american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang

174 AMERICAN POLITICAL POETRY
a task many artists view as difficult, a point I return to later in this
section of the chapter.
This message of community, though, is largely untenable in a realm
other than the public space of the show, for example, in a poetry reading
or public speech when it can become uncomfortable when a poet
grows preachy or didactic. For Arendt, the public space of the political
is a “realm of freedom and equality precisely because the realm dissolves
when it is not the product of an intersubjective ‘acting in
concert’ in which every participant engages willingly” (McGowan 73).
At a show such as Atmosphere’s, all participants engage in the collective
action willingly. This enthusiastic “acting in concert” both
enables the space to exist and is enabled by the space. Such willingness
makes tenable Slug’s attempts to mobilize youth for a cause. This tactic
links to Arendt’s efforts to think of a public space as a place
wherein citizens can interact without the influence of the state, institutions,
and corporations, since institutionalization, she believed, kills
the spirit of action. This show encouraged audience members to harness
the state (through voting and collective action) even as it
circumvented the institutional, corporate influence that undermines
so many mainstream musical acts. Recording on an independent
record label and performing at venues that are not sponsored by large
corporations (such as large arenas, amphitheaters, and concert halls)
may allow for more piercing social and political commentary and a
political space unhindered by overt commercialization.
On September 30, 2004, the night of the first presidential debates,
Cunninlynguists opened for Brand Nubian at Cat’s Cradle. The show
demonstrated the potential for what can be done when people “act in
concert.” Further, it showed the Arendtian notion of power as a force
“that makes it possible to achieve some ends that cannot be
reached individually” (McGowan 75–76)—widespread social and
political change as well as a collective experience of the political.
Cunninlynguists’ call-and-response “Fuck George Bush, say fuck
George Bush” united a group of citizens in a coordinated political
practice that is literally unachievable in an individual forum. The calland-response
created collective motivation in the audience. Creating
political change at the highest level is not possible from an individual
perspective, but collective identity and agency are capable of creating
change. This show showed citizens acting at a local site that makes
possible “the direct participation” of citizens in “the public affairs of
the country” (On Revolution 263). Though this type of participation
is possible at political rallies, these rallies are often party- or organizationsponsored.
The hip-hop show, on the other hand, is an art form that