In April, controversy ensued following an online scuffle between local comedian Day Bracey and far-right comedian Owen Benjamin. The New Hazlett Theater canceled Benjamin’s show after discovering his history of racist and homophobic comments on social media. Bracey, who is African American, reacted by saying other venues shouldn’t work with Benjamin.
But, on April 28, Benjamin secured a venue and performed a comedy show. He rented out the lecture hall at the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, in Oakland. According to Carnegie Library spokesperson Suzanne Thinnes, Benjamin rented out the space as a private event, and the library didn’t promote or market the show, nor does the library promote or market any private event. Tickets were sold through Benjamin’s website, and the location of the event was only shared after tickets were purchased.
Some Pittsburgh residents, including Bracey, were upset Benjamin was allowed to perform at the library lecture hall, which is located near the Schenley Park Bridge. Bracey says he wished the library would have denied Benjamin’s request to rent out the facility, especially given the optics of the situation. He says that hosting Benjamin — who uses the n-word often on social media, near where the Stephen Foster statue was removed just two days before the show — comes off as insensitive.
But above all, Bracey is upset the public was not given accurate information about Benjamin’s show. He says he called the library and was told that either the show wasn’t happening or it was occurring at a different location. Bracey understands that the First Amendment protects Benjamin in renting out a public space, but he wishes that people had the opportunity to protest Benjamin’s show.
“A protest is also a form a free speech,” says Bracey. “Why didn’t you allow the public to exert their First Amendment right? I do understand that you want to allow all voices, but then allow all voices. You are giving preference to [Benjamin] by not informing us about his show.”
Thinnes says that library officials learned about the controversy surrounding Benjamin partway through the rental agreement process, less than two weeks ago. She says it was a difficult decision, but the library decided to accept the rental agreement, in accordance with the American Library Association guidelines.
“It was something we grappled with; what is public and how to rent out public space,” says Thinnes. “A good library supports freedom from censorship and freedom of expression. Those are our core guidelines.”
In terms of library staff misinforming people looking to protest Benjamin’s show, Thinnes says some confusion may have occurred since the staff that fields calls was not informed who Benjamin was and that he was performing at the lecture hall. She says some confusion about the event may have stemmed from Carnegie Museums possibly getting calls about Benjamin. The museums are located next to the library, but has no affiliation with the library. Thinnes apologizes that library administrators didn’t inform library staff and the public more about Benjamin’s show. She doesn’t want the fallout from Benjamin’s show to lead patrons to have negative opinions of the library staff that fielded inquiries.
“It is very important to note that we disappointed our staff and the public by not having that information for them,” she says. “I don’t want this to overshadow the great work that our staff does. We want to encourage the community to continue this public debate.”
North Side resident Lee Stanley was critical of how the library officials handled the Benjamin show, and hopes the library will increase its transparency moving forward. “If the library is going to use free speech as their hill, then they need to be open and honest about it,” wrote Stanley in a message to City Paper.
In response to the event, Thinnes says library officials will be discussing possibly altering their rental policies. “It is a difficult conversation for us to have, but it brought some things out into the light that will help our organization moving forward,” says Thinnes. “And we now have an opportunity to look at rental policies and procedures.”
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2018.
I assume my political views align very closely with Mr. Bracey’s and I’m disappointed that Owen Benjamin found a venue for his act in Pittsburgh. But I find Mr. Bracey’s crusade problematic on a few points:
1) He says, in this article, that he agrees that Benjamin was protected by the 1st amendment (others vehemently disagree), but implies that the library lied to the public. On his Facebook page he says that the library’s denial of the call amount to them treating Mr. Bracey “like an idiot.” He then shows a screenshot of the number called, which a quick Google search reveals to be the contact number of Carnegie MUSEUM OF ART. He called the wrong number and was told the truth…the CMOA staff member did not know of any comedy show. This seriously undermines Mr. Bracey’s claims of untruthfulness on the part of the Carnegie Library.
2) He has rallied supporters to pressure CLP’s funding sources to rethink their support of the library and has speculated that the library “profited” from the event in the $2k-3k range. The terminology of “profit” is problematic for a “NON-profit” like CLP. Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is not Starbucks or Facebook or Hobby Lobby. It is an institution whose funding must be used in service to their mission. In some cases this takes the form of feeding food-insecure children during summer months. Am I to understand that a progressive institution that runs Drag Queen Story Hours and job-training and counseling is, as a whole, bigoted and worth shuttering? I’m unconvinced by this aspect of Mr. Bracey’s campaign.
3) Lastly, I find it off-putting that Mr. Bracey is hoping to profit from the furor. He writes on his Facebook page: “To the 100+ new people who friend requested me over the last week… Remember to buy tickets to my shows. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you…” This is a serious issue, one that needs people like Day Bracey to advance the debate, but comments like this have a whiff of opportunism that undercut his mission.
Day Bracey’s real name is Lamar and he was busted for breaking into houses in the Braddock/Swissvale area years ago. He was no good then and is no good now. These days he rally’s against white people but keeps a white girlfriend as a way of saying “I’m not racist”. He hates cops for being profiled but his criminal past builds a perfect example of what a suspect profile is. Lamar, you should have thought twice before becoming a criminal and you wouldn’t be treated like one.
Wow, another article from the PGH City Paper claiming Benjamin is alt-right, really looks like you did your research prior to writing this article! Quality journalism, sigh, but what’s to be expected in media these days.
I should also note that Day Bracey was suspended from Twitter for using the N word as well, calling a black person a ‘Trash A** N*gg*…F*ck this c**n a** up, die faster.’ He also throws around many white racial slurs on all social media posts.
I believe Benjamin said ‘(Justin) Trudeau is a n*gg*r f*gg*t,’ in response to trudeau trying to ban the words Mother and Father. Owens joke was to use the most obviously hateful words and call the prime minister those when the prime minister is trying to ban words associated to the nuclear family. Owen is not homophobic or racist, he truly is trying to get people to see the hypocrisy in this world that’s going mad.
Read Owens latest Instagram or Facebook posts for yourself regarding the two tweets that Bracey took offense to. It just seems hypocritical for Bracey to take offense to language Benjamin uses, when Bracey uses the same words! And just with the library ‘intentionally avoiding’ providing info to Bracey, I believe he is misconstrued (lying) saying he is receiving death threats. With how vocal he is with his concerns on social media I would think he would screenshot at least one death threat sent to him via Twitter or Facebook.
Also, if you were able to follow all the abbreviated and punctuated words above, good for you! Haha
I should also note that Day Bracey was suspended from Twitter for using the N word as well, calling a black person a ‘Trash A** N*gg*…F*ck this c**n a** up, die faster.’ He also throws around many white racial slurs on all social media posts.
I believe Benjamin said ‘(Justin) Trudeau is a n*gg*r f*gg*t,’ in response to trudeau trying to ban the words Mother and Father. Owens joke was to use the most obviously hateful words and call the prime minister those when the prime minister is trying to ban words associated to the nuclear family. Owen is not homophobic or racist, he truly is trying to get people to see the hypocrisy in this world that’s going mad.
Read Owens latest Instagram or Facebook posts for yourself regarding the two tweets that Bracey took offense to. It just seems hypocritical for Bracey to take offense to language Benjamin uses, when Bracey uses the same words! And just with the library ‘intentionally avoiding’ providing info to Bracey, I believe he is misconstrued (lying) saying he is receiving death threats. With how vocal he is with his concerns on social media I would think he would screenshot at least one death threat sent to him via Twitter or Facebook.
Also, if you were able to follow all the abbreviated and punctuated words above, good for you! Haha
They definitely lied to the public who called in BEFORE the show happened. I had friends who called in 4 days in a row, because they wanted to see how many calls it would take to get a real answer. Instead of researching the requests from patrons and seeing why they were so upset, the staff who took their calls kept giving the same answer everyday; that they were not aware of any controversial performers booked. It’s almost like they were given a script of what to say…
Can anyone verify Lamar Day Bracey’s criminal record? I’ve been seeing this pop up a few times now on social media and articles related to him. Is it true?
PA edocket has all the info on Lamar “Day” Bracey. Just download the app and put in his info and it’s all there.
Owen Benjamin is a comedian. If using language (yes, all the dirty words too) to create humor is offensive to you, than you know nothing about comedy. Let the grown ups hang out with the grown ups, and you can stay in the kiddie room. He’s got thousands of hours of him talking up on youtube. Go listen for yourself. The guy is not a racist. It’s not like he was doing his comedy on the front steps of the Library at noon on a Sunday.
Pipe down with your virtue signaling and let the grown ups enjoy a night off. 😉