The Art of Activism

Because we believe activism is an art.

The Art of Activism is an annual series of Bay Area events produced by the Redford Center.  We launched our 2010 program on February 4, as a way to recognize the work of national and local activists who are making a difference, and to inspire more of the same.

Held at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in San Francisco, the first event featured a conversation with Robert Redford, who reflected on his more than 40 year commitment to social and environmental change, and paid tribute to the work of two Bay Area activists, nominated by their communities: Victor Diaz and Avery Hale.

The series offers multi-faceted, 90 minute presentations designed to move, provoke, and inspire the audience and to have a positive impact on people’s lives beyond the events.

 

Art of Activism, June 2010, 7-9pm, Sundance Kabuki Cinemas

(San Francisco, CA)

 

Art of Activism, November 2010, 7-9pm, Sundance Kabuki Cinemas

(San Francisco, CA)

“My motivation is part vendetta.  Too many before me suffered for demanding better books, safer buildings, or for trying to shatter the cloak of mediocrity placed upon children of color generation after generation.  Yet I am also motivated by the genius, the raw brilliance of our children.” Victor Diaz, Principal, Berkeley Technical Academy

“The activism that I do is also meant to inspire the community, not only to “create change”, but to realize the privileges and advantages we have, that as a society we may take for granted.” Avery Hale, 16, Founder, Step by Step

 

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Featured Artist

John Forté

 

In December of 2009 the Redford Center and the Duke Nicholas School of the Enviroment sponsored a summit on Water in the Colorado River Basin.  Prominent musician and composer, John Forté served as our artist at the table.  His creative insights as well as his inspirational music helped to provoke a different kind of dialog.

The experience in his own words:

I don’t dance.  Well, what I mean is that I don’t dance in public.  Not any more.  I get too self-conscious… embarrassed.  I still dance in my heart, however.  My spirit dances when I strum my guitar, or when I hear the laughter of children, or when I defiantly squint into the sun on a winter’s day.  My spirit danced not too long ago when I took part in the Duke-Redford Water Summit.  Seated at a table, surrounded by politicians, academics, scientists, and policy makers, I was “the artist at the table.”  

Important gatherings of scientific and political importance are validated by the presence of the artist.

I am no expert.  I am an artist with an emotional connection to one issue:  How can we improve the human condition?

The Duke-Redford Water Summit was enlightening and inspiring.  I sang a song, Critical Time, about a body of water depleting at an alarming rate.  No, even worse than “alarming.”  

I listened to people who were tuned into the issues.  I heard beautiful ideas about how we might preserve and fortify what remains.  I breathed – there was hope after all.

I was no expert, but I used my voice.  I posed questions.  Questions were posed to me.  I was the artist at the table with an emotional connection to one issue: How can I improve the human condition?

And before I left the summit, I sang a few more songs.  I exited the stage, I smiled, and – dare I admit – I danced.

Bio

John Forté is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and producer from Brooklyn, New York, best known for his work with the multi-platinum group “The Fugees.” On November 24, 2008, Forté was granted a commutation by President George W. Bush after having served more than seven years of a fourteen-year federal prison sentence for a first-time non-violent drug offense.

July 2009, marking the nine-year anniversary of the date of his arrest, Forté released StyleFREE the EP, his first collection of new music in eight years. Forté’s undeniable talent as a lyricist and musician, far from diminishing during his incarceration, has grown and matured. His new songs, full of powerful social commentary combined with hope and inspiration, bear witness to the remaking of a man and his struggle to remain free – they are a testament to his spiritual journey and proof that the phoenix can, and will, rise from the ashes.

Prior to his incarceration, Forté produced and co-wrote tracks for The Fugees’ multi-platinum album The Score, and recorded two solo albums, PolySci (Columbia; 1998) and I, John (Transparent; 2002), which featured guest appearances by Herbie Hancock, Esthero and Tricky, and included a duet with Carly Simon (Forté’s friend, mentor and spiritual godmother who also later campaigned tirelessly for his release).

Forté is also writing (he signed a book deal with Simon & Schuster for his memoir and is a contributor to The Daily Beast), touring (he recently joined fellow artists Talib Kweli, Chrisette Michelle, and Pharoahe Monch on stage as special guests of The Roots at Highline Ballroom, showcased at SXSW, and returned from Ireland having performed with Ben Taylor and David Saw) and is actively working with at-risk youth at In Arms Reach, a Harlem-based initiative for children of incarcerated parents.

Water, water. Not everywhere.

How can the economic, cultural, and environmental vibrancy of communities be sustained in the face of diminishing water supplies?

In December 2009, the Redford Center and Duke University’s Nicholas School for the Environment co-convened a water summit to examine this question.  A diverse group of stakeholders came together at the Sundance Preserve to examine the water situation in the Southwestern United States, viewing the Colorado River Basin as a microcosm of similar challenges throughout the world.

Where water resources are concerned, the Southwestern United States may be headed for a train wreck. Demand for water is growing, while supplies are barely adequate to meet the current demand and they are dwindling. The long-term sustainability of the Southwest will require fundamental changes in the way water is allocated, valued, and used.  It will also require new collaborations and the inclusion of voices in the dialog that are not commonly invited in or heard.

Water summit participants included farmers, elected officials, hydrologists, CEO’s, water managers, artists, entrepreneurs, Native American water rights advocates, students, professors, and activists.  By combining the academic strengths of Duke University with the Redford Center’s experience in creative facilitation, social justice issues, and the arts, the 2-day meeting was both challenging and ground-breaking.

Discussions moved between meta-issues, such as whether or not access to clean water is a human right, to issues specific to the Colorado River, like the protection of the Delta Smelt. In addition to fostering greater understanding among often disparate groups and identifying common ground, the event spawned: individual commitments to reducing water demand; a joint statement of principles, which will be released in the coming months; and a cry for effective public education tools, which will most likely take the form of a short documentary film.

A selection of participant reflections:

“As to how this experience will affect my work, I can only say that it already has had an impact. I recently had a conversation with a California member of the US Congress and he has assigned a member of his staff to focus specifically on water issues. In addition, early next year I have scheduled meeting with the Forest Service staff to discuss the possibilities of holding 'listening' sessions, possibly in New Mexico on grazing and water rights.” Rudy Arredondo, National Association of Latino Farmers and Ranchers

”Integrating art and policy in this Summit was an effective way to allow the expression of the emotion we all feel with this precious and shared resource.  It removed the bickering and created room for acceptance.” Mayor Sara Presler, Flagstaff, Arizona

“I think the informal atmosphere allowed the conversation to swerve between principles and pragmatism from sentence to sentence, and speaker to speaker, and that unpredictability felt essential to me.” Jordan Bass, Fiction Editor, McSweeney’s

“One of the most interesting things I saw occur over our days at Sundance was the slow emerging of points of consensus and incongruence among disparate parties. The process employed at Sundance forced members to filter the ‘noise’, concentrate on the critical points of contention, and take that understanding back to their own communities and future work.” Nick Donowitz, Duke University MBA Student

“My work is very much about bringing the "outsider" into a discussion among the mainstream.  It can, at times, feel like pounding sand.  The experience reminds me that there are many "outsiders" and that my work, even when it feels like pounding sand, is important, and I must continue to move forward so that the "outsider" is included.” Bidtah Becker, member of the Navajo Nation, Attorney in its Department of Justice Water Rights

Robert Redford: The independent mind invoking change

 

Robert Redford is somewhat of an anomaly in the entertainment industry. Though he has been world-famous for some 30 years, he remains a highly private individual.  He is an ardent conservationist and environmentalist, a man who stands for social responsibility and political involvement and an artist and businessman who is a staunch supporter of uncompromised creative expression.  His life-long passion for nature and issues of justice has resulted in Redford being widely acknowledged as a highly effective and dedicated political and environmental activist.

He is recognized the world over for the roles he has played and the projects he has directed or produced throughout a distinguished stage and film career. His passion remains to make films of substance and social/cultural relevance, as well as to encourage others to express themselves through the arts.  Believing that it is the unexpected and uncommon, which ultimately enlivens the cultural ecology of a society, Redford has nurtured more than a generation of innovative voices in independent film through his non-profit Sundance Institute and Film Festival.  Harvard Business Review observed, “Sundance has become to Hollywood what Silicon Valley has been to the high-tech industry.”

 

Robert Redford: A Sundance Timeline