4/29 Questions - Sadie Van den Bogaerde

1. I think that an extremely valuable part of music in a political context is the power it holds to uplift and connect people in a very meaningful and lasting way. How do you see this translating into real political change?
2. “For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.” - Audre Lorde

I think this is a beautiful quote included at the beginning of Martha Gonzalez’s Sobreviviendo. Does this sentiment apply only to women and poetry? If not, what other groups of people and artforms take on similar roles as described by Audre Lorde?

3. I loved reading about the examples of the versatility of song described in the NPR article. Music that had been written decades ago is being repurposed or rewritten and applied to new contexts, for example the songs used in protest during the Chicano movement of the 70s. While I think it’s a beautiful thing that these songs are being brought back to social movements now, specifically in protest against the Trump administration’s border policies, does this represent a falling back to past challenges? In other words, does the fact that songs from social movements in the 70s being used now represent a lack of progress? Why or why not?
4. What are some works that you felt have connected you across borders to other people and their experiences? Whether that’s national or state borders, or across different times.