Before the pandemic, Protest Papi (PP) had to worry about where her next paycheck was coming from and had little time to create and focus on her creative activism. Now sidelined, she found a unique opportunity to focus on what she really ways to do – educate and liberate. Using her talents in design and inspirations from mid-century education materials, PP regularly shares information with her nearly 3000 followers on Instagram to encourage social change. She has completed over 1000 graphic flyers to gather large crowds for bi-weekly marches in Portland. Reminiscent to the Bauhaus art style, her flyers are bright, geometric, and abstract – drawing visual attention on current social issues.
The Portland protests are part of a larger social movement that is actively promoting social justice and is against racism, police violence, colonialism, and white supremacy, and capitalism. PP is an excellent example of how creative activists are taking advantage of technological advancements, specifically as it relates to utilizing the internet and social media platforms. Creative activists utilize the benefits of the internet and technology to promote their work online, ensuring replicability, dissemination, and connectivity.
Traditionally needing to get media coverage to increase the overall influence of a social movement, social media platforms now empower creative activists to spread awareness about social issues. This creates a space to connect like-minded people and motivate them to mobilize, which therefore shows the power of creative activists to make a difference and have real impact.
As a new source of public opinion and mobilization, this has often led to societal change. People have also changed their attitudes and behavior toward power. Social media is influencing creative activism by enabling people to share an increased amount of information in a way that wasn’t previously possible. People are connecting with each other regardless of geography and organizing political action and resistance. In PP’s case, social media allowed her to collaborate with creative activists in a long-distance sense, including the community where she grew up, Phoenix, AZ.
“We kind of live in an Instagram world. A lot of people look to various social media platforms for information on events and education and the more appealing the art is, the more people pay attention.” – Protest Papi
Klee Benally is another creative activist from the Black Mesa on Diné Bikeyah (the Navajo Nation). He is an Indigenous anarchist, musician, writer, filmmaker, and graphic designer. Benally’s work also demonstrates how activism is evolving with social media, becoming a monumental tool in social movements. During the COVID pandemic, he stepped back from some of the mutual aid work he was doing and spent more time on the computer. He produced an album, helped edit and contributed writings to a book, finished some large paintings, had two gallery exhibitions, and produced a few designs for stickers, shirts, and written some zines. The pandemic caused him to deepen connections he has with other organizers and artists, with impactful collaborations.
“My work has been largely shaped by where I come from, which in terms of Indigenous relationship to land who I am and where I am from are the same. That a political land dispute driven by resource extraction has been imposed upon these lands and has torn apart our communities has shaped my "work" even more,” stated Benally.
He engages in artistic activism in the form of a propagandist, or someone who takes ideas and causes, applies an appropriate frame, and distributes them however he can. He continued to state, “what makes anything meaningful is connection and fulfillment…sometimes the process of creation is destructive (and vice versa) and so the outcome isn't so fulfilling but the catharsis can be its own outcome.”
People of all ages and backgrounds are showing an increased interest in learning creative skills to make an impact. According to Ann Lee, Director of Admissions for an online design college, enrollment has surged following the COVID-19 pandemic. “The college I work for has always offered online design programs. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a significantly higher interest in prospective students looking to learn art and design skills for an array of reasons. Students enroll from all around the world, and we have seen students design work for social issues their local communities are facing,” stated Lee.