I know as a college student it can feel like there is no real way to affect the world. With all the assignments due and hours taken up in the day, how are we meant to change the world? How are we meant to be activists in this bubble of a campus? I thought about this a lot, and then I started to realize something very important. I’ve found that with each day that I continue to learn about my passions.
I am a film and media studies major as well as a creative writing and English major, and within all of these majors, I find myself not only analyzing works of film and writing, but also creating my own. I think as an artist, every breath I take is a moment of activism. I think anyone on this campus who dares to make art, dares to be an activist.
Art has always been and will always be political; it is based on the experiences of the artist. I know for me, with every poem I write, screenplay I plot out, and book I navigate, I attempt to affect the reader’s mind just as I have been affected by the thousands of books I have read in my lifetime. I have always wanted my books to be a place where people can feel at home, and that means making them inclusive and talking about the big issues even if it’s hard.
I think that’s how I try to be an activist every day. I channel every poet, writer, and artist before me to help me not only speak goodness into the world, but also to help me find the goodness already present. So, to any artists out there, I commend you for your daily attempts to make the world less terrifying. Keep doing what you do.
