Singer and feminist icon Ani DiFranco is hosting what she’s calling a “Righteous Retreat” near New Orleans next summer. Over four nights and three days, attendees will take place in “workshops and lessons that focus on developing one’s singular creativity” and perform for each other.
For fans of the singer, it sounds like the ideal weekend. One problem for many fans, though: the retreat is being held at Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, La. As Kat Endgame writes at PQ Monthly, “if you hold a big retreat just about anywhere you can trace the ownership to some rich white asshole, but I’m pretty sure with Ani Difranco’s immense DIY cred she could track down a location with a bit less baggage.”
What baggage? Well, the obvious kind, in that the plantation was once maintained by slaves but now is owned by a corporation that runs a profitable hotel and restaurant.
This is the plantation Ani DiFranco is hosting her retreat at. #stopblamingwhitewomenweneedunity pic.twitter.com/Y6hFadrVP2
— stella (@stellaboonshoft) December 28, 2013
HOW IS A PLANTATION IN ANY WAY FEMINIST? HOW IS RECALLING THE OLD SOUTH A POSITIVE MESSAGE? @anidifranco #whitefeminismfailsagain
— Quarantine Annie (@grimalkinrn) December 28, 2013
Hey @anidifranco what gives? A plantation? Owned by a right wing billionaire? Whitewashed history of slavery? WHY?! Seriously why?
— Amadi says Test, Trace, Isolate, Then Reopen (@amaditalks) December 28, 2013
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.@anidifranco So many of us have admired your work for so long but you need to cancel your #RighteousRetreat & make apologies.
— Quarantine Annie (@grimalkinrn) December 28, 2013
I'm not sad @Anidifranco I'm nauseated with anger. All your "righteous" feminist rhetoric obviously means less than nothing.
— Amadi says Test, Trace, Isolate, Then Reopen (@amaditalks) December 28, 2013
I love @anidifranco, but… wtf? Out of Range: Ani Difranco’s Righteous Retreat at a former slave plantation http://t.co/Gppaf5kZTP
— red, red, robyn (@birdiebent) December 28, 2013
OFFS. MT @AsterMaze: welp I just found out that Ani Difranco is doing a show on a plantation #solidarityisforwhitewomen
— Jane Doe, MD (@DrJaneChi) December 28, 2013
https://twitter.com/modernistwitch/status/416970583545364480
https://twitter.com/middle_ladle/status/416972090021933056
.@anidifranco is a white woman with "dreadlocks." this plantation business isn't at all surprising.
— I'Nasah K. Crockett (@so_treu) December 28, 2013
@TheAngryFangirl @anidifranco I was once forced to go to that plantation on a grade school trip. It is the worst for obscuring slavery.
— Elizabeth Keenan (@badcoverversion) December 28, 2013
https://twitter.com/revealingmia/status/416976680675065856
We condemn @anidifranco for holding a retreat at a site where Africans were brutalized. #shameful
— Org. for Women's Lib (@orgwomenslib) December 28, 2013
@jennpozner maybe @anidifranco will conduct the entire event in a 1 room slave cabin in honor of the family that was forced to live there.
— planetransgender (@planetrans) December 28, 2013
https://twitter.com/tailsy/status/417047499577491456
.@anidifranco pls apologize to the folks whose ancestors were enslaved at places like yr "retreat," cancel retreat, then apologize more.
— #abolishMPD (@radicalamy) December 28, 2013
Loved Ani growing up but the @anidifranco I thought I knew wouldn't be vacationing on the graves of slaves. #righteousretreat
— #abolishMPD (@radicalamy) December 28, 2013
Plantations of the US south = cemeteries, slaughterhouses, battlegrounds, prisons. Places to MOURN, not celebrate. @anidifranco
— 菊池 (@kikifruits) December 28, 2013
Capitalism is at work as well. Prices for the retreat range from $1,099 to $3,998.
Leftist musician Ani Difranco is doing something very capitalist and great for her fans: a 'Righteous Retreat' hangout / experience.
— ??? ????????? ⏳ (@stranahan) December 28, 2013
It's a great example of how artists are creating new products based on deeper experiences with her fans. Any artist should take note of Ani.
— ??? ????????? ⏳ (@stranahan) December 28, 2013
BUT Ani Difranco's leftist FANS are having a COW because her event is being held at a Plantation! http://t.co/kp2i3Z2Pdx #InstantKarma
— ??? ????????? ⏳ (@stranahan) December 28, 2013
I'm not calling out Ani DiFranco for hypocrisy. I'm in favor of leftists being hypocritical about capitalist enterprises. Beats bombing.
— ??? ????????? ⏳ (@stranahan) December 28, 2013
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