american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
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CONTESTATORY URBAN AGENCY 173<br />
greedy rich leaves only crumbs to <strong>the</strong> race (“La Raza” here is read as<br />
encompass<strong>in</strong>g African Americans, Lat<strong>in</strong>as/os, and <strong>the</strong> poor <strong>in</strong><br />
general). The Coup’s song is a call to action for social change and a<br />
dramatic redistribution of wealth via <strong>the</strong> land.<br />
Between <strong>political</strong>ly resonant songs such as <strong>the</strong>se dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> April<br />
2002 show, Boots Riley assumed <strong>the</strong> role of a grassroots <strong>political</strong><br />
activist. He spoke to <strong>the</strong> audience about police brutality and <strong>in</strong>equality<br />
<strong>in</strong> North Carol<strong>in</strong>a, grow<strong>in</strong>g poverty <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States, <strong>the</strong> war<br />
on terrorism, and <strong>the</strong> war <strong>in</strong> Afghanistan. He carefully oscillated<br />
between stories of police brutality <strong>in</strong> Durham (ten miles from Cat’s<br />
Cradle) to global issues, cont<strong>in</strong>ually implor<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> audience to fight<br />
aga<strong>in</strong>st war, <strong>in</strong>equality, and <strong>the</strong> conditions that enable terrorism. The<br />
show ended with what amounted to a demand for assent from<br />
<strong>the</strong> audience. To paraphrase Riley—“You’re not go<strong>in</strong>g to go home<br />
and forget about this, are you? It’s up to you all to act.” Crucially,<br />
<strong>the</strong> reception of such a message is contextualized with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> public<br />
space of freedom, where collective agency empowers <strong>the</strong> audience to<br />
act. Under such auspices, Riley’s message is not unsolicited proselytiz<strong>in</strong>g<br />
or a threaten<strong>in</strong>g demand, but an <strong>in</strong>teractive exchange with <strong>the</strong><br />
audience. Arendt’s desire to remove a means/end vocabulary from<br />
public spaces and <strong>the</strong> actions conta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>the</strong>re<strong>in</strong> demonstrates that <strong>the</strong><br />
audience is not a passive recipient of a performer’s message. If <strong>the</strong><br />
audience is not solely a means to an end for <strong>the</strong> performer’s goals,<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>teraction can create a collective <strong>political</strong> engagement.<br />
On November 17, 2003, <strong>the</strong> M<strong>in</strong>neapolis-based hip-hop group<br />
Atmosphere performed at Cat’s Cradle. Though Atmosphere’s songs<br />
are generally not overtly <strong>political</strong>, this particular show had an overtly<br />
<strong>political</strong> ambience, immediately visible upon enter<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> club. In<br />
<strong>the</strong> small booth where artists sell CDs, t-shirts, and o<strong>the</strong>r products,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re were anti-George Bush t-shirts for sale. Dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> last section<br />
of <strong>the</strong> show Atmosphere MC Slug derided <strong>the</strong> policies of <strong>the</strong> president<br />
and implored all audience members to take but one message home—<br />
to go to <strong>the</strong> polls and vote. Dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> processes of direct address and<br />
call-and-response he urged everyone <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> audience to look around at<br />
<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r audience members, say<strong>in</strong>g—and I paraphrase—this is your<br />
community, one created through hip-hop music; you all must look out<br />
for each o<strong>the</strong>r and help each o<strong>the</strong>r, so get toge<strong>the</strong>r, vote, and create<br />
change. Miriam Hansen notes that “<strong>the</strong> language of community provides<br />
a powerful matrix of identification and thus may function as a<br />
mobiliz<strong>in</strong>g force for transformative politics,” a possibility I saw at work<br />
<strong>in</strong> this Atmosphere show. However, this language must also<br />
“admit difference and differentiation with<strong>in</strong> its own borders” (xxxvi),