For many people, America feels heavy. Whether mounting political challenges or the general decline in civility, the daily and nearly hourly updates from the political world make it difficult to find a moment of solitude.
But last week revealed the power of art to serve at once as both a source of affirmation and refuge. Noted actor, activist and philanthropist Danny Glover once said, “Art is a way of understanding, of confronting issues and confronting your own feelings – all within the realm of the capacity it represents.”
Most know Glover from his iconic roles in films such as The Color Purple (Mister. M.I.S.T.E.R Mister), Lethal Weapon and Beloved. But Glover has a longstanding commitment to using his artistic platform to address key domestic and international challenges.
I had the opportunity to host a recent Fireside Chat with him on the meaning of freedom against the backdrop of social and political machinations that seem to deny Black humanity. Glover walked through the writings of Frantz Fanon and Amilcar Cabral. He exalted the understated brilliance of Paul Robeson and asserted the resilient spirit of the Haitian people and Toussaint L’Ouverture. He applauded the groundbreaking work of filmmaker Yance Ford.
Glover celebrated the time that he and friend Harry Belafonte spend with younger artists such as Common, Usher, Colin Kaepernick and John Legend to highlight the value of intergenerational collaborations. The common thread was the view that progress demands a collective commitment to amplifying various sites of liberation.
In light of Frederick Douglass’s 200th birthday, I asked Glover how he would respond to Douglass’s admonition that power concedes nothing without a demand. When I asked what it is we should be demanding and from whom, Glover’s response was simple and poignant: “It’s always been about demanding truth and justice for all people.”
Art has the power to demand truth and justice that isn’t bound by the markers of class, race, region, gender identity or tradition. Art, in all its varied forms, is a form of resistance.
