Interview with Laina Dawes
“What Are You Doing Here”? A Black Woman's Life And Liberation in Heavy Metal,by Laina Dawes, Bazillion Points Books This was an interesting interview. Many of us have never given much thought to what it must be like to be a minority that loves heavy metal. For most of us the idea of race as an issue simply doesn’t come into play. But there are always those people who judge skin color over character. Now add into that stereotype a female minority and you have people turning their heads. This is the world that Laina Dawes found herself. Growing up as a metal outcast is one thing, surviving in a brutally real racial and gender divide is another. This book is her wake up call. It is our wake up call as well. It screams at you the reader to change your perceptions. It is an honest and solitary journey that reveals itself in the end to be the story of us all. I found Laina to be down to earth, friendly and fiercely proud of her heritage and pure love of th