It's about more than the presidency
"Vote for the future you want to have."
In each issue of the Artists 4 Democracy newsletter, we share actions that you as an artist can take to help strengthen our democracy. We also profile an artist whose work reflects democratic values. Learn how you can support our work on college campuses this fall.
ACTION ITEM
Talk to people in your community
If you’ve been feeling battered, disoriented, or overwhelmed by political news over the past several weeks, well, so are we. It’s been a lot.
But all of us at A4D are excited and energized that Vice President Kamala Harris is now the leading candidate for President. Let’s not forget some of the other great things that happened while the crazy politics were churning:
Steve Bannon went to prison
Writers for Democratic Action organized 87 readings in 50 cities across the US of Sinclair Lewis’s 1936 anti-fascist play, It Can’t Happen Here
French political leaders on the left joined forces to prevent a xenophobic far right party from taking the majority in national elections
44,000 people showed up for a Win With Black Women Zoom call after Harris announced her candidacy. White women followed up a few days later with the largest Zoom call in history. Then came the dudes, and all the rest.
A4D tabled at the LA Zine Fest, sharing voting info and handing out free copies of our new zine to help you research your ballot.
Download our new Your Plan to Vote zine. It’s designed to help voters research their ballot based on issues. You’re welcome to print it for yourself, make copies and share them, or distribute it online. Want a version for your state? Get in touch and we’ll create one for you. Or make your own!
A4D wants to take a moment to thank President Joe Biden for his many years of public service. He did what so many Republicans are unable to do: he set aside his personal desires and did what’s right for his country and our democracy.
Biden was our most progressive president since Franklin Roosevelt, but somehow never managed to get credit for what he achieved. Among other things, his landmark Inflation Reduction Act had a boring name but has been absolutely consequential for Americans. Primarily, it made significant investments in clean energy, but it also made the tax code a little more fair by setting a minimum tax for corporate income, and it made Obamacare more affordable.
The MAGA death cult wants to overturn all these changes and turn back the clock to a time when cis, white men held all the power in America. (Also, weirdly, they’re going after our cats?) This election isn’t only about keeping them out of the White House. We also need to hold them back in both chambers of Congress, and we need to stop them in state and local elections.
One of the best things you can do to help make that happen is to talk with people in your community. To that end, here are two action items you can start on right away.
Action item #1: Talk to your family and friends about who you’re voting for and why. Then talk to folks in your community garden, gym, or faith community. Have you ever asked your neighbors down the hall or down the block about the things they care about? Do you know if the barista at your favorite coffee shop is planning to vote? Informal in-person conversations with the people in your social networks can have greater impact than posting on social media. Not everyone will agree with you, but you’ll never know what you share if you don’t venture to ask.
Action item #2: Sign up to canvass for a local candidate door-to-door. (Another option is Indivisible’s Neighbor2Neighbor tool, though it’s not available everywhere.) These face-to-face conversations may be the most effective tool we have to get out the vote. Make a day of it and bring a friend or two! Whether you volunteer one day or every weekend from now until Election Day, your contribution will make a difference.
Authoritarians want to make us fear each other. We win when we slow down long enough to talk with people about elections and why they matter.
Nothing is inevitable this year, neither the worst nor the best outcomes. It’s less than 100 days until the election, so let’s get out there and talk to each other.
ANOTHER ARTIST FOR DEMOCRACY
Sarana Mehra
“Vote for the person who’s heading in the direction you want to go in.”
Artist Sarana Mehra describes democracy as “the most developed human project.” She pauses, then adds, “If it works.”
Democracy is built on a recognition that each individual life is important. When it works, it gives everyone a voice in how their future should look. The democracy we are living in today is unprecedented in human history, and for her it is as precious as it is precarious.
Mehra is a multidisciplinary, biracial, bisexual artist who draws on both the Eastern and Western mythologies of her heritage and the artifacts of past civilizations gathering dust in museums to create “future relics.”
An artist and as an activist, her work reflects a lifetime of experiences as a person with an invisible disability who has been treated in both the hyper-capitalist American medical system and Britain’s system of universal health care.
“Every day I’m aware that I am part of a very specific time in history,” Mehra explains. “If I had been born even a year earlier than I was, I wouldn’t have survived. I am here only because of the development of human knowledge, and because of the separation of science, religion, and government.”
Mehra’s experiences make her determined to work toward advancing the human project. As the product of a medical revolution that has taken place over the past one hundred years and as a student of history, she knows how knowledge can be lost to greed and fear. “I want everyone to be able to experience life as an equal participant.”
When she moved from England to the US, she was enraged by the inequality of our healthcare system. She became an activist working to get universal health care enacted in California. After the 2016 election she became involved in the Womens Artist Activist Group (WAAG) alongside Mary Weatherford, Mimi Lauter, and Barbara Kreuger. They wrote letters and lobbied the office of then-Senator Kamala Harris.
“What I came to realize really quickly was that at the end of the day, the vote is the full stop at the end of the sentence. You can’t get anywhere unless you get people to vote.”
A founding member of Artists 4 Democracy, Mehra sees two things as absolutely critical to building a better democracy, which she sums up this way: “Money out, education in.”
She contrasts America’s year-long presidential campaigns with the British system, where the election cycle is six weeks. Candidates have a limited budget. They’re not dependent on mega-donors who ultimately drive the political system. The amount of money in American politics is “literally the most dangerous thing we have.”
She also sees an urgent need to increase and expand education. “The American system is very complicated. There’s a lot of voting going on, especially in California.” People need to learn not only about the candidates running and the work they will do once they are elected, but also to understand the mechanics of how our political system is structured.
The two are interrelated. Donors control candidates, even as they cut funding for education in a vicious cycle that undermines democracy. As a result, people grow frustrated or cynical. Too often, they decide not to vote. This concentrates even more power in the hands of the donors.
As a political activist and through her lived experience, Mehra has learned that progress is made in our democracy by voting for the best option available rather than waiting for the perfect candidate. She was frustrated by people who refused to vote for Obamacare because they wanted universal health care instead. “We make progress and keep fighting. Then we make more progress.”
In another example of how progress has been made, President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan and his Inflation Reduction Act both included policy provisions that are reducing the price of prescription drugs for Americans. These policies were originally proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders in his 2020 run for the presidency. “Bernie proposed it, but Biden got it done. It’s a travesty that no one talks about this achievement.”
Mehra urges artists and art students to understand the complexity of their choices at the ballot box. Elected officials make decisions on many different issues, so it’s important to consider them all when choosing a candidate, rather than being a single-issue voter. Refusing to vote because none of the candidates are perfect – or voting for a third party candidate who is destined to lose – is both selfish and self-sabotaging. It’s a way of refusing to take responsibility for what will happen to the people you care about if the worst candidate is elected.
The power artists have comes in part from our unique place in society. “We can be sitting next to people with incredible wealth and influence while our friends are artists struggling to pay their bills. We can move seamlessly through all these tiers of society.” But this power only works if we use it to speak out. This includes showing up to vote.
“It’s very practical but also powerful,” she says. “Vote for the future you want to have.”
Learn more about Sarana Mehra at saranamehra.com or follow her on Instagram @sarana_mehra.
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.
A4D is run 100% by artist volunteers. If you’d like to contribute to our in-person work on college campuses (here’s an example!) this fall, please donate here.