Artistic Healing

So, um... What the actual fuck is happening, everyone? Apparently, society was harbouring a giant underground zit of racism and hate that has now come to a head and exploded all over the mirror...? Didn't your mother ever yell, "DON'T SQUEEZE IT!" at you as a teenager??? Nope, we had to just go ahead and poke at the damn thing instead of letting it die under the surface and fade away on its own.

Seriously, though, we have HOW many centuries of documented human history that clearly shows what kind of hell goes down when a race war breaks out? DO PEOPLE HONESTLY THINK THIS IS GOING TO GO WELL FOR ANYONE?????? Do you know what you're not enjoying when you're spending the entirety of your time fighting a superficial war? Life. That's what you're not enjoying. It's really hard to savour patio drinks and rock out at live music shows when you're too busy yelling at someone over their melanin levels. 

At the risk of sounding too much like a Buzzfeed article, here are 20 things that are more important than hating people who are different from you:

1. Puppies, dogs, cats, kittens, and baby mammals in general
2. Live music
3. Bakeries 
4. Climbing into a bed with freshly cleaned sheets
5. Dancing (especially, as if nobody is watching) 
6. Genuine compliments 
7. Coffee
8. Holding hands - Platonically, romantically, or otherwise
9. Patio drinks
10. Rainbows
11. The perfect parallel park
12. Comfy socks
13. The horn section of a fabulous band
14. Someone giving you their pre-paid parking slip when they're done with it
15. Farmer's markets
16. Songs that give you chills
17. Getting back in touch with an old friend
18. Fake mustaches
19. Star gazing
20. Artistic collaboration

I could go on and on, but I guess I now have to more wisely dedicate my time to denouncing racism and figuring out how to advocate for the people whose skin colour can't shield them from illogical hate. More than anything, I'm frustrated by how clueless large groups of people still are. We have buttloads of examples from history of racism fucking things up for everyone. All it takes is a simple Google search to know that we're headed down a dangerous path. But no, here we go again. Human history is just like a college student drinking to excess, swearing they're done with alcohol forever while in the midst of the hangover, and then proceeding to go out again the next weekend because tequila shots are on for $3 at the campus bar. Except, unlike the college student who eventually gets old and trades late-night partying for an early bedtime, human societies don't ever seem to grow up. We're 200 000 years old and still getting into bar fights over which physical features are superior. You know what they say, high school never ends. 

If you're feeling bummed out and hopeless about the state of society, fear not, for there is a glimmer of hope. Once again, it's time to rely on artists to save the world. Yep, you read that correctly. Step aside, Superman. The artists are here to save the day! 

I alluded to this at the end of my Buzzfeed-esque list, but let me break it down further for y'all. Artistic expression and collaboration are what will lead the way out of this shitty hate tornado. I came to this specific realization after experiencing the most incredible C.R. Avery show this month. I strolled into my usual haunt, The Needle Vinyl Tavern, with the expectation of an always amazing set from Joe Nolan & the Dogs with the added bonus of some harmonica beat-boxing spoken word realness from C.R. Avery. I GOT SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. 

Joe Nolan was fabulous, as always. He rocked us. He rolled us. I got a couple of dances in. No complaints! Then, the lights dimmed as a recorded political monologue filled the air to set the tone. What was it about? I wish I had been taking notes or recording a video so that I could tell you. Alas, I was too struck by the weight of the room and the powerful figure standing in the dark onstage to do either of those things. A chugging harmonica began to punctuate the words that would become memorable history in that back room at the Needle. C.R. began to intersperse beat-boxing and sharp melodies between each note diffusing out of his harp. Suddenly, the lights brightened and the horns erupted. That first blast of the trumpet and trombone carried a power that could have simultaneously killed and revived me. My soul was screaming to be taken to the next level and this music was going to achieve that. Melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and poetry surrounded my body like I had just climbed into a memory foam bed, lined with freshly washed jersey knit sheets.

Each song was filled with content that was hard hitting, political, life-affirming, inspirational, and real. As Avery sang "the NRA finally met its match with the LGBTQ2", referring to the Pulse Nightclub shooting, I started tearing up. Then, he got the crowd to sing one line together, "49 angels dancing in the night". Did I cry? YES, OBVIOUSLY. 

It felt the way church worship used to feel to me before I discovered the ugly side of organized religion. People combined their independent voices into a singular focus with an expanding wall of sound and emotion. That feeling of coming together in a congregation of music is what church really should be all about. The message of love coming from the stage and from the lips of every person in the room temporarily drowned out our inequalities to celebrate us coming together in a beautiful mosaic of our differences. 


Avery slid fluidly from topic to poetic topic with ease and style, touching on race relations, inequality, privilege, and personal reflection, among other things. He brought male heel dancers onto the stage who are known locally for regularly challenging the concept and perception of masculinity in our society. He gave the dancers a platform on which they could strut their fabulous selves before joining in for the grand finale which consisted of them each ripping off their tearaway pants to reveal their asses in all of their thonged glory. 


A rousing and bluesy version of "When The Saints Go Marching In" concluded the set before a greater level of crowd participation was demanded for the encore. Avery encouraged everyone to join in to sing "O Canada" before launching into some more spoken word and hitting us with the grave reminder that we're "standing on stolen Native land". His point was made and was met with thunderous cheering from the audience. He then asked us to form a circle in the middle of the floor before introducing a Hoop Dancer to its center. The dancer floated and twirled with strength and grace inside the human-made circle to the sound of the band members playing as if none of them would never play again. The dancer took a knee with his recently constructed sphere of hoops outstretched in his hand, while Avery and a local musician with Middle Eastern roots turned towards each other to face off in a musical duel. When they were done, the dancer stood back up to mesmerize everyone the room again with his intricate hoop shapes and rhythmic movement. 

There was nothing I could do to stop the steady stream of tears now flowing down my cheeks. I was so struck by the emotion rolling off of these performers just giving us their all. It became apparent that the process I was witnessing is exactly what will allow us to move forward as a more peaceful society. Artistic collaboration is how we will make change and heal as a people. These artists came together with their demographic and artistic differences to create something more powerful than what any one of them could have produced individually. You could debate all day long about whose artistic talents are the best, but what's the point when the final product was hundreds of times more amazing than any single artist's work? Moments like this make it clear that politicians are not going to be the ones to dissolve the hate embedded in the current discourse. It will not even be the expected activists who will save us from ourselves. The people who are going to fix things are the artistic souls that so many of us readily dismiss as dreamers. I'm putting my money on these people who show up and pour themselves into creating emotion inducing art to be the ones who will turn the world into the more peaceful place that they envision. More than ever, we need to support those who can see the different colours we all bring to the tapestry and know how to piece them together to create it. C.R. Avery is one of those people. Seriously, if you ever get a chance to see one of his shows, freaking do it. The amount of effort and creativity that went into that production must have been immense. He's putting his money where his harmonica usually is to make the world a better place the way only artists can. 

So, fight however you've gotta fight. Whatever you do, make sure you're fighting on the right side of history. Our lives are more documented now than they've ever been before. Decades from now, the world will still remember what kind of person you proved yourself to be. We don't have time to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves and others. If we can get enough people turning their little pocket of the world into a masterpiece, maybe that will be enough to dispel the tsunami of hate trying to overwhelm our global community. More than ever, we need comedy, spoken word, music, writing, poetry, design, costuming, makeup, film, photography, visual art, animation, drawing, burlesque, painting, sculpture, street performing, theatre, dance, performance art, clowning, balloon animals, WHATEVER. If you can do it, then do it. If you're learning how to do it, learn fast. If you don't consider yourself an artist, consider supporting one (or many). Get out there and be involved however you can be involved.

We're not just lifting spirits; we're saving the world.