Speaking up: Black Lives Matter
Throughout history, art has always had multiple raison d’être. Amongst these, representing the implicit, questioning obsolete values and challenging society to foster change.
The recent tragic episodes of violence against the black community in the US and the “Black Lives Matter” movement, founded back in 2013 when Trayvon Martin was murdered, encourage contemporary discussion around the concepts of justice, racism and inequality.
Artists and institutions, standing in solidarity of the movement, are speaking up after the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, the last names in a long list of victims who have died at the hands of the police or, in a broader sense, have been subject to discriminatory treatment.
Black Lives Matter Arts+Culture presents “The Provocateurs: A Master Series”, a creative video that features established artists from politically radical contexts who, in various TED-style talks, discuss their practice and journey as provocative Black artists. The intention is to inspire creative minds of the movement to work on more expansive and radical Black art. In these videos, artists from numerous disciplines also share how they use their artistic practice to spark political and social change, and challenge the establishment. To mention a few: Shamell Bell, Staceyann Chin, Lynnée Denise, Emory Douglas, Sarah Jones, Miss Prissy and Walter Mosley.
Amongst the several recognised artists and intellectuals speaking up for the cause, numerous unknown street artists and influencers also share the same goal: eradicate violence, discrimination and all forms of inequality.
Social Media users, on June 2, showed their solidarity as they overwhelmed Twitter’s algorithm with black squares. The initiative “Blackout Tuesday” (the hashtag reached 23.3 million posts) was created by Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, two music executives for whom the initiative’s aim was to call the music industry to “take a beat for an honest, reflective, and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the Black community […] in observance of the long-standing racism and inequality that exists from the boardroom to the boulevard”, as stated on their website.
Together with the above-mentioned movement, a couple of others have also emerged, namely “Blue lives matter”, which brings attention to cops who put their lives out on the line, and “All Lives Matter”. However, these side movements would appeal more in a society where race does not matter whilst racial profiling is a reality targeting specific communities that are disproportionately incarcerated, killed and assaulted, in the U.S. but also in Europe.
Moreover, many have also been witnesses to the “racially disproportionate loss of life due to COVID-19 and the preexisting conditions of environmental racism & structural inequality”, as the content creators of “CUT“, a YouTube channel with 10 millions of subscribers, rightly point out. During this global pandemic, in fact, the impact of discrimination emerged clearer than ever.
Adding to the debate, many people are also sharing on their platforms a list of resources such as anti-racism reading lists and further actions to be undertaken. E.g. Healing in Action: A Toolkit for black Lives Matter Healing Justice &Direct Actions.
The conversation that is currently emerging must involve all levels of society and art practitioners, in doing so, art can embody its traditional role of accelerating this social, political and economic shift towards a new and more inclusive narrative.
