Music and Arts Strategies in Public Policies and Social Justice
The time has come to develop strategies in the field of
music and arts around the world, aiming to disseminate the evils of political
actions in favor of lobbyists and climate change in a world on fire. This is
very much in need when politicians vote against public policy and social
justice, as it was the case registered in the Brazilian Nacional Congress vote
against the indigenous population.
The power of music and the arts is recognized and must be
used to combat the wrath of the so-called Marco Temporal and other perverse and
unsustainable actions defended by large corporations and landowners, aimed at
accelerating climate change and the biggest crisis of this century.
Despite the efforts of many artists, what is clear is the
lack of definition of strategies for mobilizing them, designed to strengthen
their power to confront actions in defense of public policies for the benefit
of society. In Brazil, samba singer Bezerra da Silva used his critical approach
to social justice in most of his songs (video below).
Both artists and music psychologists have been concerned
with the power and abilities of music to influence our emotions, mood or state
of mind, thoughts, well-being, identity, and our behavior toward others.
Ancient philosophers have said that music can make us better people.
The biggest problem of this century is the climate change
crisis, but unfortunately, people are often failing to act to tackle
environmental problems. In the field of environmental psychology, several
theories can help us show why we are acting so slowly on environmental issues.
Consequently, suggestions are that artists and music may
play an important role in influencing environmental beliefs and behaviors. Some
countries are moving in this direction, in actions coming from artists
themselves, companies and public authorities.
The participation of artists in favor of “Demarcação Já” was
recently noticed, which could have been greater if there had been a strategy
defined by the various sectors of society, including public authorities, in
financing certain actions, mainly in defense of democracy.
It can also be seen that agribusiness lobbyism, support for
the world on fire, attacks on democracy, defense of the Marco Temporal coup,
and January 8th were inseparable movements, deserving the mobilization of those
in favor of democracy, sustainability and social justice, principles recently
defended by the country's highest Court of Justice – STF.
The way the fire intensified for four years in the Amazon
and what happened at COP26 were examples that clearly demonstrated how economic
interests are above the interests of humanity.
Considering that artists have a clear awareness and
perception of what is happening, what needs to be done at the moment is to
intensify their power so that some transformations in our society can happen
through musical work. It becomes urgent to create a culture of support for our
artists to speak out loudly about climate issues, rather than seeking to
compete their bands against each other.
The subsequent shift from environmentalism to popular music
coincided with an unprecedented rise in carbon emissions. Despite the so-called
protest anthem of some artists, such as Michael Jackson's music, it seemed that
the culture of the time itself turned its attention away.
However, in recent years, as the climate crisis reaches its
breaking point, artists around the world are returning to Earth to ask what can
still be learned and what can still be saved. We cannot fail to mention the
participation of countless Brazilian artists, who have been singing about
animals and nature.
While it was evident the anger of those defending the Marco
Temporal, through the violent attack on sustainability and indigenous and
quilombola populations, it is also evident that artists of this country are
already struggling along with all of us with the pain and anger that comes from
living on a planet that is moving towards environmental disaster.
It is expected that the public authorities will start
financing musical events between now and COP2/30, showing the strength of our
artists in environmental issues, in a country lacking the cultural changes
necessary to face this climate crisis.
The bad news continues to get worse and arrive faster than
anyone can imagine and assimilate: ice storms where they were not expected,
melting glaciers, endangered species, increasingly dangerous forest fires, in
addition to human mortality. The environmental disaster is becoming haunting
for all of us.
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