For centuries, music and art has been at the forefront of social justice movements. From the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, to the Black Power movement in the 70s, and even more recent social movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, music and art have been used as powerful tools, “to promote awareness and encourage activism” In this post I want to talk more specifically about artists and organizations in Asheville, NC who are using their work to make powerful statements about the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Michael Martinez, an Asheville local and respected musician, has been using his voice as well as his music to fight racial injustice. He has taken to the streets with protestors on many occasions, and even purchased a generator so he could continue to make social change through music with his band mates downtown. In wake of recent events, Martinez re-released a song with his band Natural Born Leaders with a new music video depicting powerful imagery of BLM protestors. The description on YouTube states that the song was originally written in 2016 and is being released again now in 2020 because the, “times have changed but the system has not.” In the song titled Return of Jafar, Martinez sings, “ain’t no power like the power of the people cause the power of the people don’t stop.”

Three Asheville local artists, Jenny Pickens, Joseph Pearson and Marie Cochran, took lead on the design for the Black Lives Matter Mural downtown. While the lead artists focused on the mural design, supporting artists joined in to create unique designs for each of the letters. This mural is a community effort as, “100% of the funding for the project comes from individual donations and in-kind business support.” You can learn more about each individual artist involved in the project at this link.

Jefferson Elison, owner of JAWBREAKING is a third generation Asheville native who is using his skill as a designer to give a unique outlook on fashion, politics, and culture. Jefferson grew up on The Block where his dad owned a restaurant and a jazz club. The Block was one of the most prosperous African American commercial districts in the US at one time. Jefferson said, “It’s really exciting to be able to create a space of my own in a place that raised me.” Jefferson only planned to be back in Asheville for a few months but is now opening a brick and mortar location on The Block. His ad agency is representing two of the businesses that are currently located on The Block including LEAF Global Arts, a nonprofit organization that is, “building community, connecting cultures, and enriching lives through the arts – locally and globally – with festivals, community events, and arts education programs.” Jefferson speaks about the city of Asheville in an interview with AVL Today stating, “people need to do the work and use their privilege to create platforms.”

On July 25th, lines wrapped around the Black Lives Matter mural as protestors waited to get their own shirts screen printed with beautiful art that read, “Fund Communities, Not Cops.” Volunteers passed out flyers for future events and educated attendees on the call to defund Asheville Police Department. To my understanding, the artist that designed the image that was to be screen printed on shirts wanted to stay anonymous.

YMI Cultural Center in Asheville, “promotes interculturalism and the preservation of cultural identity.” On July 4th YMICC hosted Black Liberation Day. In a Facebook post about the event YMICC stated they are “committed and mission-driven to the Elevation of Black People and moving Black Culture Forward.” Black Liberation day started with a march that ended with a festival like experience including food, music, and cultural education opportunities at Triangle Park. Many Black musicians performed including Nex Millen and Mike Martinez. YMICC also hosts the annual Goombay Festival which is a, “celebration of African and Caribbean culture in Western North Carolina.” YMICC is quite literally handing the mic to local Black Voices and creating opportunities for them to be heard everyday.

After a curfew was enacted in Asheville, businesses boarded up their street facing windows. Many of these businesses used this as an opportunity to team up with local artists to amplify Black voices and show their support for the BLM protestors that have been occupying the streets. Beautiful portraits and powerful statements such as “Defend Black Lives” cover boarded up windows and show the pain and injustice that black members of the Asheville community face everyday. Although some of the art has come down as businesses start to reopen their doors, many, “murals have remained around Asheville as visual reminders of this ongoing struggle.” In the interview linked below David Feingold, general manager and CEO of Blue Ridge Public Radio, and local artist Joseph Pearson, creator of the mural outside BPR discuss the details of the art and much more.

Several local artists teamed up to create a digital album with all proceeds going directly to Black Lives Matter. Released on June 9th, the album features many respected artists like Sister Ivy, Josh Blake, CaroMia, and more. It can be purchased on Band Camp at this Link. Many other musicians are making similar fundraising efforts by donating proceeds from band camp sales to organizations that are fighting for change and raising awareness.

In my opinion, music and art have the power to bring people together and display powerful emotions more than even our words can sometimes. They are both also a huge part of our cultural education and an extremely effective way too spread awareness about the Black Lives Matter Movement. Of course the activism cannot stop there. We have to continue to be active members of society and fight for change in terms of laws and legislation.

Sources:

“Music and Social Justice Movements.” TeachRock, teachrock.org/collection/music-social-justice-movements/.

staff, WLOS. “Lead Artists Selected for Asheville’s Black Lives Matter Mural.” WLOS, WLOS, 15 July 2020, wlos.com/news/local/lead-artists-selected-for-ashevilles-black-lives-matter-mural.

Black Lives Matter Mural. 23 July 2020, ashevillearts.com/blm/.

Jawbreaking, www.jawbreaking.xyz/.

“a Non-Profit Organization Connecting CULTURES & Creating COMMUNITY through Music & Arts.” LEAF Global Arts, www.theleaf.org/.

Amcghee. “Meet JAWBREAKING: An Interview with Jefferson Ellison.” AVLtoday, 7 July 2020, avltoday.6amcity.com/jawbreaking-interview-jefferson-ellison-asheville-nc/.

“Its All about the Culture.” The YMI Cultural Center, ymiculturalcenter.org/.

Black Lives Matter Murals: A Conversation – VIRTUAL.” Asheville Art Museum, 10 July 2020, www.ashevilleart.org/event/blm-conversation/.