Beyond institutional electoral power: Art, Organizing, and Community

I often hear the claim that building power by getting people to vote and getting them involved in our democracy is the only path towards progress. I think it certainly helps, but I believe that part of what holds us back is the notion that we, as the people, don’t already have power. The people have the power. We always have. We just have to come together and use it.

Time and time again, history has shown us that when people organize and mobilize in mass, whether that is for a rally, march, labor strike, protest, boycott, sit in, or other actions, messages are heard. Messages are also heard through music, through spoken word, through dance, through art. While participating in and reforming our democracy is an important step, we can’t insult our ancestors by thinking it is the only step. At it’s foundation and core, this democracy was made atop the erasure of indigenous communties, and was made to exclude communities of color, women, poor folks, and the marginalized. The American constitution remains the oldest in the world, with institutional power allowing it to resist necessary amendments despite the changing the world. As we fight for representation in that very democracy, and wrestle with its systemic barriers in order to participate, we cannot forget that it is not our only power.

Elected leaders fail us time and time again. How often have we taken to the streets for justice for [insert name of any of the countless Black people murdered by police officers] because our laws and leaders keep allowing them to kill us? Those same laws and leaders have not prevented the destruction of our planet, nor have they ended human trafficking, nor have they prevented mass shootings, nor have they guaranteed universal healthcare, housing, a liveable wage, and on and on….

And so, sure, we must vote. And when these leaders, laws, and systems inevitably move too slow, fail us, or even take us backwards, we must do whatever it takes to connect to one another, support and uplift each other, and create our own path forward.