Week 2 Blog Post

Social movements and art-making practices are very interconnected; art is often part of the movements themselves. Art is a medium through which one can influence people who aren't always reached through the standard practices of social movements. For example, political education groups were formed as Chicanas participated in higher education more often, and the groups "provided a forum for movement [Chicana] women to meet among themselves, sharing ideas and discussing issues" (Blackwell 62). While these groups allowed Chicanas to find each other and participate in social movements together, they were not necessarily effective at reaching people outside of the university sphere. On the other hand, powerful lyrics within songs such as "you say justice is colorblind - I know you're lying" (White Justice 1:20) and "she's tearing it to pieces she's a violence girl" (Bag 7) are able to reach a wider range of people. The standard practices of social movements and art both present messages and attempt to reconstruct societal views and practices, and thus they are very interconnected; they only differ in their medium and how they influence people.

One of the most troubling claims for me is that "white justice just isn't just" (White Justice 2:03). This is troubling to me because justice should be a concept that applies to everybody in the same way. The idea that some people could think that justice only applies to themselves (such as the people shown in Alice Bag's music video) is very difficult to come to terms with.