Blood money out of art, blood money out of everything
Hi friends,
I was planning to release the next single from The Harmony of Rhythm this week, but I ended up spending the time I had set aside to prepare the release attending a protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine lead by Chicago art students.
The attrocities being waged upon the people of Palestine have been weighing heavy on me lately. Quite frankly, I cannot even comprehend the horror they are living through every day--and the numbness induced by not even being able to pretend to understand what their day-to-day life must feel like has been existentially draining. I've donated to a few efforts here and there, but nothing in my life has made the brutal reality feel concrete--and feeling disconnected and useless is the opposite of how I want to live my life as an artist.
Having followed the news of student protests around the country, I felt an immediate pull to attend when a group of students representing the School at the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College and Roosevelt University announced a march. As someone with a career in the art world, and as someone who has received not insignificant payment from the Art Institute in recent years, I knew I had to show up. These are three of the largest training grounds for young artists, and it was motivating to see young creative people adjacent to power willing to make a stand.
As a quick interlude, I have a complicated relationship with in-the-streets protests as a blind person. When I protest, I really just want to be another body in the crowd showing support. However, me and my partner's presence with white canes tends to draw lots of attention. Sometimes people just worry about us, other times they give us too much credit, "It's so great you're out here." And at the frustrating end of the spectrum you have the situation where you get used for political clout with out your knowledge. I've heard after an event, "And we even had a blind contingent," and they didn't even bother to try to make any type of relationship with me, such as, "Hi, my name is *. What's your name? Is it Okay if we do a close up of you?"
But that's just talking about the more guaranteed peaceful types of actions. I've never attended more incisive protests before because I truly don't know what would happen with me if things got violent. I will say, this would probably be different if I was more involved with groups of seasoned protesters, but I tend to fall more into the category of concerned citizen who can lend their efforts from time-to-time.
I had to go this time though. The continued funding of genocidal warfare against Palestine by U.S.-based institutions is evil and unacceptable. And even if there was going to be a clash with police, at least we weren't going to be bombed.
The event ended up being peaceful, with only a bit of tention with police when we continued to block Michigan Ave beyond they initial time limit they gave us. This was only a tiny step towards fighting for justice, but the speeches given by organizers were both pragmatic and moving.
In Addition to expressing solidarity with the people of Gaza, the primary objective of this march was to call for the disclosure of Art Institution funding sources and the cutting of ties with sources that profit from weapons manufacturing. From kings to cartels and oil barons to tech mogles, the arts have had centuries of dubious benefactors. I'm not saying every dollar of foundation funding is ill-gotten, but the accumulation of massive wealth is almost guaranteed to come with bloody thorns.
Students calling for divestment is a bold and worthy thing. I'm going to go out on a limb and say all professional artists at one time or another have accepted money without fully understanding the source of the funding. In this age of fake money, untangling webs of assets requires entire teams and we're mostly just individuals slugging it out trying to get a grant for our next record. The fact that these students, mostly under the age of 25, are willing to put their careers and reputations on the line to demand that their professional development isn't coming from blood money is admirable, and I want to be more like them in that way.
This all goes beyond the horrific situation in Palestine, too. Wars and military action generate elliptical revenue streams, which seem to make their ways back into the pockets of the global elite. This won't stop until we all stand for more morality and clarity in every sector of life.
Until next time, I wish you peace and solidarity.
Tommy