Episode 134
“How Do Activist Artists and Cultural Organizers Resist: Lessons from the Anti-Authoritarian Frontlines
What do the arts have to do with resisting authoritarianism? And how do we, as creative community leaders, keep pushing for democracy when the odds feel stacked against us?
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the news, discouraged by political setbacks, or unsure how artists and cultural organizers fit into this urgent fight, you’re not alone. This episode brings powerful insights from the 22nd Century Initiative Gathering in Atlanta—where movement leaders, activists, and artists came together to ask the big questions: How do we stop the rise of authoritarianism? And what does it look like to build a resilient, creative resistance?
- Discover the proven strategies of nonviolent resistance that have toppled regimes and fortified democracies around the world.
- Learn why loneliness fuels authoritarianism—and how art can be the antidote by reconnecting communities.
- Hear how artists are not just reflecting change, but making it: organizing, blocking, bridging, and building democracy in real time.
Listen now to explore how you—as an artist, funder, or cultural leader—can be a strategic force in resisting authoritarianism and imagining a democratic future worth fighting for.
Here’s an expanded list of the key figures, events, organizations, and publications mentioned in the podcast transcript—now with richer context and updated hyperlinks for deeper exploration:
👤 1. People
- Daniel Hunter – Founder and co-director of Choose Democracy, renowned civil resistance trainer and author of Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow
- Maria J. Stephan – Co-lead and Chief Organizer at the Horizons Project, political scientist and co-author of Why Civil Resistance Works
- Ash‑Lee Woodard Henderson – Co-Executive Director of the Highlander Research & Education Center, organizer in the Movement for Black Lives
- Emory Douglas – Minister of Culture and graphic artist for the Black Panther Party, his visuals became iconic protest art
- Lily Yeh – Founder of the Village of Arts and Humanities in Philadelphia, pioneer of community-based public art
📅 2. Events & Movements
- Civil Rights Movement – Legendary U.S. nonviolent struggle for racial justice, often cited as a model of civil resistance
- Protests against Authoritarian Leaders – Global instances (e.g., Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Hungary’s Orban) illustrating the worldwide struggle to defend democracy
- 22CI Gathering – The Twenty‑Second Century Initiative conference focused on resisting authoritarianism and fostering democratic resilience
🏛️ 3. Organizations
- Choose Democracy – Nonpartisan group preparing Americans to resist undemocratic power grabs through training and strategic organizing
- Horizons Project – Organizing initiative led by Julia Roig and Maria Stephan focused on bridging ideological divides and rebuilding democracy
- Highlander Research & Education Center – Historic training center advancing social justice, now co-led by Ash‑Lee Henderson
- Black Panther Party – Revolutionary Black Power organization known for community programs and Emory Douglas’s visual art
- Village of Arts and Humanities – North Philadelphia nonprofit transforming vacant lots through communal art projects
- Laundromat Project – New York–based initiative placing artists in everyday spaces to spark community-led cultural change
📚 4. Publications & Works
- Why Civil Resistance Works – Co-authored by Maria Stephan; benchmarks the effectiveness of nonviolent movements
- Building a Movement to End the New Jim Crow, Climate Resistance Handbook, Strategy and Soul – Books by Daniel Hunter on activism and social change
- Black Panther newspaper (posters by Emory Douglas) – A striking medium for Panther messaging and community visuals
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Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.
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Transcript
Hey, there. How do we resist? What can activist artists and cultural organizers learn from the front lines of the fight against authoritarianism?
From the center for the Study of Art and Community, this is the Art Is Change Weather Report, a chronicle of art and social change where activists, artists, and cultural organizers share the skills and strategies they need to thrive as creative community leaders. With a focus this week on what's happening on the ground right now. So, welcome back to the show.
I want to start today a little differently by just telling you where I've been, because I just got back from something that, well, stirred me up, that gave me a lot to think about and, honestly, a lot of feelings to sit with. A few weeks ago, I was in Atlanta at the 22nd Century Initiative gathering, 22 CI for short.
It's this incredible space, three days where organizers, activists, movement leaders, and everyday folks came together to wrestle with one of the biggest questions of our time. How do we stop the rise of authoritarianism? How do we push back when democracy is under attack, not just here in the US but everywhere?
And maybe the most important, how do we stay human and connected and hopeful while doing all that?
I came away from that gathering with a lot to think about, and I knew I wanted to bring some of what I learned, some of what I felt to this community. So to you all listening, here's what we'll be exploring. First, validation.
If you're feeling overwhelmed, disillusioned, or bone tired, you are not alone. Also, insight into global movements that have successfully pushed back authoritarian regimes and what made them work.
I'll also be sharing tactics for building resilient, diverse creative movements rooted in care, connection, and refusal. And finally, a reminder that activist artists and cultural organizers are not just inspiring, they are strategic players in the fight for democracy.
So buckle in. This isn't just a dry breakdown of political theory.
This is about change making history, research, tactics, and the need for creative change agents at every step along the way. It's also about the deeply personal, emotional, exhausting work of resisting systems that want us divided and disempowered.
So the conference, as I said, was three days. At the plenary session on the second day, we heard from three powerful voices.
Daniel Hunter, an activist trainer from Choose Democracy, Maria Steffen, the chief organizer from the Horizons Project, and Ashley Henderson, an organizer from Utopian Visions, each came to the where are we and what do we need to do? Question from a different angle. But together, they painted a picture of what we're facing and how we can fight back.
That I thought was really insightful. And, dare I say, inspiring.
So Daniel Hunter started off the session, and I'll be honest, it wasn't with a fiery call to action, at least not at first. He started with vulnerability. He talked about that gnawing exhaustion that so many of us feel right now.
The whiplash of bad news, small winds that feel fleeting, and this constant undercurrent of fear for what's coming next. And he invited us to sit with that.
I'll tell you, being in that room, I felt this collective exhale, because sometimes we skip over how heavy all this feels. But Daniel did not. He shared his own emotional journey, watching recent news of activists being released after unjust detention.
Gilmar Abrego Garcia appeared in a Nashville court on Friday after he was returned to the US the hope, the skepticism, the heartbreak. And even in release, that the fight is not over. His indictment includes smuggling people, firearms, and drugs. But Daniel didn't stay small.
He zoomed way out, taking us beyond the US to this global surge of authoritarianism. It's not just here. It's Bolsonaro in Brazil, Orban in Hungary. Leaders across the world using the same tired playbook.
Undermine democracy, target dissent, spread fear, offer fake, simple answers to crises that feel too big to face. Climate collapse, inequality, war. It's terrifying. And authoritarians exploit that terror. They say, hide under the bed. Follow me. I'll keep you safe.
And people isolated, overwhelmed, believe them. But here's where the hope creeps in. Daniel shared global research on democratic backsliding.
Yeah, half the time, countries slides so far that they collapse entirely. But the other half, people fight back. And sometimes they win. Sometimes they don't just stop the slide.
They make their democracies stronger than before. And there's a common denominator. When they do civil resistance movements. Ordinary people organized, refusing to cooperate with.
With authoritarian systems. It's hard, it's messy. But history says it works more often than not.
So then Maria Steffen took the mic, and I gotta say, she lit up the room with history and hard won lessons from organizing on the ground. Maria reminded us civil resistance is not some abstract idea.
It's part of our DNA here in the U.S. think about the civil rights movements, the sit ins, the bus boycotts, the marches. Those weren't spontaneous. They were strategic and deeply rooted in nonviolent discipline.
She shared research she's done for decades, studying hundreds of movements around the world. Armed uprising versus nonviolent resistance. And the numbers, well, they tell a very clear story.
Nonviolent movements succeed twice as often as armed ones. They don't just topple regimes. They often build stronger democracies and more just societies when they do. But success doesn't just happen.
It takes some real work that is very disciplined and intentional. Here are the key components. First, there is mass, diverse participation.
The more sectors of society you bring together, workers, students, faith leaders, unions, the harder it is for those in power to crush the movement. Then there's creative disruptive tactics. Strikes, boycotts, protests, organize acts of refusal that disrupt the system's ability to function.
Then there's alternative support systems that sustain people who are doing the work.
Mutual aid networks, food provision, childcare during protests, that infrastructure that keeps people safe and supported when they step into real resistance. And finally, shifting the loyalties of power. She pointed out that no authoritarian regime rules alone.
They rely on institutions, the police, military, corporations, even cultural leaders. When people within those pillars refuse to comply, that's when real cracks appear. And Maria named something that I keep thinking about.
The role of loneliness. Isolation fuels authoritarianism. When people feel unheard, unseen, cut off, they're vulnerable to simple, dangerous answers.
But resistance, it connects us. It rebuilds community. And that's part of the work, too.
Finally, Ashley Henderson talked about the real messiness of elections and the necessity of showing up. So Ash is that person who speaks with humor, with fire, and with deep love for movement, even when they're calling us out.
Ash named the elephant in the room. A lot of us feel exhausted, disillusioned, or straight up cynical about elections. And I get it.
After everything from voter suppression to rigged systems, it's easy to check out. But Ash made the case. Elections are not the whole strategy, but they're a tool we cannot afford to abandon. They broke it down like this.
How do authoritarians like Trump leave office? Well, they might lose an election. They could get impeached and, well, they can also pass away. Not exactly a wide range of options, right?
Impeachment is unlikely. Hoping for nature to take its course is not a plan.
That leaves elections and organizing around them as well, one of the nonviolent ways we can resist. Ashe told stories from their life as a child of a Black Panther mother raised in revolutionary tradition.
And yet their mom took them to the polls because for all its flaws, participating in elections is part of the toolkit. But Ashe did not sugarcoat it. Elections are messy. The Democratic Party is not going to save us, and we can't just vote in one progressive and utopia.
But abandoning the electoral field, that leaves it wide open for authoritarians to consolidate and steal the power. We have to show up, vote, organize Build alternatives, and yes, hold those elected accountable when they fall short. It's a both and strategy.
Resist outside the system, engage inside it, disrupt when necessary, and build the world we want. So sitting in that room in Atlanta, listening to Daniel, Maria and Ash, what struck me most wasn't just the strategies or even the research.
It was the deep humanity, the exhaustion, the grief, the relentless hope, and the refusal to give up, even when it feels impossible. We're living through a global wave of authoritarianism, but we're not powerless. History shows people power works.
Research shows nonviolent resistance works. Our ancestors, our elders, our mentors, they've given us blueprints. The question is, how will we show up? Will we organize? Will we resist?
Will we build? Will we vote? Even when we're frustrated, Will we look after each other?
So I came home from that conference reminded that resistance isn't abstract, it's everyday people choosing to be brave together. Now, before I wrap up today's episode, I want to share one more thread that really struck me during my time at the 22 CI conference.
Something that wasn't just mentioned in passing, but was actually the subject of the final plenary session, and a reality that came through like a quiet drumbeat under everything. The arts are not peripheral to resisting authoritarianism. They are essential. I've been thinking a lot about that.
I want to share a few reflections, some drawn from a piece I wrote after the gathering, about how artists and cultural workers aren't just providing inspiration, they are building infrastructure for resistance, for healing, for reimagining what democracy can be. Now, let's be clear. Authoritarianism isn't just a political problem, it's a cultural one. And we have to realize that MAGA is a cultural movement.
It thrives on fear, isolation, dehumanization, and the collapse of shared meaning. And artists, storytellers, musicians, painters, dancers, designers, cultural organizers have the tools that speak to the heart of that crisis.
So let's talk a little bit about what the arts really do in the fight for a democratic, pluralistic future. Well, the first thing I want to say is art is a democratic practice. Hmm. Community art in particular is democracy in motion.
At its best, it's built on shared authorship, participation, diverse voices and freedom of expression. All the things authoritarianism tries to shut down. Community based art doesn't just reflect democracy, it enacts it.
It creates spaces of belonging, visibility, and co creation through murals, music, public ritual. Artists help us remember who we are together.
You can see this in projects like the mosaic covered community lots in Philadelphia's village of arts and humanities.
You can see this in the citizen schools of the civil rights era, where cultural practice and education were blended to prepare folks not just to vote, but to govern their own lives. That's artistry as democratic scaffolding. Next, art is a blocking strategy. It's true. Art can and has blocked authoritarianism.
It resists in ways that policies just can't. Authoritarian regimes rely on controlling the narrative, on fear and silencing dissent. Art explodes that silence.
Take the bold, brilliant newspaper illustrations by Emory Douglas for the Black Panther Party. They didn't just depict oppression. They celebrated resilience, community defense, black joy. They told the truth with fierce, unforgettable imagery.
Or picture the clown brigades in the public squares in Serbia. Yes, literal clowns who used absurdist street performances to mock and diffuse authoritarian power. They made tyranny ridiculous, and it worked.
s boarded up cities after the:Art doesn't wait for permission. It acts. It interrupts. It reframes. Next. Art is an organizing tool. But it's not just resistance. It's bringing people together for a purpose.
Movements need more than facts and demands. They need stories, emotions, symbols. Music. And artists give these things. They give movements a heartbeat.
Think of the freedom songs of the civil rights movement. Those weren't background music. They were how people stayed brave, how they stayed together.
Today, projects like the Laundromat Project in New York place artists in everyday neighborhood spaces to spark civic dialogue.
Our Art Has Changed podcast tell stories from all across the world about artists inside prisons, housing projects, and conflict zones, turning cultural practice into political power. And as labor organizer Ken Grossinger says, you can't do organizing without art because lasting change requires narrative change.
Okay, now there is a mantra that is being shared about how movements can work best together. Block, bridge, and build. It starts with blocking, but then there's bridging. And art is a bridging practice.
And in a time of deep division, let's not forget art has always connected people across divides. Cultural practice can hold complexity, emotion, and difference in a way no op ed or debate stage can.
It creates the conditions for real dialogue, not just argument. In Georgetown's in youn Shoes project, for example, ideologically opposed groups use participatory theater to step into each other's stories.
Not to agree, but to witness and to listen.
From story circles during the civil rights movement to playback theater, to oral history Projects like the Laramie Project, the arts are doing this bridging work quietly, powerfully and everywhere. Now we come to the part that I like the best. Art is change. Let me say this plainly. Art doesn't just reflect change, it makes change.
Artists imagine what doesn't yet exist. They prototype freedom. They refuse inevitability. They help movements stay joyful, visionary, human.
In fact, in the run up to America's 250th birthday, the semi quincentennial, some artists are organizing to turn what might otherwise be a nostalgic spectacle into something radically new. A ritual of civic renewal, a reckoning, a reimagining.
Because, as one artist put it, we don't yet have the public imagination of the resistance we need. Artists are building it, image by image, story by story, breath by breath.
So when we think about resisting authoritarianism, let's not just talk about policy or protest. Let's talk about poetry, let's talk about printmaking, dance, sound, fabric, light.
Let's recognize that artists aren't extras, they're co strategists. They aren't just decorating the movement, they are helping shape the direction it moves in.
If we're serious about democracy, then we have to be serious about culture. Not as a luxury, but as a necessity. Not as an afterthought, but as infrastructure.
Because art doesn't just help us survive, it helps us imagine something worth surviving for. So thanks for hanging out with me through this extended reflection. If you found this helpful or inspiring, please share it with someone.
Rate the show let's keep weaving together the stories, strategies and creative power that will carry us forward. So I'll just ask, what's your next step? Big or small? What's the action? The conversation? The refusal?
The community you can build today because you know there's no other way to turn the tide together. Art is Change is a product of the center for the Study of Art and Community.
Our theme and soundscapes spring forth from the head, heart and hand of the maestro Judy Munson. Our text editing is by Andre Nebbe. Our effects come from freesound.org and our inspiration comes from the ever present spirit of OOP235.
So until next time, stay well, do good and spread the good word. Once again, please know this episode has been 100% human.