Week 2 Response

Art-making practices done by the community and activists of the movement allow us to learn about the resistance and their resiliency, as expressed by Blackwell and Bag. 

Sylvia Castro’s experience in Blackwell’s essay discussed how union organizing also included events where “Chicano/Mexicano workers would come together on Friday nights...and there would be teatro and music” (Blackwell, 52). In colleges, Corinne Sanchez recalls how the Chican@ organizations would use rap to come together (Blackwell, 83). Gender tensions and discrimination weren’t at the forefront of these events, and the use of rap was said to have come naturally, where it was interlaced with the social movement: “it’s not that we started off as a rap group; it just evolved from our involvement” (Blackwell, 83-84). Essentially, the activist experience let these clubs come together and find community, make art, and practice resilience. Alice Bag uses music as both a resilience practice and as a form to practice activism through art. In her song ‘White Justice,’ Bag is using her music to propel and talk about these social issues that the movement is focused on by talking about how “white justice just isn’t just” (Bag, 1:53), as well as how the movement continues: “our struggle then was here at home / And it’s still going on” (Bag 2:37). By being able to express her experience through this outlet, it reflects how art can be used by social movements to both encourage community and resilience as well as further the purpose of the movement.