Artists are the gatekeepers of truth - the unofficial response to Robert Hughes

"Not all, but many have been the recipients of this distinguished award. Many were men and women who spoke up to remedy the ills of the nation. They were committed to radical thought. They were my mentors, my inspiration, my moral compass. Through them I understood America’s greatness, Dr. W.E.B. Dubois, Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, and others like Fannie Lou Hammer, Ella Baker, Bobby Kennedy, Condi Rice and perhaps most important for me, Paul Robeson. He was the sparrow. He was an artist who made us understand the depth of that calling, when he said, 'Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are civilization’s radical voice.' Never in the history of Black America, has they ever been such a harvest of truly gifted and powerful artists as we witness today, yet our nation hungers for their radical song."

Harry Belafonte
Spingarn Award Acceptance Speech NAACP
February 1, 2013

Robert Hughes asked, in "Shock of the New" if art can be subversive. The question was asked in the context of function rather than form - in other words, can art effect political change? Can one artist, one piece, make a measurable difference in the course of the powers of politics?

No.

From the time that homo sapiens stood on two feet there have been two classes of society. One noticed the pigments available in botany and beast, the other carried a big stick. One crafted art on the walls of the cave, the other beat submission into man and beast. Thus politics was born, and images of it recorded in plant dyes and blood.

There has always been a strong political force dominating and domineering society. From Vikings, to Romans, to Normans and Imperialistic Robber Barons, there has always been, and will always be, someone stronger and mightier imposing their narcissistic will upon others. 

There have been brief snippets in history when it seemed that art may have made a difference - the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Han Dynasty, the Renaissance, the Surrealists, the American 60's - but in the end the most enduring political power belongs to the wealthy and the military. Time and politics continue to trample art, peace and love.

However, art is more important than any political power. Life itself is more important than political power, and it is there that art makes a difference. Humans have souls (most of us anyway, one could argue about a few among us), and it is the soul that is fed by art. It gives us hope as we lie oppressed - hope that someday there will be change, and justice, and freedom. It may never come, but along the way our path is enlightened, our minds expanded, through the powerful influences of art.

Most of civilization will spend its time on earth as exploited masses, struggling to survive, living in fear and oppression. It is through art that life becomes worth living, as humanity erupts in painting, verse and song. That's who we are. Politics is not what humanity is about, so it really doesn't matter that art cannot change the flow of it. Instead art is the rocks, sand barriers and lush little islands in a river of change, detouring civilization for a brief respite from the raging, and murky waters of progress.

Art gives us hope, a chance to breathe, a chance to be fully human before we are swept away. It is through art that those of us who will never experience power find a voice. And in the end, those are the only voices that matter.

Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. The real truth, the real human spirit. And in the end, it has little to do with political change, and everything to do with life.