The Black Madonna cancels performance at Intersect Music Festival
“If you were shocked I’d play for Amazon, well that makes two of us. Please be patient and while I burn some bridges. Updates soon.” – The Black Madonna via Twitter.
Less than a week after Intersect Festival shared its final roster, The Black Madonna announced that she’s rescinded her slot among the lineup, subsequently disappearing from the website’s billing.
The esteemed house producer stormed to Twitter to voice her disgruntlement with the news that Intersect Festival is in fact backed by Amazon Web Services. The renowned DJ and prominent social justice advocate attributed her decision to the latter’s relations with both the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security. After showing her discernible frustration with the situation, The Black Madonna, real name Marea Stamper, returned to the social media platform to thoroughly explain her position.
Clearly I was shocked and hurt when press and promotional materials appeared with my name on an event presented by AWS yesterday. Many of you expressed your disappointment too and you were right to do so. I share it completely and amplify it….
As a global ambassador for the Help Refugees organization, I raise awareness and donate 100% of merchandise sales to refugee assistance and personally provide grants to undocumented families fleeing persecution in their home countries.
Read the full statement.
Just last year, an investigation by the Project on Government Oversight discovered documents showing that Amazon had met with ICE regarding Amazon Rekognition, a technology used to identify people based on facial characteristics in real-time video feeds. Whether the technology was licensed to ICE or Homeland Security is currently unknown.
Intersect Festival is set to take place in Las Vegas December 6-7 with a lineup that’s still set to feature Gesaffelstein, Jamie XX and Flying Lotus.
Photo Credit: IGN
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