Racism Against Businesses and Artists Calling for a Ceasefire
THE DEN SILENCES DISSENT IN THE NEW YEAR
In the midst of our calls to boycott the Helium Comedy Club, it has come to my attention that there is still more work to do. Businesses must be held to account, and others must be uplifted, for their stance on the Palestinian genocide.
This is the moral question of our times, and as we have come to learn some businesses in Portland have not simply remained silent on the murder of innocent children and families; they have actively worked to silence support for Palestine, and in the case of Helium Comedy Club, seem to profit from the onslaught in Gaza.
The Den Portland (@thedenportland on social media) has for years been a popular venue that hosts live music and dance parties. Recently, they had booked a well-known DJ in the area, to perform New Year’s Eve and ring in the new year 2024.
DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid are cherished icons in the Portland music scene, and they held a show with over 500 in attendance. They are known for hosting two of the longest running dance parties in the Pacific Northwest, namely TROPITAAL!, a Desi-Latino soundclash that was established in 2013, and ANDAZ, established in 2002. Anjali also teaches Bollywood and Desi dance. They’re deeply talented artists with many projects, that have played from Delhi to Portland.
The artists brought Bollywood, Bhangra, and South-Asian music into the Rose City, and as such have been a staple for house and dance music for decades. As a pair they have high reviews from the Portland Mercury to the Oregonian to the Willamette Week, and as such they were offered multiple venues to play on New Year’s Eve. They decided to go with The Den.
The party was a weekend of shows, and the duo’s rave and dance party was sold out. The Den was full to the end, with people there to appreciate the sets that the duo was known for. Videos show a packed audience, with the crowd dancing and grinding to Desi and South Asian beats. Behind the DJs, a screen portrayed Desi dances and other symbols of the Desi diaspora, and next to that a countdown to the New Year.
They had brought rose petals that were to be thrown out to the crowd the moment 2023 came to an end, and 2024 began. In the minutes before the new year was set to begin, and the clock counted down the minutes and seconds, they brought out a large white banner, with red flowers. It read “ASIANS FOR A FREE PALESTINE”, and the white banner was placed behind the DJs, illuminated by the light show of vibrant colors.
Then, leading up to the countdown, DJ Anjali pulled out a Palestinian flag. She held it in front of her, and took the microphone. She screamed, “FREE, FREE PALESTINE!”, which was met with thunderous applause. The whole crowd cheered and clapped at the show of solidarity. She repeated the call, “FREE, FREE PALESTINE!”, and led the concert-goers in chants for several minutes. The mass of people celebrating the new year joined in the chants, and filled the venue with screams of “FREE, FREE PALESTINE!”
Then the clock reached midnight, and she counted down with those dancing, “3,2,1!”. As the clock struck midnight, the flag was back on the stage, and in her hands she held roses. She tossed petals onto the wall of hands in the air beneath her and yelled, “Happy New Year!”.
Some in the crowd continued to chant the call for a “FREE PALESTINE!”, and the banner remained in place for several minutes. At that point, the dance party continued, and she returned to her seat, to mix beats. It was a beautiful moment, a show of solidarity for the people of Palestine. While it reminded people of the genocide in Gaza as we enter the new year, it was harmless and a short display of the flag, in the midst of continued dancing.
The venue responded a few days afterwards, as a white couple claimed that the DJ had screamed “antisemitic slurs” in calling for a ceasefire. Disgustingly, they outright lied and claimed that Anjali had screamed something about “fucking Jews”. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It’s the same equivalency used by Michael Rapaport and other Zionists, to paint anyone that does not want to bomb babies in their home as “antisemitic”. She would never do such a thing, and defended her statements.
The owners of The Den proceeded to message her directly, stating, “Hey you two…. I’m pretty pissed that you told me that you would be throwing out rose petals for the midnight moment and instead used my party and den as a platform for an unauthorized political statement. It’s incredibly disrespectful and not what I expected from either of you as professionals and peers in the music industry. Tropitaal and yourselves as DJs will not be welcome back here.”
The owners continued their direct attack, “It’s clear from seeing the video it wasn’t a casual statement but a very deliberate premeditated act. It’s kind of incredible that you didn’t have the basic courtesy of discussing any of this with me in advance to get my point of view or the position of the venue.”
After the DJs spoke out and made their position clear, and denounced the couple that had lied about the words said, to protect their own white comfort, the Den released another official statement on their Facebook. “Just to put [a’ conclusion to this conversation. We want to note that we have yet to find any footage where Dj Anjali spoke [disparagingly] of Jewish people at the NYE event at the Den. If you have any footage please let us know as we would like to review what actually happened around midnight in that room.”
They then declared, “Regardless, because DJ Anjali and Tropitaal without authorization used both the Together event and the DEN as an unwilling platform to push their own political agenda, which we find incredibly disrespectful and unprofessional, DJ Anjali and the [Tropitaal] party will no longer be welcome back to the Den in any type of performance capacity going forward. They have been given notification about this directly as well. I hope it becomes clear to everyone that the Den is not a prop for anyone’s political agendas. We simply wish to be a positive center for community and dance where the divisive politics of the world can be left outside of our doors.”
The statement is laughable and bold. Dance is inherently political, especially the type of music that DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid had introduced into the Portland scene. Dance music is often an expression of joy and stems from marginalized groups, like hip hop, Latin, and Punjabi music. The duo’s music has always been political, and has centered the stories of the Desi diaspora in a nation built on white supremacy. Art, music, dance are all inherently a “political” display, and real art sheds light on the oppressed.
Regardless, for them to condemn this simple show of solidarity for innocent civilians being slaughtered in Gaza by a nation that has installed apartheid; is itself a political statement. The Den has declared that they will silence any calls for a ceasefire, any support of Palestine, and will protect white couples that spread complete lies about what was said.
While they came to acknowledge that they had no proof of “antisemitic chants”, they encouraged those offended by calling for an end to the carnage committed against civilians, to send them footage. They claim that an artist sharing their support of the people of Palestine is an “unauthorized political statement”, laying clear where their support lies.
With that, they banned DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid from performing at their venue ever again. Silencing calls for a ceasefire is already a terrible business move in a progressive city like Portland that doesn’t support the State of Israel. Banning two of the most popular DJs in the city of Portland is another level of terrible business sense.
The backlash to their decision was immediate. The Den was soon flooded with comments on social media, calling for a Free Palestine, and condemning the club for their treatment of the DJ duo. Thousands of comments rightfully called out their unequal treatment of one of Portland’s most famous acts, and how they were relying on the word of a zionist couple that was most likely drunk anyway celebrating New Year’s Eve.
Seeing the scores of calls for a boycott, and that they had lost support of the Portland community that had sustained them for years; they shut off all comments on social media, and deleted the thousands of comments and messages they received.
The Den had made their choice, to prioritize those that support Israel, over those that support Palestine. They are beginning to see a drop in support already and hopefully change their tune in the aftermath.
A few days ago, I posted a poll on my story, to gauge what my readers would be interested in as my next article. The account of The Den voted “Why the Owners of Helium are so invested in genocide”, the opposite of a story regarding businesses to boycott in Portland which concerns them and Helium. I reached out with a sarcastic response, to which they responded by claiming that they would be releasing a statement the next day, the 9th of January.
Here is their statement, which can be found here. Statement from The Den, written January 9, 2024:
“We want to apologize and take responsibility for our mistakes and missteps in trying to address multiple complaints that were presented to The Den in regards to New Years Eve.
We banned a performer without making a full investigation based on the assumption that we had failed to provide a safe space for everyone at the venue. We are committed to learning and doing better. We would like to move forward and correct our own actions. We are currently developing new protocols and procedures for the venue to ensure the decisions made by and on behalf of the venue are done with proper investigation and consulting the entire team before making public decisions.
Our number one priority is the safety of all guests, staff, and performers at the venue, but we now realize this may not be possible to accomplish.
The ban has been lifted from DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid and they are welcome at the venue. Furthermore, we are inviting them to mediation and discussion, so that we can start the process of repair, healing, and bringing the two communities back together. If there is something else The Den can do to make this right, we will.
As an organization, we support a ceasefire, no more killing of innocent people, and support the release of hostages.
We are grateful for those who have reached out to us, giving input, insight, and criticism on this matter. Thank you.
– The Den Leadership Team”
While the statement is an apology, it has not yet been approved by DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid. The reason is plain and simple. If you read the way in which the owners of the venue spoke to the performers in the beginning, it’s callous and condescending. As Anjali alleges, the owner of The Den continues to defame and smear the artists on their personal Facebook account.
The reason for releasing a statement was also clear. That weekend’s show had been canceled, in one part because the headliner refused to play at the venue due to their stance against the duo. It was also partially due to the coming snowstorm this weekend.
After shutting off their comments in the aftermath of the ban of the DJs, their new statement is allowing for people to comment on Instagram and Facebook. If you read through the comments there are scores of white rave kids that are claiming that hearing the calls for a ceasefire are offensive to their sensibilities. The condescending tone of these concertgoers that claim to speak for the entire music scene, in demanding silence from artists in the midst of a genocide, is preposterous. There are also several accounts which are once again repeating disproven lies from October 7th, while accusing others of being antisemitic because they don’t want to bomb children in their homes.
What must once again be noted, is that dance is inherently political. It is also a seminal year in US history, as in the midst of an ongoing genocide funded by American taxpayers; we face an election that is threatening to see this country descend into full fascism. With it being an election year, politics will seep into every aspect of life, as this nation grapples with deep questions about whether we will allow a fascist president to usurp democracy, and whether both parties will lead us into a global war.
Queer people, immigrants, and people of color, who created the style of music that these arrogant attendees enjoyed, are facing an existential threat. It is the silence of these people that will see this country embrace its roots in Christofascism.
Everything is political, like The Den’s harm-reduction measures that seeks to save lives of show attendees. This is an inherently left-wing policy that is politically opposed to the dangerous war on drugs. They also provide gender-neutral bathrooms, which is a position of the club to support their queer and trans customers.
So if they do not mind these issues, why would they have banned these artists for expressing support of Palestinian life? Because of the sensibilities, racism, and sheer privilege of white Portlanders.
I encourage you to read the ramblings of comments for yourself, and you will be struck by the sheer audacity of supporters of The Den, to deny people of color a voice, as well as their social justice weaponization of terms like “consent”; simply because they want to be protected in their drug-addled dancing and completely ignore their part in a genocide.
DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid understand their part in this moment, whose very lives are threatened by the trend toward fascism. They have since released a five part statement on Instagram, acknowledging that the statement from The Den was wholly inadequate and nothing more than damage control.
They began, “For us you’re either Pro-Palestine or you’re Pro-Genocide. It’s not complicated. Our politics have always been front and center”. They demanded the following, that The Den post FREE PALESTINE on all their social media. That The Den donate 5,000 dollars to the Middle East Children’s Alliance. That The Den’s owners use their social media to post a since apology, and to denounce the lies spread about them (their statement alluded to the supposed statements of “antisemitism”, adding that they intended to investigate more into the complete fabrication).
They also demanded that their social media post the video of the duo’s midnight moment, “asserting their support of artistic freedom, especially from Women of Color”. In part two, their demand was that the owner be honest about having fed into and believed the untruth shared by the white concertgoers. They must also host a screening of a Palestinian film, chosen by Anjali, and donate all drink revenue to SWANA (South-West Asia and North Africa) Rose Center.
They added that several parties and performers approached them in support, while pointing out that they — namely Blow Pony and Rebelwise — had led chants of “Free Palestine” at The Den without repercussions. DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid continued by asserting that they will continue to use their platform to speak on the side of humanity, and against genocide; and that they have not received negative backlash from the New Year’s Eve show, and rather wholescale support from the music community.
They understand that as artists and diaspora, they have a responsibility to speak up for oppressed groups, and call for a ceasefire. They have a few coming shows at the Goodfoot, SpareRoomPDX, and in Eugene, as well as a Trail Blazers Pre-Game. They’ll continue to play and use their sets to promote a Free Palestine, and we should all show up and dance in support.
Therefore, boycott The Den for their part in silencing calls for a ceasefire and their treatment of a woman of color. Their lack of a moral base and unequal policy towards DJ Anjali, must be called out.
RAPAPORT INCITES VIOLENCE AGAINST PORTLAND BUSINESS OWNERS
I have written two prior articles regarding Helium Comedy Club and their choosing to platform Michael Rapaport this weekend of the 12th-14th. I have done enough to reveal the most heinous statements of Rapaport, and will not discuss that further. Instead, it is important to focus on how the Helium Comedy Club benefits from his propaganda for the IOF, and how Rapaport has directly incited calls to violence in our community.
As my most recent article laid out in detail, the ownership of the club was fully aware of the situation at hand, and the calls to cancel the show (the Chief Operating Officer was stalking mine, among other accounts). They have chosen to continue to platform Michael Rapaport, not just because they excuse his racism, but because their ownership collectively benefits from the genocide in Gaza. By normalizing the calls to violence that Rapaport engages in, they can paint their political opponents as “antisemitic” because they don’t want to kill Arab and Palestinian children inside of their homes.
Through deep research into the investors who created the Helium Comedy Club, and how Marc Grossman, the co-owner made his money, you learn disturbing things. Those who financed the comedy clubs, operating under Center Stage LLC, are all part of the Susquehanna International Group (SIG). This shadowy group of billionaires has worked for years to influence economic policies and push the United States and Israel to the far-right.
It is some of the founders of this group that pushed Israel to adopt the explicitly racist “nation-state law” that declared Israel as “the nation-state of the Jewish people, and the Jewish people alone”. The exact situation which led to the events of October 7th. Now that Israel is engaging in genocide, and the wealth of weapons manufacturers has expanded exponentially; they are profiting directly from the violence.
It is for this reason they embrace Michael Rapaport. Michael is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Israelis, evident in the paid trip he took to Israel to interview members of the IOF, and spread their propaganda. His rhetoric incites violence inherently, while using his position to claim that those that call for a ceasefire and for an end to the slaughter of entire families, as “antisemitic”. This rhetorical device allows people like Rapaport to undermine criticism of genocide so that the IOF can continue to murder innocent children, and the financiers of the Netanyahu government, like the Grossman brothers, can continue to enrich themselves.
Rapaport’s statements do not exist in a bubble and do not need further description, as they have faced wide-scale condemnation. While he claims that these horrific statements are merely “free speech”, and thinks that being called a racist and a Zionist is a badge of honor; he also actively works to silence anyone that speaks out for a ceasefire in support of innocent civilians in Palestine.
His platform works directly with Israeli operatives to dox and defame anyone that he paints as “antisemitic” for simply commenting on posts in support of Palestine or burning an Israeli flag (a protected act of free speech). Notably he coordinates with the Israeli account “Jew Hate Database” on many occasions. This dangerous account, clearly a tool of the State of Israel, will take clips of people expressing their support of Palestine and disdain of apartheid and occupation by Israel, and claim that they are “Jew Haters”, while doxing their personal information for their followers to threaten.
In that vein, he has targeted our Portland community as people have spoken up against his scheduled performances. Rapaport not only collaborates with large Israeli accounts to defame his opponents, his doxing has incited violence and threats, which he is fully aware of and chooses to embrace. There is real evidence of cases in which Rapaport’s targeting of his enemies is leading to direct threats on people, as well as disturbing harassment.
On the 28th of December, I awoke to my account bombarded with messages. I went through my notifications and found that Michael Rapaport had followed my account and liked the poster calling him out. He then shared the flier, and the various calls to action, using it to promote his shows in Portland.
He shared a screenshot of my account on his story, with a link to buy tickets for his show. In the paragraph of the reel he tagged a Palestinian organizing group, and Coy&Co, a floral shop in our community. That same day, the owner of Coy & Company commented, making a sarcastic remark about how hateful comedians are not welcome in Portland. Immediately he posted a photo of the owner and her business, doxing this woman and her business.
He knew that this doxxing would be fuel for his racist trolls to threaten people, and this happened within the hours afterwards. We all began to receive a series of threats and hateful messages in the aftermath. I received a number of messages, calling me a faggot, a queer, a Nazi, and a terrorist. I was told to go back to my country of birth. I blocked account after account. As a journalist and an antifascist, who covers protest movements, threats and hateful messages are par for the course.
However, I recognized that the messages were the direct result of Michael Rapaport. The other business owners, and I blocked the accounts on Instagram, while Yelp reviews were taken down by what were obviously fake accounts. Then I came to learn further about an independent business owner in our community who is dealing with the worst iteration of threats from his racist followers.
Erica’s Soul Food is an excellent food cart, attached to the Worker’s Tap. The owner, named Erica Montgomery, has garnered wide support, and a headline from The Oregonian, praising how she “brought Atlanta wings to Portland, and found a home”. Her food is highly recommended, and welcome when you’re sitting with a (non-alcoholic) beer at the leftist bar.
Being a black business owner in Portland is difficult enough, and Michael posted her business knowing full well how his followers would respond. Her account had already been targeted on several occasions a month prior, at the beginning of November, even before the controversy over Michael Rapaport came to light. Erica has dealt with harassment before for choosing to speak up against the Palestinian genocide. This was a precursor to Rapaport’s racist targeting, which was beyond the pale.
A racist, by the name of Eli W had chosen to write a review on Yelp, riddled with spelling errors. He accused her of being “anti semetic” and lied about having visited the cart, concocting a story about his fake “girlfriend” and him being accused of being colonizers. To be sure, it was a fake review. Another woman also began to fill Yelp reviews with spam. Liz C wrote a series of fake reviews, once again riddled with spelling errors. These reviews were flagged as violating Yelp community standards. Liz C would turn out to share the same language of another account, which would come up a month and a half later.
As a business owner in our community, she made a video mocking Michael Rapaport. It was a direct response to his choosing to target her friend, the owner of Coy&Co. Erica Montgomery posted a few screenshots of the controversy surrounding Rapaport, and also let her opinion be known that his genocidal commentary has no place in our town. She pointed out how cowardly he was to dox the woman behind Coy&Co, and then immediately turn off comments.
Rapaport shared her Instagram reel and account on his story, and encouraged his followers to flood her business with hateful reviews. He knew full well, as he has done to other black women athletes, that his racist followers would engage in full-scale targeting of a black woman over others.
Erica reported that on that same day, she began to receive a series of unhinged rants on Yelp reviews. She screenshotted one of the first reviews, which was quickly flagged by Yelp. The review was posted by “Maryella L” and accused the black woman of being “an actual racist psycho”, and accused her of inciting violence, in complete and utter hypocrisy. Maryella then stated a lie with glaring typos, claiming that “she likes to stalk and dox, let’s remind her that Erica M.,original of Georgia,has 4 mugshots online […] She has serious mental health issues […] We see you psycho.” The language was similar to the reviews from “Liz C”.
The racist tirade of Maryella named Michael Rapaport and the Israeli “JewHateDatabase” as inspirations to target Montgomery. In accusing Erica of “doxing”, Maryella proceeded to share information about her past mugshot. Then one of these racist proceeded to make a fake account of her business with the handle @soulfoodericapdx
This account used a picture of her past mugshot and called itself “Erica soulfood”. She shared the screenshot. The account has since been removed.
Erica has not been intimidated by their attempts to dox her past. On her account, you can see that she is open about her mental health struggles, which is nothing to be ashamed of anyway. She discusses her mental health openly, and as a part of that, Michael’s followers have latched on to that to defame her. She also posted the mugshot, as it just made her look tough, akin to Dr. King or other famous people that have been arrested. It’s nothing shocking and she stands by who she is, which is inspiring.
This level of harassment soon escalated outside of Yelp and Google reviews. She began to receive a series of prank calls and texts, alongside threatening messages, to her personal phone number. Here is one example of the texts meant to harass her, sent from the number, (503)-447–6260.
The threats did not end here, as I called Erica to discuss the level of doxing that she is facing.
She told me that last week, she had come to her food cart to find suspicious activity around the property. A vandal had tagged the gate around her food cart. While that itself was odd, she then found that her cart had been cordoned off with yellow caution tape placed around her business.
She removed it and proceeded to work as she continued to receive hateful messages and calls. Then the next day, she opened her cart to once again discover the caution tape had been placed around the property.
Then, last Friday the 5th of January, she opened up shop. When she arrived, she reported, there was a truck waiting outside of her property. The driver, wearing a face mask, sat inside with his dog, and proceeded to keep an eye on her.
He stayed in his truck the entire day, for several hours, and continued to monitor her place of business. The stalker remained in place, in his goldish truck far into the night.
She told me that she called a friend to provide security. They attempted to approach the man, and snap a photo of his vehicle. According to them, he had his phone out as if he were recording her truck across the street. As they made eye contact and attempted to snap a photo, the stalker sped off. She recorded the license plate number, and shared a photo of the truck. The truck’s license was “545 LPE”, and the photo is attached here:
All of this has made our friend and local business owner spooked, as this is a clear example of direct targeting because she chose to use her voice to speak up against the Palestinian genocide. Specifically, when I spoke with her on the phone, she noted how it was the doxing by Michael Rapaport, who used his platform to encourage his followers to threaten and defame this woman of color, that escalated things. The unprecedented levels of harassment and threats were initiated the week that he used his account to share her to his 2.1 million followers on Instagram.
Michael Rapaport works directly with Israeli accounts to encourage and incite racist violence, solely because business owners condemn his calls for violence against Palestinians. We have clear examples now of his attention not just encouraging genocide, but leading directly to racists in Portland and across the nation choosing to target Erica, a black woman and business owner who is not afraid of bullies.
This morning I discovered an account dubbed @latinxparenting, run by a woman named Leslie Priscilla. She posted, “after I got doxxed by Michael Rapaport when he blasted my name and face on his page to his 2.2+ million followers, I had to become very firm with my limits on social media… because of the dozens of hateful messages that were coming in thereafter…”
Michael knows full well what he is doing. Helium Comedy Club is not only benefitting from his normalizing genocide of Palestinians, it is also guilty of platforming someone that is inciting racist threats against Erica’s Soul Food, on the basis of her race.
Boycott Helium Comedy Club, not just for choosing to feature a known racist, and aside from the profit they are making from the continuing onslaught on Gaza; but for their part in bringing real harm to our community here in Portland.
Support Erica’s Soul Food, which has gained wide-scale praise here in Portland for bringing southern comfort food to the Pacific Northwest. Go and patronize her food cart, and purchase as many wings as possible. It’s a great way to counteract hatred, and ensure that we defend those that stand up for humanity.
Erica, alongside multiple business owners in the city of Portland, have since released a petition to call for the City of Portland to demand a ceasefire. With the support of independent business owners, they encourage Portland City Council to join the scores of American cities, from Olympia to Oakland and San Francisco to Seattle, that have called for an immediate ceasefire.
