I’m old enough to remember when political resistance included protest songs that played on the radio (“Think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down”), troupes like the Bread and Puppet Theater aptly shared bread and puppetry in protest of the Vietnam war; dancer/choreographer Alvin Ailey used his and the talents of his company to support the civil rights movement, and so on.

Now we’ve got social media, a 24/7 Internet feed, and Substack. Sigh.

I love this quote I saw on Threads the other day:

“The world will try to convince you that art is luxury. It is not. Art is medicine. It heals in ways that cannot be measured or explained. It reaches places therapy cannot touch. Art is essential.” Rokita

I don’t know Rokita, but she is an artist and she is correct. Art is medicine. I’ve been saying that for years. I even made a meme and shared it all over the place in my determined quest to make the point:

Good message … though not a widely accepted one.

The problem is, unlike the ‘60s and ‘70s, America is now a tech-bro/media-heavy culture rather than an artistic one, so most messages conveyed are siphoned through those hard-edged filters. Humanities is downplayed (or literally dismissed), art classes are considered fluff; creative careers are framed as foolish, and when brilliant, insightful artists speak out on salient issues, they’re negated as narcissists “stepping out of their lane.” It’s as if the MAGA Machinery of 2025 is too dense, too ponderous and unyielding to allow for more creative interpretations of our current circumstances. This, of course, is folly.

The socially-conscious artists of earlier, more soulful, eras understood that ideas, concepts, provocations, and calls-to-action were most successful when wrapped in the language of art, creativity that inspired people to sing, get up and dance, feel emotions, find themselves sparked to act. The ‘60s with all its hair and art and music and rebellion literally spawned movements that changed the trajectory of America. Younger people can snigger at the accomplishments of that generation, but smart people know that even the most whimsical of human behaviors can shift the zeitgeist. That era surely did.

I speak about this today as a creative loudmouth who regularly utilizes my art to make points I want to make. I’m told this is crazy because it might alienate people who only want to hear/know about the art parts, but I refuse to separate my activism from my artistry. Won’t do it. And you know who else feels that way? The brilliant, courageous Salman Rushdie.

Read those four sentences; they are amazing. Then know that the last line of his quote, not included in this meme, is: “We must tell better stories than the tyrants.”

Yes. We must.

Those five sentences speak volumes. They say everything that needs to be said about the power of art to impact and change the world, wisdom from a man who has lived by those five sentences his entire life. So dedicated to writing the stories he passionately believes in, he was damn near killed, he did lose an eye, and he continues to be in the crosshairs of violent fanatics to this day. Does he stop writing? NO. His next book comes out November 4th. It will no doubt be insightful, fearless, and brilliant.

I figure if he, blinded for his dedication, can continue in the face of death threats and relentless persecution, I can surely put my own much smaller, less provocative words and art into action. I can sing the truth and name the liars, too, however limited my reach may be. So I’m going to keep doing that.

Next week I’m gathering with my band and good friends to help raise money for Democrats running to flip Congress and save our democracy from two additional years of unfettered lunacy. Our first such event, titled “Rockin’ For Democracy,” is set for Sunday, September 21st. If you’re in the Los Angeles area and would like to join us, message me and I’ll get you the address. If you’re outside LA, or you can’t make it but still want to contribute (which I hope you will), click the link I’ll leave right here so you can donate via our specific event … we will be most grateful.

There will be other spirited fundraisers, and I’ll continue to write, march, sign, yell, and sing, but some nights I lie in bed with my head spinning, trying to conjure up new ways, better ways, more effective ways to combat the insanity roiling our world. I want to do more, have more impact, create bigger effects, then I realize, at 4 o’clock in the morning with nary a stitch of sleep, that I can only do what I can do. So I’ll do that. In every way I can … singing the truth and naming the liars in my own way.

Let’s all keep doing that. Whatever mediums we use. Whatever art we love. Whatever ways we do it. Our expressions don’t have to be on-the-nose, don’t even have to be overtly political or provocative. They can just be art, of any kind, uplifting, enlightening, inspiring art. Creativity that makes people think, laugh, cry, dance, smile, empathize, have hope, feel.

That alone can be revolutionary to the human spirit. From there, miraculous things can happen.

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