“And I thought about revolution, how whenever society needs to change, that change is inspired at least in part by the artist. I thought about how dictators and despots regularly murder and discredit artists. Hitler’s people came up with a term specifically to discredit artists: degenerate art. They were burning books and paintings. But why, why were the leaders of the Nazi party dedicating their attention to destroying art? If art really has no power, if it’s really a silly waste of time, then why are dictators afraid of it? Why were Nazi’s burning books and paintings? Why was McCarthy so dedicated to blacklisting artists in the 1950s? Why was Stalin’s government so focused on censoring artists in Russia? Because art scares dictators. Because they understood something that I’ve been struggling to understand my entire life. Art is powerful. Art is important. Art can change hearts and minds all the way across the world.”
– R. Alan Brooks, When the world is burning, is art a waste of time?
New Era of Public Safety
New Era of Public Safety is an advocacy toolkit for safe and effective community policing based on the work of the Task Force on 21st Century Policing formed during the Obama Administration. Download it yesterday and let’s get to work.
Banksy Finances Refugee Rescue Boat
Banksy’s latest piece/project can be found onboard The M.V. Louise Michel, a rescue boat he funded that operates in the Mediterranean Sea and answers emergency calls from “non-Europeans” seeking refuge in Europe from war, persecution, and authoritarian governments.
According to the Guardian, the project came about when Banksy reached out to experienced activist and experienced rescue boat captain Pia Klemp via email:
Hello Pia, I’ve read about your story in the papers. You sound like a badass,” he wrote. “I am an artist from the UK and I’ve made some work about the migrant crisis, obviously I can’t keep the money. Could you use it to buy a new boat or something? Please let me know. Well done. Banksy.
(via Kotke)
Signs From Above
If you’re looking for a sign…
Vitamin B(randing)
Vitamin B(randing) brought to you by the minds of Printsome. This one gets 5 ha’s from me. Ironically a lot closer to the truth than some of us might like to admit too!
Mosquito Posters
Mosquito posters? Yup, it’s a thing. Although I’d say no mosquito posters would be more fitting considering these particular posters from Habitat for Humanity release insecticide when touched by rainwater, that’s effective for 60 days in helping destroy and limit the population of these insects.
With the knowledge that mosquito-borne diseases are a major health concern in numerous countries, Habitat for Humanity created these one of a kind posters to aid in killing the Aedes Aegypti mosquito — a particularly deadly breed that carries Zika and Dengue.
The mosquito poster also doubled as a resource for the communities with warnings about the dangers of these insects and provided further info on infection prevention.
Talk about some powerful posters!
(via)
A Class Divided – A Powerful Lesson in Discrimination
A Class Divided is a powerful lesson in discrimination from third grade teacher Jane Elliot and one of the most requested programs on PBS Frontline.
The day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, Jane Elliott, a teacher in a small, all-white Iowa town, divided her third-grade class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups and gave them a daring lesson in discrimination. This is the story of that lesson, its lasting impact on the children, and its enduring power 30 years later.
(via JasonKotke)
Recycled Ocean Plastic Products
Recycled ocean plastic products brought to you by Parley for the oceans. All sales and donations support Parley’s cleanup efforts around the world. I’ll take two of everything, please!
Banksy’s Mediterranean Sea View 2017
Banksy’s “Mediterranean sea view 2017” pointedly alludes to the thousands of lives lost at sea during the European migrant crisis of the 2010s.
The paintings of “abandoned lifejackets and buoys to 19th century-style seascapes” were originally created for Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel.
The painting appeared in Sotheby’s Rembrant to Richter sale, and all proceeds went towards creating a new acute stroke unit and buying children’s rehabilitation equipment for the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation.
(via)
Counternarratives
In her series, Counternarratives artist Alexandra Bell confronts racial bias in journalism with large scale paste-ups of New York Times articles edited to reveal the truth.
(via)
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