Racism & DJing: DJ Purple Lettuce on Honeydew LA
Perpetua Romaine aka DJ Purple Lettuce came on Honeydew LA (my podcast with Allura) to talk about her budding DJ career and current musical projects, etc. Our conversation flowed beautifully through chapters of Purp’s life and ended up on the relevant topic of racism. She spoke in general terms about the cathartic weight of the moment. We asked if she had any specific moments when racism had affected her as a DJ, and if she would be open to sharing. She responded with a detailed account of an all-day, nightmare gig where guest after guest treated her with overtly racist disrespect. This story is painful to hear, but strangely beautiful when told through the lens of the wonderful soul that is Purple Lettuce. She is so strong, so resilient, and so steadfast in her efforts see her commitments through without betraying herself in the process.
I have this image of Purple Lettuce in my head. She is swimming through the ocean with the sun shining down on her, the water cooling her skin, and her infectious smile bobbing through the waves. As this story progresses, each racially charged aggression is like an energetic sandbag getting strapped to her ankles. She has to paddle and kick faster to stay up. She has to work harder to do her job as a DJ, AND "keep it together." She knows if she loses her temper or even stands up for herself in any way she risks being accused of being an "angry black woman", threatening guests, losing her job, or worse. As this extra weight continues to build, she has to work harder and harder to brush off each painful word, look, and laugh, while still DJing ... A WEDDING PARTY. She shows an incredible amount of strength getting through the plethora of micro-aggressions constantly thrown at her, to very obvious violations like getting called "blackie" and the N word. All the way to completing the gig, just to get completely gaslit by her mentor
The story concludes with a beautiful example of the healing power of music. After a gig that made her question herself as a DJ, Purple attended Bastid's BBQ, and had the most inspiring weekend of her life. Isn't that just the way of the life of an artist? Right when you are questioning it all, the universe delivers you the exact medicine you need to keep going.
We love you Purple Lettuce! Thank you for your courage, and for trusting us with this story. We hope that in sharing this we can shed light on these issues within our DJ community and beyond, and do our part to help push the social justice movement forward.