I’ve been a big fan of graffiti and street art, since my time spent living in the Bronx.  What impressed me the most were street installations that spoke to the masses. Often, they were laced with commentary on current struggles in our world.  This is especially present in Europe, where political graffiti had remained notorious, even before the American style of throw-ups and production pieces became popular. These pieces ask us to consider our complicity in broken systems.

I met Swoon at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit and Bowling Green — she faciliated a workshop on stencilling and wheatpasting — it continues to be a personal reference on the realness of AMC. I didn’t find Swoon’s work to be explicitly political, until I had seen Portrait of Silvia Elena.

Swoon recently produced an installation regarding the ongoing mass rape and murder of women in Juarez, Mexico. It is located in a basement crawlspace, only accessible through a hole in the floor at Honeyspace, a radical arts space located in Chelsea, New York City.

The band At The Drive-In produced a music video based on the femicides in 2001.

I am a big proponent of using music and art for the process of healing, learning and justice. It is great when artists like Swoon and At The Drive-In have the ability to expose this injustice to the world. For emerging artists, art and music laden with political messages can be perceived as self-righteous, or a commercializaton of a ‘political rebel’ image.

In my own solo recordings, I try to explore themes I feel consciously while living in Philadelphia: murder, poverty, prisons and unending war. As an activist and artist, it is easy to become conflicted about where to put one’s energy. How does one focus in such a cluttered and broken world?

Murder in Philadelphia was my most serious concern for a time. The solutions are complex and involve attacking root causes of urban violence, which means we are a long way from relief. This is why folks in neighborhoods most affected by violent crime are looking for quick-fix solutions: police surveillance cameras and more arrests. These tools help one thing: catching criminals. This doesn’t change the mindset which causes someone to blow someone away over petty arguments. It is not preventative, it is not curative.

And it’s not drugs. Drugs do not beget violence as we’ve been programmed to believe. It is a symptom of the problem. Ihe drug economy is another resources for jobs, education, and mental relief when such resources are not provided otherwise. The ’straight path’ provided by our broken schools and a severe lack of jobs do not cut it. Are we supposed to be surprised?

It is complicated. It is the perfect energy for creative voices.

How can a song prevent a teenager from catching a bullet during a basketball game? If you believe in “Each-one-Teach-one”, then our collective understanding is developed by changing one mind at a time. Then the question of audience. If I’m only reaching folks who already feel safe in their neighborhoods, who don’t live in Philadelphia — does it really matter? It feels like parachute activism. We can write letters, send donation checks, have a conversation over breakfast — somehow it all feels too passive.

Perhaps we are best involved in local struggles, where we can listen to and actually touch each other. Issues we can identify with. This is troubling for middle-class activists, or those who are labeled as such, based on skin color or other orientation.

I learned this often when working street-level in North Philly. There is increased hostility and skepticism towards someone with white skin says they want to help — and this cynicism is justified. There are many complex and deeply embedded reasons for this which are for another day. What I have experienced in my work in Philly and Camden has been powerful. The more open, innovative and sustained an effort is, the more it establishes its credibility. To be clear, it is not simply a race thing, it is a perception issue based on class, intent and historical context.

As a friend recently said, you have to avoid leading the charge, and find your role in how to best support a community concern. I have found a role facilitating youth and adults in this creative process, and feel blessed. I consider this to be central to much of my work; to give a voice to the voiceless. Onward.

The city (and the nation) rises up upon news of a murdered police officer in Port Richmond.

The city (and the nation) its head after watching video of three men brutalized by Philadelphia Police.

The city (and the nation) conducts business as usual the other countless times a Philadelphian is murdered.

The city (and the nation) is happy to look the other way for the countless violent encounters provoked by Philadelphia or Camden Police, when not documented by a video camera.

The picture is grim. Our collective emotion– well managed most of the time–soars upon news of a murdered police. There is a nationwide manhunt. A 24-7 vigil takes place at the scene as local media cover the story indefinitely. This is the apropriate response to a murder. Any murder.

In a week, many of this will settle down and we’ll go back to 1-inch write ups for the other 400 residents murdered while living in this city. It’s not even hot out yet and we’re already trying to remember if there were 7 or 9 murders last weekend. It feels like blowback. A blow from the continuous cycle of state-sponsored violence that pervades our world. I think about how the Greeks thought a natural disaster was the wrath of the Gods. Events in the world show legitimate reason to believe a greater force is at work.

It is a struggle to face the truth: the value of a person’s life is regulated by the media. If they don’t report it, we don’t care. If we don’t care, they won’t report it. Mainstream journalism is now based on what’s cool, what’s emotional — and not necessarily the stories that are the most shameful. You will never see an in-depth report on what is at the root of our citywide murders, broken school system, and our bloating prison system, while considering the war in Iraq costs ### (thank you Iraq War Cost) and oil companies are making 12-figure profits annually (apparently Exxon Mobil’s recent profit of $10.9 billion this quarter alone was disappointing).

Our cities will die if we don’t use our collective resources to create jobs, working educational systems and affordable housing. We are cows heading to slaughter, placated by $600 checks and gas tax holidays. We are not in control of our country. How will we rise up to dramatically change directions?

Clearly our non-profit sector is keeping the machine humming, not overhauling it. I ponder NGO’s involvement in the overall plan to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer. If we managed to properly treat and rebuild away from our current system of poverty, what would happen to the job sector providing 25% of jobs in Philadelphia? The career-based approach to movement building is not a sustainable one.

I hope to explore this topic further in future posts throughout the summer.