From images to action
Artists can help strengthen voting rights for all Americans
Each month in the Artists for Democracy newsletter, we share actions that you as an artist can take to help strengthen our democracy as well as legislation in the works. We also profile an artist whose work reflects democratic values.
ACTION ITEM
“Take responsibility for the face of the world”
One of the history lessons Timothy Snyder offers in his 2017 guide to resisting authoritarianism, On Tyranny, is that each of us must take responsibility for the images we display in our daily lives. The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow.
When people use symbols of hate—or look away when others display them—they feed the hate itself. They make it easier for others to act in hate.
An artist may work in light and color, or texture and weight, words or sounds or movement, but our fundamental task is to change the face of the world. We bring into being something that did not exist before. We choose signs and symbols, making meaning through our references.
Snyder explains why these choices matter:
“Life is political, not because the world cares about how you feel, but because the world reacts to what you do. The minor choices we make are themselves a kind of vote, making it more or less likely that free and fair elections will be held in the future. In the politics of the everyday, our words and gestures, or their absence, count very much.”
When you encounter symbols of hate, remove them. Set an example for others to do the same. And when choosing images in your life and your work, choose wisely.
LEGISLATION YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
For the People Act
Voter suppression is spreading like wildfire across state capitols. Georgia’s newest voting law puts up barriers to voting and gives power to the state legislature to meddle in the administration of local county elections. As of this writing, 47 states are moving forward on at least 361 voter suppression bills.
HR 1, the For the People Act, is a critical piece of legislation that will strengthen voting rights for all Americans. The bill would expand voting rights by setting new ground rules that every state must follow. Among other things, it would:
Expand voter registration and limit states from removing voters from voter rolls
Address problems created by Citizens United by requiring much greater disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending
Require states to establish independent redistricting commissions to help reduce gerrymandering of congressional districts
Require candidates for President and Vice President of the United States to release 10 years of tax returns to the public
For all the details, check out this excellent annotated guide to the bill from the nonpartisan Brennan Center. They say HR 1 will “transform our democracy by making it fairer, stronger, and more inclusive.”
The House passed HR 1 back in March. If you want your senator to take action, here’s the number to call.
ANOTHER ARTIST FOR DEMOCRACY
Anoka Faruqee
“What democracy means to me is having a voice and having a say in your well-being.”
As the child of immigrants who voted in her first American election before her parents did, artist Anoka Faruqee has never taken democracy or her civil rights for granted. She understands citizenship as both a privilege and a responsibility. In 2020, she gave up the time she would have spent painting to volunteer with Walk the Walk, a group of ordinary Americans who raised more than $3.2 million for BIPOC-led grassroots organizations working in some of the hardest-hit communities in battleground states.
“I literally said to myself, defeating Donald Trump is more important than my painting.”
With the 2020 election in the rearview mirror, Faruqee is painting again, but she remains deeply concerned about the fragile state of our democracy. She’s not just talking about elections. The democracy she wants to build is a truly inclusive, just, and humane, multi-racial, multi-class, multi-gender society built on a common set of ideals. The process of building consensus on those ideals is both the promise and the challenge before us, she says. “How do we bring all voices into a conversation about our ideals so that like-minded people don’t splinter?”
The core tenets of democracy laid out in America’s founding documents are visionary, Faruqee says, but we have yet to achieve them. The American exceptionalism found in the disconnect between the phrase, All men are created equal, and the reality of settler colonialism, slavery, and theft of native lands is a form of supremacy. “We have an aspiration, but a compromised democracy,” she says. “It’s a work in progress.”
As an abstract painter, Faruqee is interested in systems and structures, and how structures create meaning. She approached her growing political activism the same way. “You have to understand the structure if you want to change it.” As she became engaged with Walk the Walk, she looked for places where she could contribute. She started small, but soon found herself attending one Zoom meeting after another. Eventually, she became a national co-leader.
You don’t have to give up a year of your art to help build a better democracy. Find the small actions you can take and fit them into your life in a way that makes sense.
If you don’t know where to begin, Faruqee says, start with your outrage. Is there an injustice in the world that’s driving you crazy? Find a group that’s working to fix it, and ask them how you can help.
Visual artists are good at presentation, paying attention to how things look and feel, and many grassroots groups don’t have a lot of communication resources. Many artists promote themselves online, and those skills are useful, too. Or maybe there’s something else you can contribute. But don’t fall into the trap of virtue signalling. Make sure your actions match your words and images. In other words, walk the walk.
Faruqee encourages artists to understand and honor the incredible creativity activists and community organizers bring to their work. She sees the two as having much in common. Both are driven by deep passions. Both can see something that doesn’t yet exist, whether that is an artwork or a more just society. Both have specialized skills they hone over many years to bring what they imagine into being.
Whatever cause you care about, someone has been working on it for years. Bring your skills and your humility to support them. Trust the people working on the ground and their expertise. Trust communities of color who are closest to and most invested in the issues.
Faruqee reminds us that making choices is a fundamental aspect of democracy. You have to know who’s on the ballot. You also have to decide how you will use your time and talents. “Democracy requires attention, knowing your values and how you want to act on them.”
You can learn more about Faruqee’s work in this video with David Driscoll and on her Medium page. Or visit her website, anokafaruqee.com.
Thanks for reading the Artists 4 Democracy Newsletter. Artists 4 Democracy promotes democratic and civic engagement by mobilizing artists to get involved in political action. Through voter registration drives, fundraisers, and events we seek to foster and protect our participatory democracy. In 2021, we’re focused on building a better American democracy, one centered on racial, social, and environmental justice.
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