★ 09/30/2024
Art not only has the potential to change the world, but “it has, over and over again,” according to this captivating debut. Surveying politically motivated art that has had a real-world impact, Massie-Blomfield, an arts director and theater producer, argues that art is inherently political because resistance to power, which permeates and shapes daily life, must always begin as an act of imagination; only art can persuade people that a different kind of life is possible. Examples cited include Billie Holiday’s “unnerving” 1939 rendition of “Strange Fruit,” which catalyzed a nascent civil rights movement; the foundational role Edward Abbey played in the eco-activist movement with his 1975 novel The Monkey-Wrench Gang, which imagined into existence the kind of industrial sabotage that has since become integral to the movement’s goals; and the writings of Nigerian anti-oil activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed after spearheading opposition to drilling by Shell in the Niger Delta, and whose work—including his famous 1995 trial speech (“Some have already cast themselves in the role of villains, some are tragic victims, some still have a chance to redeem themselves”)—continues to inspire climate change activists. Massie-Blomfield infuses these riveting histories with galvanizing appeals to the reader (“You, and your creativity, are most urgently needed”). The result is a powerful rejoinder to the notion of art for art’s sake. (Nov.)