Agitation and Inspiration: The Power of Art and Cultural Organizing
Session Type(s): Panel
Training Tag(s): Organizing & Movement Building, Arts & Culture
Starts: Thursday, Jun. 7 9:00 AM (Eastern)
Ends: Thursday, Jun. 7 10:15 AM (Eastern)
Culture is the realm of ideas, images and stories; it is where people make sense of the world and where they find meaning and forge community. History shows that when the culture changes, politics follows. Culture can reach audiences beyond the bounds of what community organizing and policy-based organizing can do. While the media is laced with myths, stereotypes and misrepresentation of grassroots movements, cultural interventions can play a key role in pushing forward stories that help shift the public debate. A growing movement of artists around the country are using cultural tools to fight economic inequality, corporations, banks and anti-migrant hate. In this session, artist-activists, writers, cultural leaders and creative institutions will discuss models for connecting artists to movements for social change.
Agitation and Inspiration: The Power of Art and Cultural Organizing
Miss this panel? No problem! Here’s what happened.
Storified by Netroots Nation · Thu, Jun 07 2012 11:03:47
Moderator
Favianna Rodriguez
Favianna Rodriguez is an interdisciplinary artist, cultural organizer, and political activist based in Oakland, California. Her art and collaborative projects address migration, global politics, economic equality, gender justice, and ecology. Favianna lectures globally on the power of art, cultural organizing and technology to inspire social change, and leads art workshops at schools around the country. Rodriguez partners with social movement groups around the world to create art that’s visionary and transformational. She is the Executive Director of CultureStrike, a national arts organization that engages artists, writers and performers in migrant rights. She was recently featured in a documentary series titled Migration is Beautiful which addressed how artists responded to failed immigrant policy in the United States. In 2009, she co-founded Presente.org, a national online organizing network dedicated to the political empowerment of Latino communities.
Other sessions: The Worst Immigration Law in the United States, Liberate Your Ass: Why Sexual Freedom is Key to Fighting the Right
Panelists
Cloee Cooper
Cloee Cooper organizes with the Center for New Community to expose and resist nativism. Since 2010, she has worked with countless amazing people to find creative ways to both expose the roots of racism endemic to the anti-immigrant movement, and highlight the ways in which people subvert divisive bills and organize resistance. She worked with talented film-makers and organizers to produce the documentary films “A Look Inside SB1070”, “Bernard’s Story”, and “Undivided”.
Other sessions: Screening Showcase #1
Gan Golan
Gan Golan is a NY Times bestselling author, artist and agitator. His books include the smash hit ‘Goodnight Bush’ and the critically-acclaimed ‘The Adventures of Unemployed Man’. His next book ‘Don’t Let the Republican Drive The Bus’ comes out in Fall. As an artist, he has designed Rock Music posters for Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Willie Nelson, Nick Cave and Henry Rollins. His Ben Harper poster is considered one of the greatest music posters of all time. Recently he founded two totally fake sports teams ‘The Corporate Tax Dodgers’ and ‘The 99ers’ and was featured on Democracy Now! He is currently the co-director of ArtIsMyOccupation, an arts organization which transfers resources to artists creating work on the front lines of the struggle for Economic Justice. He has recently moved from California to NY after getting his dream job on Wall Street: occupying it.
Betsy Richards
Betsy Theobald Richards is the Creative Fellow at The Opportunity Agenda, a progressive policy and communications organization in New York City. She serves as the thought leader for the organization’s work at the intersection of arts & social justice. Formerly she was a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation where she focused on Indigenous and place-based cultural communities. For the past twenty-five years, Betsy, who is also a theater artist and producer, has focused on advancing Native American and other under-served voices in the arts. She is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
Julio Salgado
Julio Salgado is the co-founder of DreamersAdrift.com. His activist artwork has become a staple of the DREAM Act movement. His status as an undocumented, queer artivist has fueled the contents of his illustrations, which depict key individuals and moments of the DREAM Act movement. Undocumented students and allies across the country have used Salgado’s artwork to call attention to the youth-led movement. His work has been praised by OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano, KPCC-FM 89.3’s Multi-American blog and the influential journal ColorLines. Salgado graduated from California State Universitiy, Long Beach with a degree in journalism.