Making Art to Make Change: Human Rights “Artivism” in Minnesota
Minnesota’s creative community has long demonstrated the profound impact of creative expression and the arts in the human rights advocacy space. Their “artivism” has built solidarity among community members and empowered them to resist human rights violations, not just in Minnesota, but across the globe.
On April 15, the Human Rights Program hosted the event, Artivism and Human Rights: Building Solidarity Through Creative Resistance. The event featured a panel of human rights activists and artists including Brass Solidarity and Singing Resistance, two Twin Cities musical groups focused on mobilizing neighbors to fight for social justice and using music to bring people together. Brass Solidarity was founded in 2021 in response to the murder of George Floyd and the ongoing fight in the movement for Black lives. Singing Resistance was started in Minneapolis after the murder of Renee Nicole Good, and they now have chapters across the US. The event explored the question: In the context of rising authoritarianism and anti-rights activism, what can the human rights community learn from community members in the creative and fine arts, technology, and communications fields?
Brass Solidarity kicked off the event by filling the auditorium with boisterous jazz music, together with performers from Singing Resistance. The performance was an accurate representation of America today: diverse and joyous, pained but hopeful. They encouraged the audience to dance, interact with others in the room, and sing along– a real-time taste of their grassroots approach to advocacy.
The panel discussion featured Brass Solidarity leaders Butchy Austin and Alsa Bruno, Pangea World Theater directors Dipankar Mukherjee and Meena Natarajan, TurnSignl CEO Jazz Hampton, lead organizer with Twin Cities United Performers and drummer for Minneapolis Band Gully Boys, Nadirah McGill, and Liz Digitale Anderson and Molly Sturges from Singing Resistance and StreetSong. Panelists emphasized the importance of creativity and coalition-building as resistance and resilience when advocating for human rights. Jazz Hampton, founder of TurnSignl, an app that provides real time legal guidance to drivers and individuals during traffic stops, accidents, and immigration related encounters, shared insights into how technological innovations can protect against human rights violations. After the panel, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Culture Karima Bennoune spoke about the importance of art in defending culture, not just in Minnesota, but worldwide. She also celebrated the panelists as human rights defenders.
The event was ultimately about bringing people together and empowering them to be persistently creative in resisting systems of oppression. It was about changing our mindsets so that we can be innovative problem solvers and defenders of human rights when facing institutions, systems, and other people who try to pit us against each other.
As panelist Dipankar Mukherjee stated, “It is emotional to be loud when you’ve been silenced.” Joy is especially important right now, as Minnesotans and human rights defenders continue to fight for human rights in the face of backlash. As Alsa Bruno said, “They want your spirit gone, but these songs will live longer than whatever they'll try to do.” These words invoked feelings that can prove elusive during challenging times for human rights: connection and hope.
