// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Indie and punk music made me feel I was betraying my race
A new book by musician and author Stephanie Phillips sets out the history of black people and alternative music
Growing up in Wolverhampton, Stephanie Phillips says she was initially pretty much into the same chart music as her friends.
But alongside TLC, Aaliyah and Destiny's Child, she developed a passion for rock, indie and punk.
"It was music that meant a lot to me as someone who was very shy and needed an outlet," she said. Yet she felt compelled to keep that passion hidden.
"There was always this idea that black people weren't really into alternative music, or punk," the musician, journalist and author told the BBC.
"When I first got into alternative music I felt like I was betraying my race, and had to keep my love of rock practically secret," she writes in her new book.
"There was a particular way that I was supposed to move through the world and being super into this genre was seen as something that wasn't for black people."
Big Joanie was set up as a black feminist punk band, says the author and journalist
In We Were Here, the Big Joanie singer and guitarist charts the role of black artists in creating, shaping and transforming rock 'n' roll, punk and alternative music.
Phillips argues black artists never disappeared from the scene but were often forgotten, overlooked or deliberately excluded.