Pretty In Pink :: Art and Journalism As Activism

:: Art begins with resistance - at the point where resistance is overcome. No human masterpiece has ever been created without great labor. :: 
- Andre Gide

Well, once again The Universe has brought me back to my adopted mantra - My Will Be Damned.  Just as I hit my two year mark of living and working as an expat, and just as I made the decision that being a snowbird might be a better option, something extraordinary happens!  Broads, I've spotted another art therapist right here in River City!  Yes, right here in our small state of Yucatan, there are TWO of us!  GAWD, I have missed this aspect of breathing in the world!  Making art is simply not a decision; it is a necessity for those of us who are artist.  While art can be created in solitude, Art Therapy requires communion. When you merge the two disciplines you've got activism!  Needless to say, our engagements have revitalized my rebel soul!

 
Let's time travel a bit - say, twenty-five years ago.  I'm working in a rehabilitation hospital where on occasion it is necessary for us to bring in PRNs.  These are folks that are called onto a hospital unit as needed.  Michael was one such person.  For months we had a single image of him as a tall, jangly young fellow with a crop of gorgeous hair.  Beyond this superficial knowledge I had nothing.  Anyway, he goes missing for a few months and when he returns the hair is gone.  Turns out that Michael is a photo journalist.  He had just returned from a two month visit in occupied Tibet documenting the horrific human rights violations under Chinese rule and photographing the human face of the oppression.  Michael came home with his head filled with a passion for international law and a scalp covered in lice.  I can happily report that his hair grew back and as fate would have it, a few years later DNA turned him back into an intriguing bald man!

While Michael took off to study international law, his Tibetan adventure dramatically altered the course of my career.  I took up fencing, became a Freedom Writer with Amnesty International, bought copies of NACLA, and learned to salsa!  I read everything I could on politics in the Americas.  I was ready to become an albino warrior and then I woke up.  Suburban mothers' don't just run off to fight bad guys in Bogata, Colombia.  However, I could advocate for change on the issues in my own backyard.  I moved from being a theoretical based art therapy practitioner, believing in the purity of process as the change agent to become a story listener that organized art as activism.  Our individual stories can assume a lonely posture.  When they are brought into a choir however, the disparate component disappears!  Not sharing our stories is like a self-imposed imprisonment.  When the tribe shares, the issue is approached through the common lens of connection.  Bring forth the truth, no matter how ugly, and you are guaranteed a solution.

Let's do a process exercise together, right here in front of Gawd and Everybody!  Grab a piece of paper and a pen.  The first step is to determine your topic.  Think of a social issue that you feel passionate about.  It could be homelessness which is no longer a sexy political topic (just sayin' but not believin') or Colony Collapse Disorder which is linked to the GMO/gluten/Monsanto issues or Women's Reproductive Rights.  Don't forget Gay Marriage, Murder of Black Boys in Hoodies or the Rape of Girls in India.  All relevant and equally upsetting.  Perhaps you are more interested in love.  Infidelity and relational aggression, those little matchy match outfits you and your significant other have avoided discussing for years, might  excite you.  If you are really having trouble coming up with a topic it is always safe to go with grief as each one of us has likely experienced the death of a friend or family member.  

Armed with paper, pen and a profound desire to change the world, fill out the following lines as they concern your chosen theme:

BLANK taste like BLANK
BLANK smells like BLANK
BLANK sounds like BLANK
BLANK feels like BLANK
BLANK looks like BLANK

Here is where you are going to step-out and be brave.  Type your poem in the comment section.  Yep, others are going to see your guts but, remember  Guts Are Beautiful!

Now, repeat after me,  
I am the Godzilla Energizer Diva even when I'm dressed as a Day of the Dead Princesa Real!  

Believe it, Dawlin'!  

Create the life you want!

The Broad

P.S. Thank you, Zell Miller the 3rd! 

Pin It Now!