Grace Burchett, Week 2 Blog Post

Art making practices have emerged as one way to offer essential perspectives on social justice movements and bring oppression to light. When one is pushed or raised with the mindset that they are supposed to reside in the margins of society, their experience isn't seen by mainstream society. Highlighting these personal experiences in a way that other groups can understand is done through various art making practices. In Chicana Power!, Maylei Blackwell illustrates the development of rap as a medium of expression for Chicana women, particularly on page 88. Blackwell outlined how Chicana feminist ideals, such as the term Hermanidad, were formed in a room full of Chicana women. However, this meaningful discussion needed a way to reach a larger audience. Rap achieved this goal by expressing Chicana feminist ideas in a way "that would inform many generations of women...to come." Similarly, the lyrics of White Justice revelation a new perspective that Alice Bag gained when she participated in the 1970 march protesting the Vietnam War. As detailed in Violence Girl, Bag saw police officers as upholders of a white, capitalist society in which violence is directed at those who peacefully protested. This new perspective of understanding how white justice is never just is then illustrated in the song "White Justice", including lyrics such as "I know you're lying". When expressed as a song that reaches a large and diverse audience, these essential experiences are brought to light by art making practices.