Black Lives Matter: What can artists do to help political causes?

A week on from the murder of George Floyd, the world is reeling and many of us want to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but aren't really sure what we can do to assist. It's uncomfortable, feeling helpless when action is so badly needed.

We British citizens can write to our local MP demanding the UK suspends the sale of riot shields, rubber bullets and tear gas to the USA (there's also a petition for this at www.change.org)  and that we publicly condemn Donald Trump and his administration for the attacks on innocent protesters and press. I would encourage you all to do this. Protests are a little trickier because of coronavirus and social distancing. It's understandable not to want to attend mass gatherings at this time.

Going forward, we can challenge racist behaviours and comments where we hear them. Unfortunately, there seems to be a great deal of "All Lives Matter" rhetoric on social media, which winds me up no end. People who say that are contributing to the problem. Yes, all lives are important, but it's not white lives that are in danger every day because of their skin colour, is it? The fact that all lives matter is the very point that the BLM movement is trying to make because, historically, black people have been treated like they don't matter. Enough is enough.

I'm not sure being a keyboard warrior over social media is the answer, though. The people who don't see the problem and aren't willing to listen are not going to have their minds changed by the rest of us commenting on their ignorance and privilege. Social media disagreements just seem to make everyone, on all sides, dig their heels in even further. Nobody wants to listen; they just want to be right.

So, social media might not be the place where people are listening. How about getting the message out by other, calmer channels through which people might be in a better position to hear and absorb other perspectives. I'm talking specifically about the arts.

When someone reads a book, browses artwork in a gallery, watches a film or piece of theatre, or listens to music, they are generally more rested, open, calm. They are looking and listening. I think everyone appreciates some form of art, and this is the way we can reach the masses with important political messages. It doesn't have to be heavy-handed or explicit either. It can be subtle, symbolic. In fiction, for example, we could show characters going through the kind of plight we want to draw attention to. We can raise awareness and empathy. We can make the reader feel another person's pain.

In 2018 the musician, Hozier, teamed up with Mavis Staples and wrote a song called "Nina Cried Power," and this song brings to attention the lack of activism in music these days as compared with a past era. It lists people (notably Nina Simone and Mavis Staples herself) who used their music as a call to arms and created anthems for human rights protests. If we, as artists, want to help a particular cause, this is exactly the answer. We can use our platform to inspire change. We can cry power.

My work-in-progress is not explicitly political, but its themes include the mistreatment and underestimation of women and projects hope for a brighter future. I do this by detailing the struggles and victories of my female characters. In the enmity between men and elves, parallels can be drawn between their battle and the battles between different races in our world. The tendency of humans in my novel to take over everything and crave absolute power is an obvious reflection of real world issues like war and dictatorship. An imbalance of wealth is also featured in the story.

These are the ways in which we can make our fiction challenge the more damaging and dangerous ways of the world. Of course, if you want to write something more explicit and tied to reality, even if you want to write an essay or a work of non-fiction, go for it! But if, like me, your genre is fantasy or you want your work to be a lighter, easier read, we can still strike a chord with political movements without making our stories into lectures.

Of course, this blog is about writing, so I've focused heavily on this particular medium, but this applies to other artists too. Musicians, sing your outrage. Painters, get that pain onto the canvas. Playwrights and screenwriters, show the masses exactly what's wrong with the world. Our work isn't going to make immediate change, but we can make our own small contributions to the awareness of society.

It's not just about our own work either, but about appreciating the art and literature of black artists. White people can help project the message loud and clear by making the conscious choice to read/ look at /listen to this work and recommend it to others. Not only can it enlighten us and give us perspective, but in passing it on, we can help to get closer to equal representation and the education of the general public.

I'd just like to wrap this up by saying to the black community, I can never understand what you go through, but I stand with you. Let's all stand up against the injustice, whatever it takes. So often in history, it has taken violent protests and damage to property for minorities to make themselves heard and change things for the better. Think women's suffrage, think Stonewall, think apartheid. Remember this before you say

it's wrong and solves nothing.

Peace and love to you all.

V.