David Bowie: “Let's Dance”

This chapter explores how David Bowie’s 1983 “Let’s Dance” music video’s critique of anti-Indigenous racism in Australia spoke to Chicana youth in Southern California in the early days of MTV. The video’s critique of the legacy of European whiteness at the center of settler colonialism allowed listeners and viewers in Southern California to make the connection between the systemic dynamics of racism in Australia and their own locale. “Let’s Dance” does so through the musical feel of convivencia, what producer Nile Rodgers creates through his bridging of black and brown rock and roll sounds that ultimately resonate with Roma and Mexican son jarocho traditions.