The art of protest : culture and activism from the civil rights movement to the streets of Seattle

Imagine the civil rights movement without freedom songs and the politics of women's movements without poetry. Or, more difficult yet, imagine an America unaffected by the cultural expressions and forms of the twentieth-century social movements that have shaped our nation. The first broad overview of social movements and the distinctive cultural forms that express and helped shape them, The Art of Protest shows the vital importance of these movements to American culture. In comparative accounts of movements beginning with the African American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and running through the Internet-driven movement for global justice (''Will the revolution be cybercast?'') of the twenty-first century, T. V. Reed enriches our understanding of protest and its cultural expression. Reed explores the street drama of the Black Panthers, the revolutionary murals of the Chicano movement, the American Indian Movement's use of film and video, rock music and the struggles against famine and apartheid, ACT UP's use of visual art in the campaign against AIDS, and the literature of environmental justice. Throughout, Reed employs the concept of culture in three interrelated ways: by examining social movements as sub- or countercultures; by looking at poetry, painting, music, murals, film, and fiction in and around social movements; and by considering the ways in which the cultural texts generated by resistance movements have reshaped the contours of the wider American culture. The United States is a nation that began with a protest. Through the kaleidoscopic lens of artistic and cultural expression, Reed reveals how activism continues to remake our world. Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 ONE: Singing Civil Rights: The Freedom Song Tradition......Page 26 TWO: Scenarios for Revolution: The Drama of the Black Panthers......Page 65 THREE: The Poetical Is the Political: Feminist Poetry and the Poetics of Women's Rights......Page 100 FOUR: Revolutionary Walls: Chicano/a Murals, Chicano/a Movements......Page 128 FIVE: Old Cowboys, New Indians: Hollywood Frames the American Indian Movement......Page 154 SIX: "We Are [Not] the World": Famine, Apartheid, and the Politics of Rock Music......Page 181 SEVEN: ACTing UP against AIDS: The (Very) Graphic Arts in a Moment of Crisis......Page 204 EIGHT: Environmental Justice Ecocriticism: Race, Class, Gender, and Literary Ecologies......Page 243 NINE: Will the Revolution Be Cybercast? New Media, the Battle of Seattle, and Global Justice......Page 265 TEN: Reflections on the Cultural Study of Social Movements......Page 311 Notes......Page 342 A......Page 370 B......Page 371 C......Page 372 D......Page 374 E......Page 375 G......Page 376 H......Page 377 I......Page 378 L......Page 379 M......Page 380 N......Page 381 P......Page 382 R......Page 383 S......Page 384 T......Page 385 W......Page 386 Z......Page 387 From the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement to the anarchically creative tactics deployed by anti-WTO protestors at the "Battle in Seattle," Reed (American studies, Washington State U.) examines the cultural expression of protest of social movements in the United States. Believing dramatic actions, "repeated public displays" in the words of social movement theorist Charles Tilly, to be an essential facet of social movements in general he analyzes the cultural elements and cultural. Impact the above-mentioned movements, as well as the dramatic displays of the Black Panthers, the poetry of the Women's Rights Movement, Chicano movements and the revolutionary mural, the American Indian Movement in film, rock music approaches to African famine and apartheid, the graphic arts of ACT UP, and the discourse of environmentalism. Annotation 2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com). Introduction -- Singing Civil Rights : The Freedom Song Tradition -- Scenarios For Revolution : The Drama Of The Black Panthers -- The Poetical Is The Political : Feminist Poetry And The Poetics Of Women's Rights -- Revolutionary Walls : Chicano/a Murals, Chicano/a Movements -- Old Cowboys, New Indians : Hollywood Frames The American Indian Movement -- We Are [not] The World : Famine, Apartheid, And The Politics Of Rock Music -- Acting Up Against Aids : The (very) Graphic Arts In A Moment Of Crisis -- Environmental Justice Ecocriticism : Race, Class, Gender, And Literary Ecologies -- Will The Revolution Be Cybercast? : New Media, The Battle Of Seattle, And Global Justice -- Reflections On The Cultural Study Of Social Movements. T.v. Reed. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 317-343) And Index. Introduction Singing civil rights : the freedom song tradition Scenarios for revolution : the drama of the Black Panthers The poetical is the political : feminist poetry and the poetics of women's rights Revolutionary walls : Chicano/a murals, Chicano/a movements Old cowboys, new Indians : Hollywood frames the American Indian movement "We are [not] the world" : famine, apartheid, and the politics of rock music Acting up against AIDS : the (very) graphic arts in a postmodern epidemic Environmental justice ecocriticism : race, class, gender, and literary ecologies Will the revolution be cybercast? : new media, the battle of Seattle, and global justice Reflections on the cultural study of social movements.