Politics

Imagine the following story. It’s the 1960s. You open the newspaper, as you do on a daily basis. You come across an article about two Portuguese students wrongfully imprisoned for having celebrated freedom, while living under an authoritarian regime. You are sorrowful, angry and frustrated. Frustrated because you feel unable to help those two students and help is what they need. You don’t want to leave them alone in the dark.

You don’t have much money. You’re not in government or any other officially recognized position of power. You won’t be able to reach them or change anything by yourself. And yet you feel the need to do something. What do you do? You get creative. First and foremost you reframe the issue. It is not about the little impact you yourself can have, but about how to free those students. To that end, many more things are possible. You realize that you don’t have to do this on your own and start by calling for more people to join you. Now time is of the essence and it will be difficult to mobilize people to come together physically to protest. What do you do? You realize they don’t have to gather at one place at the same time. You respond by wiring an article in the same newspaper titled “the call for amnesty”, in which you publish the address of the prison the students are held in. You ask as many people as possible to respond to your article by wiring a letter to said prison and demand amnesty. Within several days the prison is flooded with thousands of letters and the students are freed. Before you know it, your call for amnesty spreads around the world and the beacon of light illuminating the dark lives on to this day. That is the story of Peter Benenson and how Amnesty International, one of the largest human rights organizations in the world and nobel peace prize holder, came to be in 1961.

Besides this being a story about refusing to accept human rights violations, this is a story about creativity. Through reframing and thinking outside the box, Peter Benenson was able to create a new form of activism, namely amnesty international urgent actions. He recognized the power of collective action and all you have to do is write a letter.

Creativity is often portrayed as a magical ability that visionaries such as Steve Jobs and Leonardo Da Vinci have been blessed with. Through their genius, they are capable of creating apparently divinely inspired creations. Yet, although this is indeed a particular, albeit glorified, manifestation of creativity, there is a whole spectrum of different manifestations of creativity, creativity that matches the former in genius despite lacklustre universal appraise.

Through the course of the politics track, I have grown familiar with what I like to think of as ‘gritty creativity’. Creativity that might not be glamorous, but is focused on getting things done, on creating tangible solutions to very real problems. It is a smaller scale creativity on a more personal or interpersonal level, which makes it so powerful. It’s the creativity that drove the genius tactics of the Hong Kong protestors allowing them to stand up and resist the absolute power of the Chinese Government, tactics that are now being reused during the BLM protests in the USA.

What characterises this type of creativity for me is the necessity for change, and quickly. It demands resourcefulness, ingenuity, and, most importantly, passion; it takes one in as an individual, evaluates one’s passions and resources as well the current state of events, and, finally, concludes by finding what one can do with those resources in that environment to create the change that one desires. For tangible change to be created, gritty passion is needed to derail the current system, which is especially relevant in politics where the opposition (the government in this case) literally holds all the power. This is the form of creativity that I found extremely relevant to my life and I believe especially relevant to politics. It even scales up to massive movements such as the BLM protests, who have been passionately fighting for equality since 2013, without the resources of the billionaires running the White House, but winning, slowly.

Take action demand that justice is upheld and continue the call for amnesty today:

Find you Inner Activist

Artivism: “where edges are pushed, imagination is freed, and a new language emerges altogether.” (Bruce Lyons) The word activism is a combination of art and activism and was popularised in Los Angeles in 1997 through a variety of events, actions and artworks via artists and musicians. By the means of art and courageous creative expression, it attempts to push political agendas and raise social awareness. This can be done by any medium necessary. The Artivist can merge commitment to freedom and justice with a pen, a lens, a brush, a voice, a body, anything. Through this endless list of creative means, the Artivist moves people. Art can speak when words cannot effectively or authentically convey a message. So, Artivism is a way to personally express yourself while also bringing light to important issues. It allows you to creatively open people’s eyes and show them your perspective on political issues. One of the most well-known Artivists is Banksy. The anonymous and mysterious Artivist combines political activism with dark humour, graffiti and stencilling. His works appear out of the blue in random locations on streets and deal with various political and social themes, such as anti-war and commonly critique human conditions like greed, poverty and hypocrisy. Can Artivists such as Banksy evoke change? Yes. Can Artivism be revolutionary? Definitely. Find your inner Artivist.

Creativity Under Oppression

One of the common elements of many struggles for freedom and equality is the struggle against a much bigger and stronger system. Whether its black communities fighting against institutionalized racism, whether its women fighting against patriarchal structures, or Palestinians fighting against the Israeli occupation, they all must fight against powerful systems that have a lot more resources and influence than the oppressed could ever have. Structures of oppression thrive on centuries of discrimination and abuse that created internalized racism and sexism in society. Discriminatory laws, the police and the military are a giant enemy that no protesting group can overcome. The resources that can be accessed by marginalized groups are very limited, and they often have to rely on the simple impact of numbers and awareness, as compared to states’ vast resources and wealth. This David vs. Goliath scenario means that marginalized groups must rely on creativity in order to succeed. These groups live under pressure and constraints over their freedom and opportunities, forcing them to use creative thinking.

This can be seen in the example of the Chilean feminist protest song that spread around the world at the beginning of the year. The song “The rapist is you” had a huge social media impact, and was chanted by thousands of women in various protests. As women’s resources cannot compare to men’s or the state’s resources, they must rely on shock value, the power of numbers and the ability to spread messages on social media. The song does exactly that – it creates strong emotions among the audience and raises awareness. To navigate these constraints and power imbalance, to mobilize a marginalized community, creativity is a necessity. Creativity can empower and connect communities against a stronger enemy by creating new resources. Creativity is the most powerful tool social movements have against established structures of oppression, and no campaign can succeed without it.

Before We Leave You...

The possibilities for using creativity within the field of politics go as far as the motivation of the individual. Especially in these times, the tools and means are limitless, it is all about being creative with them and finding ways to use your voice effectively, in whichever way this may be. Not only in terms of pushing for a change, taking a stance or expressing an opinion but also in terms of coming up with creative solutions for problems, bringing people together to support the same cause and coming up with ways to be active. The role creativity plays in politics and activism may be subtle to the eye but it is strictly necessary.

Throughout the Mastering Creativity course we had the pleasure to follow the Politics Track. We were guided by Hedy d'Ancona and Sylvia Borren, two Dutch politicians and political activists who have been active not only locally in The Netherlands, but also in the EU and internationally.
Throughout our sessions we addressed a variety of topics they have tackled throughout their career, but the main idea that they tried to get across to us was firstly, to find an issue that we care about. Finding something that makes us indignant, that we cannot accept and are therefore 'forced' to change. Then, to actually come up with a plan on how to change it, and this is where Creativity comes in.
Being students, with a low budget and being in no position of recognised power, can be frustrating in trying to make a change. So what is it that we can do? How can we be creative in pushing for change?
The following page offers thoughts and reflections on behalf of the students with regards to specific movements or creative ways to approach issues and be the change.