HOLDING TENSIONS: The Universe is on the Side of Justice

Acknowledgement: Keane Southard, who introduced me to these topics, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who believed that “true peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”

The past year has honed in on community work. 

From documenting stories to exploring futurist frameworks, people want their whole selves honored and not just the palatable pieces. Often, arts organizations and artists desire their art to be appreciated in communities, yet undervalue the work to understand them as people rather than consumers or trophies. Perhaps they enjoy the artform but cannot relieve their duties at home, work, or school to come see it? 

Therefore, how is tension navigated when communities seek the arts to represent their experiences while arts organizations and artists provide unrelatable works to the current ecosystem, that instead read as: “You must assimilate to THIS culture.” Naturally, all works can evoke elements of relatability, but is Vivaldi’s Concerto for Piano, String, and Continuo in A (RV 353) really relatable in 2022 or is that what you were forced to adopt? 

There are certainly merits for arts for art's sake, but as newer generations advocate for intention and communities want to be seen, there is greater importance in models that enrich all experiences and all aspects of life. 

Face Value

I stumbled across Southard’s work within an Ensemble newsletter where he commented on the social aims of El Sistema and advocated for the Kingian Nonviolence, the nonviolent philosophy of the American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as a promising method for instilling positive and humane values in students to enhance social justice outcomes. 

These world-renowned programs with the objective of “social transformation through the pursuit of musical excellence,” focuses more on musical training than how music can be used to foster identity, diversity, justice, and action; the domains of social justice education. As these programs often serve people facing marginalization, especially those from the global majority, there can be an element of saviorism in the mix. “A belief that [the] poor and underprivileged somehow hold inferior [statuses] than those who enjoy more privileges, and that their unfortunate condition is somehow a result…” (Southard 41). What looks like upward mobility on the exterior, and definitely can internally, has its limits on what it is doing for them as people. Unfortunately, being a superb musician does not mean one is a superb individual or seeing success. Yet, many societies hold this to be true (i.e. R.Kelly). An unfortunate truth is that these programs have a set timeline within a young person’s life as they reach a certain age. Therefore, how can El Sistema aid in supporting the next generations of global citizens? Citizens with musical achievement and appreciation for the arts, whilst embodying love and care within society. 

Centering Care

Care is crucial with young people, especially during childhood when we are constantly bombarded with values and opinions that can negatively impact our existence. Leading with care promotes positive environments to intentionally foster growth through collaborative experience, where individuals are challenged to rethink their understandings while pursuing a just world. Moral development is just as important as artistic or academic performance. 

Nonviolence, the antidote to violence, welcomes care by denouncing “negative piece,” which obscures trauma, tensions, and feeling, instead of embracing the depth we carry as humans. When ignored it resurfaces as violence, which has been societally accepted as normal behavior (i.e. America’s Gun Violence). As it thrives on hatred rather than love, acts of violence based on bitterness and brutality are enacted. However, as a solution, nonviolent movements have led to liberation due to increased accessibility to who can participate as it centers reconciliation, because “...there is no us versus them but only us, and that our liberation and healing are bound up together” (Southard 43).

Therefore, “Kingian Nonviolence [is] an approach to conflict that seeks to understand the factors underlying the problem and to create an effective strategy by which to address them…” (Southard 40). 

Below are the its six principles: 

  1. Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people

  2. The Beloved Community is the framework for the future

  3. Attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil.

  4. Accept suffering for the sake of the cause to achieve the goal

  5. Avoid internal violence of the spirit as well as external physical violence.

  6. The universe is on the side of justice

For El Sistema, these align with their fundamentals (values), demonstrating that justice can be embedded everywhere when intentionally reexamined. However, to create change, which takes time, systemic and institutional structures must meaningfully invest, long-term. Here, music acts as a language of compassion by welcoming diversity through interpenetration and mutual inter-animation, where each sound is enhanced through the life of the other, but where difference and particularity are in just that way heightened and enlivened” (Southard 54). Evoking joy within musicmaking can support comfortability and vulnerability, where we may even discover that “bad” children behave poorly not because of their character but they too are victims. Reasons why larger injustices and systemic problems need to be fought instead of the individual. 

Figure 1: Compatibility of El Sistema Fundamentals and Kingian Nonviolence Principles

From a musical standpoint the combined collaboration can address the following:

  • Conflict by examining dissonance (conflict) and consonance (resolution) with musical works to describe, understand, and connect musical conflicts to our own lived experiences, which ultimately provides comfort and confidence. 

  • Interrelatedness/Interdependence through “Democratic polyphony,” which involves multiple performers sharing a piece of music meant for one. Here, each player becomes essential as they depend on one another. 

  • Courage, such as going on stage, composing music, offering and accepting criticism, taking musical risks, and making mistakes is a feat. Music supports “...the courage to explore and express feelings in a safe and healthy way” (Southard 73). 

  • Listening through unfamiliar or ones disliked music strengthens our perspectives and appreciates other points of views. 

  • Empathy as “musical interaction can serve as a significant platform for the development of self-other sensitivity, enhancing the experience of empathic creativity and perhaps even a general capacity for empathy within the interacting players” (Southard 87). 

  • Forgiveness as mistakes are expected. For example, Jazz groups quickly make adjustments and continue forward. 

Next Step, the Beloved Community

Many partake in the arts, as artists, educators, students, administrators, audience members, or perhaps supporters. Though the differences exist, we are all connected through the joy it gives us. Because it speaks to us. Art must transcend beyond art, because that depth reminds us how to be human by providing us a chance for introspection. There is almost a duty to cultivate an arts education curriculum that centers social justice because understanding ourselves produces better art. 

Therefore, how is Kingian Nonviolence actualized in arts organizations? It just might require changing power dynamics (i.e. power to and power with), alternative funding sources, connecting with families and communities, prioritizing youth voice, building trustworthiness, implementing professional development, and hiring those knowledgeable in this practice. 

As Southard concludes his doctoral dissertation, I too hope we can come closer to the ideal of the Beloved Community; a space that honors the beauty in interconnectedness. 

André Solomon (he/him) is originally from Methuen, Massachusetts and currently based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by way of Syracuse, New York. His academic ventures earned him a Bachelor of Arts in Flute from Syracuse University and a Masters of Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University concentrating on Community Engagement. With both degrees, André hopes to enforce social justice for the arts; a belief that the arts are not frivolous but a necessary component of human development. Being a person of color in the Arts world, both as an artist and arts manager, he desires to provide opportunities for people of the global majority to visualize representation; therefore, ownership to actualize their dreams. 

André works for Creative Generation as the Community Knowledge Manager amplifying the work of young creatives by producing new and honoring existing forms of knowledge and ways of knowing while dismantling systemic barriers to sharing and learning; and expanding definitions of and pathways to leadership, through unique learning communities. The work focuses on the application of justice and liberatory approaches and harnesses deep expertise in democratizing knowledge, documenting promising practices, and developing meaningful learning experiences to skillfully translate complex topics into knowledge products to enable field-building.

While in Pittsburgh, André has had the pleasure of co-directing Make Music PGH and working for the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council as the Manager of Programs aiding program development, supporting COVID-19 Working Groups, and implementing Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion (DEAI) initiatives. 

As a musician, André has kept a daily practice regime, maintained a social media presence, enrolled in lessons, participated in music ensembles (like Carnegie Mellon University’s Chamber and Flute Ensembles and City Flutes), and shared resources that pertain to the music community. Being classically trained and a dabbler in jazz, the music community in Pittsburgh has allowed him to explore his versatility as he has stepped into contemporary pieces from the late 20th and 21st centuries.