Activism in Jersey City:
Labor and community organizations came together in Jersey City’s Berry Lane Park on Thursday, July 17th. The youth were there protesting with signs of cuts to education and demanding safer schools. They demanded more resources for Jersey City’s Black and brown communities and opposed policies of gentrification pricing out families with generational roots in Jersey City.
The Climate Mobilization (TCM) is a national grassroots environmental advocacy group working toward large-scale political action against global warming, with the belief that the crisis of climate change requires a national economic effort. formed in 2016. Their first major victory was the 2017 Hoboken Resolution calling for an attempt on carbon neutrality by 2017 and a city wide GHG inventory.
The Jersey City NAACP and local activists came out hard against a potential new bike lane that would turn Martin Luther King Drive and Ocean Avenue into a one-way street. Jersey City NAACP President Charles Mainor said “Ocean Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive are more than streets: They are lifelines. They are the homes of multiple schools, where parents pick up and drop off their children, they serve seniors who rely on their sensible bus routes for their independence. Turning these streets into one-way roads with proper consultation risks isolation to our elders.” This drew loud applause from the audience at the council meeting.
What is art activism:
Art activism is art used to challenge political and societal Policys and inspire people to stand up and protest for there to be change. According to “The Art of Activism” “Art allows us to say things that can’t be said, to give form to abstract feelings and ideas and present them in such ways that they can be communicated with others” We can express ourselves through art in a way that we can't always in words until we get a whole community behind us.
Troy is a town in upstate New York whose economy a century ago was booming with a bunch of factories but now they are all abandoned. but once a year
the remaining residents of the city dress up in Victorian-era costumes
and parade up and down the city’s main street. They do this to fight back against their town being hung out to dry in hopes of turning it around one day.
1. WHY ARTISTIC ACTIVISM? | Center for Artistic Activism
“Whereas art tends to be limited to museums and galleries, and activism to street demonstrations artistic activism is at home in town squares and shopping malls, on billboards or through social media.”
Art can be defined in many ways, and I like how the article brings this to attention by saying that we think of art normally as only being in museums but it's all around us if we open our eyes and search for it.
The goal is not to produce beautiful art for arts’ sake, but to deploy aesthetics as a way to expand reach, influence, and imagination.”
It's amazing how we can look at a piece of art or a protest in our town and be inspired to create and be a part of something bigger than ourselves.
2. An Introduction to Activist Art | The Collector
“They usually have a common dominator, which is a focus on political and social issues with the intent to change or influence public opinion by confronting people with an unjust or problematic status quo.”
The beauty of art activism is how it can inspire people to start asking questions to produce change for their community and not just being told what's right and wrong but figuring it out for themselves.
“Another important goal of activist art is to create awareness of existing political and social issues.”
Art activism can give people awareness that maybe the government local or federal doesn't always have your best interest in mind.
3.Artists Using Their Creativity to Drive Activism | Global Citizen:
“In every fight for justice there is a story to be told. Art is one of the most powerful tools we have for communicating those stories, sharing lived experiences, and fighting for global change.
Art activism can be seen in any major war there has been because of how much it can help the people who are opposed to it get their message across and communicate the importance of it around the world.
“There’s more than one way to be an activist, and that is to say, there’s more than one way to raise your voice and speak up in the name of change.”
It can be you going to a protest or even bringing up a topic with your family at the dinner table that you know your parents may not like but you would want to debate and make them see your point of view.
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