Tuesday's 3 "protect the artists" things

Whew. Hi. You hanging on?

Item 1. Where is the goosebumps emoji?

For awhile, I've thought about including the oft-quoted words above in an "Artsy Tuesday" post. It was only when I went looking for it today that I found this 2014 piece from The Feminist Wire and realized: 1) just how often the quote is simplified for social media, and 2) today is Toni Cade Bambara's birthday. Goosebumps! Synchronicity!

In the piece, her mentee Aishah Shahidah Simmons noted (bold emphasis mine):

She was a staunch supporter of the Black American Independent Cinema Movement. She always differentiated between “Hollyweird” (aka Hollywood) and Independent Cinema. Toni wrote:

Can the planet be rescued from the psychopaths? The persistent concern of engaged artists, of cultural workers, in this country and certainly within my community, is, What role, can, should, or must the film practitioner, for example, play in producing a desirable vision of the future? And the challenge that the cultural worker faces, myself for example, as a writer and as a media activist, is that the tools of my trade are colonized. The creative imagination has been colonized. The global screen has been colonized. And the audience–readers and viewers–is in bondage to an industry. It has the money, the will, the muscle, and the propaganda machine oiled up to keep us all locked up in a delusional system–as to even what America is.

And on that note...

Yesterday Hamdan Ballal was beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and turned over to Israeli police. Ballal is the co-director of No Other Land, the documentary that won an Oscar three weeks ago yet requires serious hoop-jumping to view anywhere in the U.S. (Sources: The Guardian, The Forward)

As I type this, the latest seems to be that he has been released. But Israel keeps killing journalists. (Bluesky; USA Today; Al Jazeera)

What can we do?

➡️ If you are able, get a ticket to see No Other Land in the few theaters showing it in the U.S.

➡️ Has anyone successfully streamed it to watch at home in the U.S.? Please reply and tell me how, even if you had to pay to rent/buy it.

Item 2. Protect ALL artists

➡️ Watch or listen to this 14 min conversation via The Bulwark:

➡️ 5Calls has a script if you want to call your Congressperson about this makeup artist and the many, many others abducted with him. If you call DC and get their voice mail, know that you can also look up their offices in your state and call those other #s.

➡️ If any lawyers or immigrant justice folks are reading this and have calls to action I should share that you believe might make some difference, please reply and let me know.

Item 3. Lolsob

This Hegseth thing is legit terrifying AND I can't decide if all the satire is cathartic or distracting or...? But sometimes we just have to laugh and cry. (Bess Kalb's Grudge Report)

These posts have gotten longer recently, and I sense that I need to tighten 'em up as there are so many important sources – and spaces offline, both under- and above-ground where you and I both need to focus our attention. I'll aim to shorten the posts over the next week or so. Feedback always welcome.