Week 2 Post - Sarah Yang

Alice Bag and Maylei Blackwell both discuss the complexity of culture in the fight for social justice. In her song White Justice, Bag notes how coming together as a community can feel unifying, with “blue skies [and] brown berets / this march feels like a parade”. However when recalling a march she attended in her youth in her book Violence Girl, Bag experienced the resistance against the protests and how the Chicano movement “had enemies who weren’t afraid to throw bottles at us or shoot us” (70). In her song, Bag forcefully proclaims that “white justice is a travesty” as she speaks out about the injustices against the Chicano movement. To add another layer to the complexity within social justice movements, Blackwell discusses the gender roles within the Chicano movement in her book Chicana Power! and describes how they can be limiting. Instead, Blackwell suggests that the movement should highlight “how feminism has emerged from diverse experiences, including labor participation, migration, and conditions of racial exclusion and poverty” (page 47). Through their writings and music, Bag and Blackwell both acknowledge the strength and perseverance within the Chicano activist community but encourage improvement to better the social justice movement. The two women have both found a way to share and spread their experiences and opinions through their art, which is the most inspiring and compelling aspect of their work to me.