Artists are under no obligation to self-censor.
Neither are they obligated to share their thoughts on, well, anything.
For some artists, their personal lives do not allow public disclosure on the politics of the day or injustice.
Journalists are jailed in China for writing articles criticizing the government, so artists tend to let their works speak for themselves (or risk the same fate) – but many still find a way to write stories that are subtle critiques of the society under which they live.
Here in the states, we’re not used to the government threatening the press – it’s shocking to see the president retweet a video where he bodyslams CNN and constantly undermine the legitimacy of the press. In a very short time, that’s become the norm here – but it’s long been the norm around the world in regimes who are threatened by free peoples and their critical opinions.
What are artists to do, given this turn of events?
Well, the comics and the political cartoonists are having a Golden Era (and thank heavens for that). But many artists who do not normally speak out (myself included) have chosen to do so because we feel it is necessary. Because injustice must have someone speak against it *before* things devolve to the point where we risk jail by doing so.
Still, artists are under no obligation to do this. Some have situations where it’s risky to their personal safety to speak out. Some simply choose to speak in one forum but not another or to have their works speak for themselves. I trust my fellow artists to be brave – because that’s what artists do every day – and to make the right choice for themselves.
As for me, I’ll use my words – my voice, my art – to speak against injustice as I see it. What consequences may come from that (for me) are small compared to those faced by many others. I joked with my friends after the election that if this experiment in speaking out completely tanked my career, well, that’s what pennames are for. And yet, nothing of the sort has happened (yet). My experience has been that the choices we deem most risky – the ones that make us vulnerable in the world – are the ones that pay off in the dividend of living a whole-hearted life.
Something I’m also radically committed to.
This is me. This is my space.
This is what you can expect from me.
(I posted this quote from Toni Morrison the day after the election, and it only grows more true with time.)