"The Revolution Will Be Televised"

5 Ways To Spread Hope

This painting at the Allentown Art Museum shocked the hell out of me when I was a kid. Back when it was done, art was all hand done and could only be seen by the few. Now, anyone everywhere can see it! Also, now we have refrigeration.

Good art often makes us uncomfortable.

I am still recovering/reeling from Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show. As predicted, many older white people on social media are calling it “the worst halftime show ever.” And yes, the words were often hard to hear and understand (by the way, you can find the lyrics online). You don’t have to like it. Meanwhile, wherever young enlightened people and black people are (and some of us older white people), the ecstasy of feeling seen, heard, and understood is beyond joy. It is a widespread belief that his performance will be discussed and dissected in graduate school programs for decades, if not longer. It is certainly being analyzed on TikTok — where, yes, I have returned to witness its final demise. It is ART.

I’m not going to go into the details of his performance in this post. Feel free to explore the discussions online if you are interested. I’m going to talk about revolution. And art. And how technology can help us evolve in a good way.

When Kendrick looked into the camera in front of over 126 million people and said, “the revolution will be televised,” he was referencing a song by Gil Scott Heron called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Take a listen. It harkens back to the time when the only access to news and video was network television, which was highly edited and controlled by people in power. Rich people. White people. Men.

Cameras in our phones and social media have completely changed that. Now, we ALL have a voice. We ALL have the ability to create a message, film a protest, make art, make news, and speak our hearts and minds. At least for now. Authoritarian governments, which our current leaders are aiming for, are known for censoring and shutting down dissent. Fascists are notorious for trying to kill anyone they don’t like or disagree with. But technology is like Pandora’s Box. Once it is unleashed, it can’t be put back in the box. Unless, of course, there is a complete apocalypse, the electric grid goes down, and no one has access to anything, including their money. But let’s not go there. Yet. Although it’s always good to plant a garden. And make art.

Meanwhile, AI is the “new technology” that is aiming to control the narrative of what we see. No longer is it safe to assume that what the internet or AI tells you is true because, just like always, people are trying to game the system. Companies are creating multiple fake websites so that when AI “scrapes” the internet, the answers are favorable to their business. That’s why it’s more important than ever that we use multiple sources and FEED THE SYSTEM with the truth in whatever way we know how.

Piecing together a number of different perspectives of the halftime show, I learned that Fox never showed the Palestinian protester who was part of the performance. Fox also edited out many boos for Trump and didn’t even show when he walked onto the field to many boos. Then, they added cheering to an image of him listening to the National Anthem. In other words, we now have the ability to fact-check what’s on TV and see multiple perspectives. That’s a good thing. You have that power in your hand at your fingertips. You can use it for good or ill, like magic.

I know many of us are scared. Scared to speak out. Scared to take any risks. But speaking out and taking risks is actually the only thing that will save us. The way I like to think of it is that we are all artists. We are all artists creating the stories of our lives. Making art involves visualizing the future. What do we want “the painting” of us to look like when we are done? And the thing about art is that there are no rules. You can pick a velvet Elvis painting or a Bob Ross happy trees painting. You can pick a religious painting where you have a halo and are surrounded by angels. Or you can pick a Bosch vision if that’s your kink. Here’s the thing about being an artist: if you are not scared when you create something, then it’s not the full truth. It’s like a muscle that needs to be used, and gradually you get stronger and stronger and less afraid and more courageous. I’ve had people ask me how I find that courage to write what I write, and that’s my secret. It’s always scary. But I am not afraid. Why? Art is planting seeds of hope. And we all need hope.

So, how do we spread the seeds of hope? Here are five simple things you can do:

1. Reach out to the people you know who have good reason to be afraid and assure them that you are a safe place for them. That’s how underground networks are created.

2. Gently push back when you see or hear something that doesn’t sit right. Don’t be mean. Don’t argue. Ask questions. Say something that might make them think about what they said. Share your own feelings. You are not trying to win an argument! You are trying to wake people up. Especially white people.

3. Create! Exercise your art muscles. Write poetry. Post photos or videos. Cook. Draw your feelings and share them. Sing! Sew! Paint your vision of the future and show people, even if it’s terrifying (trust me, it will be at first).

4. Support the artists around you and encourage them. Share their art. Root for them. Show up for their shows.

5. Listen to music and share it. I heard one person on social media equate the Kendrick performance with Bob Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival. Music has always been at the forefront of social change, leading the way like a beacon. Whether it was Hildegard Von Bingen, born in 1098, Woody Guthrie, born in 1912, or Billie Holiday, born in 1915, music is the universal language that wakes us ALL up. And if you are feeling down, listen to this: I Will Survive. And dance! Look, I remember when all the white people complained about Disco, and now they all want to dance drunk to it at weddings. I remember when Madonna’s Like A Prayer scandalized white people for being sacrilegious, and now they’ve turned it into a praise song at church! People are so fucking predictable. If you catch yourself violently rejecting an idea or a song, take another look or listen. Maybe it’s your soul telling you to pay attention.

   Here is how I’m going to end this post. Mussolini, who kind of invented the term fascist (but wasn’t the first power-obsessed control freak), was executed, and his mutilated body was hung upside down over a service station to be abused by the angry citizens of Italy. Hitler, who tried to exterminate jews, disabled people, transgender people, Roma, and anyone who dissented, suffered from Syphilis, and shot himself in a bunker. Let this be a lesson to you. Hitler got his ideas about Nazism from the end of the reconstruction in the south…from white Americans! Reconstruction was a little too successful and threatened white control of government, so Rutherford B. Hayes ended it. But here’s the thing…Black people still exist and are more successful than ever. Jews still exist and are more successful than ever. Transgender people still exist. Disabled people and the Roma still exist. Indigenous people still exist. Palestinians still exist. Take a lesson from chemical agriculture: when you try to kill weeds, it only creates super weeds. Stop being stupid. (We are all weeds.)

   Meanwhile, Guernica, the anti-war painting by Pablo Picasso, is revered around the world, is priceless, and will last much longer than any tech bro pseudo-economic slave fantasy. Sure, Picasso was a jerk, especially towards women. But artists are not perfect. No one is.

Guernica, by Pablo Picasso

Art will also outlive any pathetic attempts at religious persecution. The Spanish Inquisition was a three-hundred-year horrific era of torturing and killing “heretics.” No one remembers those sick people who tried to force jews and muslims to convert to Catholicism (obviously, they failed big time). But I remember this, which was done during the inquisition in Spain: One of my favorite paintings of all time is a portrait of Juan de Pareja done in 1650 by Velazquez. Pareja was a slave to Velazquez for 20 years, but after this portrait was done, he freed him. When we really see people as people, we can’t help but truly love them. Or, at the very least, care enough about them to let them be free, flaws and all. We are all human. We are all immigrants. We are all indigenous to planet Earth. We are all worthy of love.

Juan de Pareja, by Valazquez

We are all artists.