues, we urge you to contact one of the national organizations, such as Dancesafe (www.dancesafe.org), who are in a better position to speak for the community on drug use and abuse.Our next live meeting is scheduled for November 24, 2002 at the Victorian Room in Buffalo Billiards Dupont Circle - time TBA. Please consider attending and joining in the discussion as we finalize our mission statement and kick off our initial political activities. All are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djraykang Posted October 31 Author Report Share Posted October 31 Moderator - could you please post this as a Sticky so it doesn't get lost amongst the older threads?Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgiddy Posted October 31 Report Share Posted October 31 yeah they'll get right on it :laugh: They tend to move a little slow around here, just a little....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crank47 Posted October 31 Report Share Posted October 31 We'll just have to keep bumping it up I guess.I think something similar was done in San Francisco to great success. We really need this in DC right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiegirl Posted October 31 Report Share Posted October 31 I'm in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revaluation Posted October 31 Report Share Posted October 31 word...im in 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramadas Posted October 31 Report Share Posted October 31 me 3! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vixenfoxxy Posted November 1 Report Share Posted November 1 BuMp for the scene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.