Power & Freedom
Photo: Lisa Bayer, from my book "Desire & Power, Poetry and Subtext" (2013)
Power and Freedom generally co-exist in some way. If you have freedom, you have relative access to power. Power is contingent on place in society, or lack thereof.
In these times, many people are struggling with an insecure existence; that is, access to power, control, and freedom is no longer a given (no matter how hard we work, there will be circumstances beyond our control). Likewise, although secure jobs may be desired, the growing trend is toward temporary gigs. Housing costs make owning a home out of reach for many people. Food, health care, and education, which should be considered necessities in contemporary western society, often require tough choices (e.g., which can I go without this month?). All of this plays out politically. Here, within this space, the distance between these divisions seem insurmountable. The result is intense anger. Where it might have once been hovering below the surface, it has now erupted with a violent force.
Where artists, poets, writers, and musicians used to express their resistance to policies and systems in their work, it seems that the combination of this bubbled-over anger and access to the internet, has generated a lot of 'cut & paste' political posts by artists across genres. Like the spoiled schoolyard bully, there is an impulse to punch back. There is also a frustration with the injurious and ongoing political rhetoric, and it is easy to fall into a name-calling, insult-hurling mode. But, as artists, this is really lame and lazy, and its causing more divisions. Artists used to join bands, not bandwagons, to give voice to art/lyrics/music. Artists created work that questioned, pushed-boundaries, and created conversation and debate. Musicians embedded their opinions in lyrics and their reactions in their chosen genre of music (punk, metal, folk, etc.). I miss the times when hate was not so in-the-face, where the goal was not to insult the other side, but for all of us to get to the other side.
I implore all artists and musicians to get back to work, to pick up your pen, paintbrush, or guitar and get back to work. Forget the mean-spirited social media posts and channel your resistance into your work. It is easy to be offended, when we should be mending fences. In this spirit, I leave you with an anti-racism protest song by Nina Simone.
