It’s scary to put yourself out there, and the world isn’t that welcoming to bright eyed anti-capitalist creatives, but there are safe spaces you can find yourself in with the help of good folks. It’s a huge privilege to be able to travel without restrictions and have your voice heard as an artist. It’s important that those with a mic realize that they are in a position of power to add to the conversation of liberation.
For myself, as a travelling musician, it takes a little bit of social capital, some $, white skin, cis passing privilege. I want so badly for art and music to be accessible to the poor, working class, poc, queers, trans and disabled folks, not just to be participants, but to be directly involved in. I also a huge privilege to have freedom of movement and I constantly think of the stories of refugees, migrants, immigrants (whatever you want to call folks moving for different reasons), prisoners who have limited choices in dictating their own lives.
As artists, musicians, we have a mic and folks listening to what we say. Let’s use that power to talk about these things and to create safe(r) spaces for marginalized folks to also share their stories.
Jared Paul has been reflecting on this for some time with sharing his stories on stage as a spoken word poet and hiphop artist. We talk about becoming radicalized through art, growing up working class and advice for folks navigating DIY creative communities. We also mention how DIY (do it yourself) ethics doesn’t mean going it alone, like neoliberal individualism teaches us, but it’s more about doing it together with the help from people who care.
We also talk to Jared about his personal projects like Class War Chef and how veganism and classism are connected. People often dismiss veganism, sometimes rightfully so, as bourgeois. We feel the need to have a sharp analysis of vegan consumerism, because the nature of capitalism always co-opts popular attitudes/behaviours, but sanitizes the political possibilities. That requires folks supporting each other in educating and challenging our communities in food politics, white supremacy, and classism.
check out Jared’s hiphop album that was just released on Black Box Tapes called Get My Ghost.
Listen right now [audio https://animalvoicesradio.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/jaredpaularchiveready.mp3]
or download an mp3 of the show.
Animal Voices 