The Social Art of Justice

Humans enter this world stark naked, vulnerable, shrieking and wailing. The world outside of the womb is frightening. Senses overwhelm the newborn babe. Could children know that the world into which they have entered is pregnant with a plenitude of injustices? With time, the growing child’s senses will be honed. Combined with the abstract concepts that underlie the human understanding of reality, the senses will, one hopes, be used for good, to express the very heart of what it means to be human. The arts are expressions of the human condition, of the human desire to understand reality, to get some grip on life, on what it means to exist. Society, with its daunting, myriad unpleasantries and grave injustices is mirrored and challenged in the works of artists. New visions of human potential are presented in the arts, expressions of a human longing for justice, for something better. The arts are expressions of the human condition; social justice is the work of improving the human condition; art and social justice are thus naturally intertwined.

Never mind the long-running themes of personal vendettas, of avenging protagonists and triumphant figures in the arts. There is a greater longing for human justice, a grander sort of justice, repeatedly made present in the realm of art: the arts have something to say about collective rightness, about society’s moral standing. The arts are a thunderous force in terms of social justice, lending their voice to the voiceless. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe gave voice to the enslaved African-Americans of antebellum America. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was written to be the vox populi of immigrants exploited in American factories and meat-processing plants during the Industrial Revolution (Americans who read the novel were more horrified by the paltry condition of their food than the deplorable working conditions of immigrants). The civil rights era produced the anthemic “We Shall Overcome”, a cry of hope for the triumph of justice, with renditions by such artists as Pete Seeger, and later, Bruce Springsteen. In America’s ethnic enclaves, bright murals serve as reminders of history, of culture, of identity; they remind people of their worth, encouraging them to fight the good fight. Culture, a people’s distinct expression of identity, is fought for every day by indigenous peoples the world over, from the natives of the Americas to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia; their pursuit of justice for their displaced, disenfranchised, long-suffering peoples and the preservation of their culture, their art, are inextricably linked. The arts, from music to literature, paintings to gastronomy have always been and yet remain bold assertions of identity and meaningfulness. As expressions of the human condition, they have compelled and continue to compel humankind towards social justice, to respect for the worth of others.

It is identity that sparks off movements of social justice: identifying problems, identifying their victims, identifying the underlying causes of problems. Illustrating to victims their own worth first emboldens them to seek justice, to throw off the mentality of perpetual victimhood. The arts, in their illustration of the human condition, give rise to righteous anger, longing for a new future, and perhaps most importantly, such identity to peoples and movements as would give them a sense of direction and value. Harriet Beecher Stowe portrayed the life of American slaves, of the oppression of African-Americans, something not done in her time. She identified the evil of slavery, the oppression of a segment of society on the basis of race, and the horrific wickedness of a complacent, brutal society. Upton Sinclair highlighted the muck America’s Industrial Revolution had made of American equanimity, the abuses brought on by the unrelenting march of industrial-strength capitalism, the deleterious effects of such on the lives of everyday people. The soaring melodies of “We Shall Overcome” washed away the fear in the hearts of civil rights demonstrators, filling them with confidence, with faith. Bold artists making bold moves force real issues into a public consciousness that too often would rather overlook  such issues. The written word, the spoken word, the sound of music, a painting, a mural, a statue, present ideas, even if subtly. Such first sparks of art are the first utterances of voice where the oppressed have been silenced.  Often, the very first of such expressions simply convey the notion that something is wrong, then how that something should be changed, then that something can be changed. Thus, art kindles hope, a fountain of hope as infinite as human creativity, necessary for the long, hard battles for social justice. Art can initiate, sustain, and bring to positive conclusion the arduous march of any cause of social justice.

Of course, it makes sense that the arts and social justice should be so intertwined, given their common concern for the human condition. Social justice is about establishing a new reign of justice on earth, a sincere justice that works for the good of all of society. The arts, with their creative exhibition of the human condition, with their establishment of identity, retain the solid foundations of the past while breathing new life into society by way of new ideas.  Together, art and social justice bring the human condition to the forefront of public consciousness. Both identify and express now only what humanity has been and is, but what humanity can be. That shrieking newborn, upon entering the world, knows not what she will discover. She may hopefully someday uncover a world better today than it was yesterday. Let there someday be a day when the child’s tears will not be justified, where she may enter into a world less defined by destructivity and more concerned with creativity.