I covered the Latin Grammy Awards twice for VivirLatino. Once when they were in New York City and I was beside myself for being given official credentials (and honor I am no longer impressed by), and once when they were in Las Vegas where I went to every free event because I made myself broke just getting there. These were the Latin Grammy Awards, the equivalent of Latino History Month, a segregated space completely controlled by the major music labels and the Spanish language media. Media like me were essentially locked into a media room, watching the event on television, interrupted constantly by a parade of winners and hosts we could yell questions at but not video tape (in Vegas at one point a Univision employee actually stepped in front of my camera to block my taping). I’ll admit that at first I was star struck. As an up and coming blogger I liked seeing Shakira, Ricky Martin, and Calle 13 up close and personal. I am particularly struck by the memory of Gustavo Cerati, long before he became ill.

But again those were the Latin Grammy Awards not the main event Grammy Awards being held tonight in Los Angeles and yet there is much talk and protest about the role of artists of color and exclusion.

With the sudden, untimely, and unexpected death of Whitney Houston, there is remembrance but also reflection on how the music industry, fed by the talents of many people of color, but manipulated mostly by white run music moguls, only allowed so many women of color success stories at a time and within a very specific imagined framework. Whitney was every woman, but as soon as pressure and the temptations that come with it unleashed their demons upon her, the industry’s support waned in favor of the next, more wholesome, marketable black woman. Whitney Houston was presented as a caricature, much in the same way that Michael Jackson was. The focus became her weaknesses, her failures and this at a time when media shifted from print and video music channels to the every vigilant internet. While the cause of Whitney Houston’s tragic passing are still unknown, we do know the road that brought us here. As media consumers, so many of us hungrily watched her fall but did we offer her a hand to get back up?

Just like Whitney Houston’s legacy will be remembered without her actually being present, so will the influence of many musical genres. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences made a decision to eliminate 31 musical categories from consideration for the Grammy Award. Many of these categories had already been dying a slow death since 2002 when they were eliminated from the television broadcast. You know, those categories that flash right before going to commercial break of awards given somewhere else and you don’t even know who all the nominees were, much less what was said, if anything by the winners? These categories represent American music in the truest sense of the word in that they reflect an America beyond U.S. hegemony. Over 70 percent of these categories represent ethnic and race- based styles of music. In fact, they represent more than music, they represent cultures, histories, and traditions. NARAS defends it’s decision saying that this streamlining is to make the Grammys more competitive because it was getting too easy to win a golden gramophone. Some of the eliminated categories include: Latin Jazz, Traditional and Contemporary Blues, Cajun/Zydeco, Contemporary and Traditional Jazz, Polka, Mexican Norteña, Native American, Gospel,
R & B and Hawaiian music.

Latin Jazz Grammy nominee Bobby Sanabria has been leading the charge against the decision for a number of months now, even filing suit on behalf of the reinstatement of the genre he represents. There is a petition, signed by thousands, demanding that NARAS reinstate the axed categories and today in Los Angeles there is a protest and an alternative show at Mama Juana’s in Studio City being sponsored by organizations including Presente.org.

There will be many people and things missing from tonight’s Grammy Awards. Some people, like Whitney Houston, are artists whose careers were built and taken down by an industry increasingly more interested in marketability than actual talent. Other artists, because of changes to the Grammy system, and really that is what it is – a machine, will never have a chance because they represent musical forms relating histories that are being erased in ways much more sinister than through the elimination of competitive musical categories. I haven’t watched the Grammy Awards in a while and I don’t think I’m going to start tonight. There are better ways to honor the talent and respect the legacies of artists.

If you want to sign the petition demanding that NARAS reinstate the axed categories you can do so here.