When thinking about social activism, we tend to limit the definition to include protests, sit-ins, boycotts, and marches. Yet such a definition confines our understanding, and we rarely acknowledge activism’s various manifestations. Visual art, music, literature, flash mobs, clothing styles, and deciding which type of coffee to drink further prove social activism’s immeasurable forms. Our everyday choices become steps towards creating change. We can look back to the Civil Rights Movement as a perfect example on the varying expressions of activism. In the movement we see how song, art, literature, and bus rides can change an entire nation. Each time I hear the very first refrain “We shall overcome, we shall overcome, we shall overcome someday,” chills cover me. I am moved by the simplicity of the harmony and the lyrics, not because of their clever arrangement, but because I know such simplicity created such power and unity to bring together thousands. Or perhaps I am moved because decades following the movement the song still shakes one’s inner core and commands such hope.
With the opening of Urban Alchemy / Gordon Matta-Clark exhibition fast approaching, I am in anxious anticipation. For two months I have identified and connected Matta-Clark’s work to my field of study, social work, and my passion, social justice. Matta-Clark’s work allows us to explore new avenues of social change. Re-thinking. Re-using. Re-visioning. Re-newing. The work encourages us to re-visit our systems of value, our ability to make an impact, to hope and command change. We are asked to see our world a bit differently and acknowledge pieces of our world that frequently go forgotten. Matta-Clark was particularly drawn to the homeless population of his era. He sought to provide hope to those who had not been afforded or allowed it. He wanted to empower the homeless by re-thinking trash to create stable housing structures (e.g., the garbage walls). As a social worker, I am drawn to his work because he wished to address societal shortcomings through innovative approaches. Matta-Clark questioned societal norms and demanded change (visually, structurally, etc.). Perhaps we can renew our thoughts of social activism by way of transformation.–Emily Augsburger
Emily Augsburger is a practicum student from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.