Amanda Gorman, the poet who spoke at Biden’s inauguration, has penned two poems. I wonder if it is because of the fragmented media landscape. Artists, and protests, don’t get coverage in the same way they did in the 60s.
Great post, much needed! My feeling is it's connected with the degradation of 'in-person' artistic communities. Up until 10 years ago these were very much still a thing (and were still residual in the meantime), for all mediums of art/creativity. The internet has disempowered us through alienation, and outsourced our activism into digital black holes. Artists need to feed off each other, riff off each others creations, be inspired politically through conversations which build ecosystem of empathy, this only happens optimally in real life.
In addition to the Boss, local musicians in Minneapolis are stepping up (https://www.npr.org/2026/01/21/nx-s1-5682347/this-local-brass-band-is-part-of-the-soundtrack-of-resistance-in-minneapolis). I suspect these protests are more localized than the BLM protests. I wonder if that has something to do with the fracturing of social media? It used to be that everyone was on Twitter. With Musk's enshittification of the platform, people have dispersed to various other apps and thus may not necessarily coalesce as quickly around a national mood. We're all ensconced in our much cozier digital communities. We're also probably a little exhausted from all the turmoil of the past decade, saw how so many fellow Americans still voted to bring back that guy despite everything, and depressed that very little seems to move the needle for certain voters who are blissfully (intentionally?) unaware of what happens outside their own little bubble or TikTok (the latter's algorithm allegedly suppressed news about the Minneapolis protests).
By the way, I had pre-ordered Hiroko-san's book and was very excited to immerse myself in it. It's been a deeply satisfying and emotional read so far. As a Japanese American with relatives still in "the old country," I intuitively grasp a lot of what she says but have never been able to articulate it so well as her. In many places, I found myself nodding along and mouthing "yes!" (As an aside, my grandmother instructed her children to pay for the cheapest kaimyo they could find because she thought it was a racket. I suppose we also have expensive funeral services here in America too, as I found out unfortunately a couple years ago, but at least the Buddhist monk wasn't the one imposing extortionate fees.) I've read books on Japanese mythology, history, and philosophy, but Hiroko Sensei has the clearest and most realistic explanation of Japanese culture, spirituality, and attitudes that I've ever come across. I hope your other followers also pick up this book, which is also a very easy read despite some of the complex topics she covers.
I'm surprised by your answer to "Where are the artists?" because to me, they are all over the place! Honestly if anything I'm having the opposite problem. I can't go online for my usual wholesome distractions because even artists that usually post zero politics are posting anti-ice art. And surely we can agree that words are art and there's no shortage of that - The Onion, for example, is rising to the occasion as usual. I'm not seeing any cultural stagnation there.
I think there may be reasons that people like you and me aren't hearing a lot of protest songs - we're not there, we're focused on Japanese culture, we're - eek - OLD. But I don't think you can conclude that the artists are not engaged with this moment.
for an example of one of those normally wholesome artists you can check out the social media of Lili Chin (our Yokai Parade artist) who makes her living drawing dogs and cats and makes a lot of protest art like https://bsky.app/profile/lilichin.bsky.social/post/3md2zu2i3v22w and
I spent three months in NYC last year (first time since 2014) and I had a similar experience from being in the same time zone. Regarding the artists, besides Bruce Springsteen’s Minneapolis song, I liked this one: https://share.google/hPW2xWDuPQJqO1kmP
I imagine that in-person events like the one you mentioned are where a lot of this is happening. A lot of artists are cautiously avoiding being targeted or shadow banned online in order to maintain their work. The last few years have also changed the way that art becomes visible - falling from the mainstream more and more in favour of ai slop and content deemed ‘safe’ by algorithms and big platforms.
Wow. I've just realized I have a lot of thoughts about the current state of protest in the US. I'm not an expert in WWII (since that seems to be our benchmark for fascism--would you call what happened in Japan "fascism"?), but I do know that cohesive resistance movements took a while to coalesce. But there were many small groups that sprung up almost immediately. In France, there were various factions that were almost antagonistic toward each other. The Germans invaded France in 1940, and it took until 1943 (?) to get the resistance groups aligned and organized. I think we're in that early stage of many smaller groups. And how long did it take the Civil Rights Movement to take hold? (Too long, too long.) Aside from the groups of people who have been under attack overtly or by micro aggression for several centuries (Black and Brown folks, Indians) and are unsurprised, white Americans have seemed stunned. But I think a month here can't show you all the graffiti, the political cartoons, the protest songs, or even the politically motivated art that people are creating. For one thing, a lot of it is intangible because it's being disseminated online (gosh, I miss the printing press). But it IS being created. In the future, historians will gather it, somehow, and it will look much more planned and "of a piece," just as the 60s and 70s stuff looks to you now, looking back.
Interesting take on the cultural stagnation angle. The point about platforms actively quashing dissent changes the game compared to the 60s or even 2003. Back then artists had space to build momentum, now algorthims and moderation crush things before they spread. Maybe the protest art is hapening in smaller venues like that Brooklyn club, we're just not seeing it amplified the way we used to.
Check out new tune from Bruce Springsteen Minneapolis
Anti fascist anthem that nails ICE n Trump
Amanda Gorman, the poet who spoke at Biden’s inauguration, has penned two poems. I wonder if it is because of the fragmented media landscape. Artists, and protests, don’t get coverage in the same way they did in the 60s.
Great post, much needed! My feeling is it's connected with the degradation of 'in-person' artistic communities. Up until 10 years ago these were very much still a thing (and were still residual in the meantime), for all mediums of art/creativity. The internet has disempowered us through alienation, and outsourced our activism into digital black holes. Artists need to feed off each other, riff off each others creations, be inspired politically through conversations which build ecosystem of empathy, this only happens optimally in real life.
In addition to the Boss, local musicians in Minneapolis are stepping up (https://www.npr.org/2026/01/21/nx-s1-5682347/this-local-brass-band-is-part-of-the-soundtrack-of-resistance-in-minneapolis). I suspect these protests are more localized than the BLM protests. I wonder if that has something to do with the fracturing of social media? It used to be that everyone was on Twitter. With Musk's enshittification of the platform, people have dispersed to various other apps and thus may not necessarily coalesce as quickly around a national mood. We're all ensconced in our much cozier digital communities. We're also probably a little exhausted from all the turmoil of the past decade, saw how so many fellow Americans still voted to bring back that guy despite everything, and depressed that very little seems to move the needle for certain voters who are blissfully (intentionally?) unaware of what happens outside their own little bubble or TikTok (the latter's algorithm allegedly suppressed news about the Minneapolis protests).
By the way, I had pre-ordered Hiroko-san's book and was very excited to immerse myself in it. It's been a deeply satisfying and emotional read so far. As a Japanese American with relatives still in "the old country," I intuitively grasp a lot of what she says but have never been able to articulate it so well as her. In many places, I found myself nodding along and mouthing "yes!" (As an aside, my grandmother instructed her children to pay for the cheapest kaimyo they could find because she thought it was a racket. I suppose we also have expensive funeral services here in America too, as I found out unfortunately a couple years ago, but at least the Buddhist monk wasn't the one imposing extortionate fees.) I've read books on Japanese mythology, history, and philosophy, but Hiroko Sensei has the clearest and most realistic explanation of Japanese culture, spirituality, and attitudes that I've ever come across. I hope your other followers also pick up this book, which is also a very easy read despite some of the complex topics she covers.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I poured my soul into writing the book, so your feedback really means something to me!
I'm surprised by your answer to "Where are the artists?" because to me, they are all over the place! Honestly if anything I'm having the opposite problem. I can't go online for my usual wholesome distractions because even artists that usually post zero politics are posting anti-ice art. And surely we can agree that words are art and there's no shortage of that - The Onion, for example, is rising to the occasion as usual. I'm not seeing any cultural stagnation there.
And as for music, the Bruce Springsteen song has overshadowed it, but Billy Bragg also just released a song, and I just came across this article https://www.insidehook.com/music/ice-protest-songs-galvanizing-minneapolis
I think there may be reasons that people like you and me aren't hearing a lot of protest songs - we're not there, we're focused on Japanese culture, we're - eek - OLD. But I don't think you can conclude that the artists are not engaged with this moment.
for an example of one of those normally wholesome artists you can check out the social media of Lili Chin (our Yokai Parade artist) who makes her living drawing dogs and cats and makes a lot of protest art like https://bsky.app/profile/lilichin.bsky.social/post/3md2zu2i3v22w and
https://bsky.app/profile/lilichin.bsky.social/post/3md4emxvvm22y
I spent three months in NYC last year (first time since 2014) and I had a similar experience from being in the same time zone. Regarding the artists, besides Bruce Springsteen’s Minneapolis song, I liked this one: https://share.google/hPW2xWDuPQJqO1kmP
I imagine that in-person events like the one you mentioned are where a lot of this is happening. A lot of artists are cautiously avoiding being targeted or shadow banned online in order to maintain their work. The last few years have also changed the way that art becomes visible - falling from the mainstream more and more in favour of ai slop and content deemed ‘safe’ by algorithms and big platforms.
Wow. I've just realized I have a lot of thoughts about the current state of protest in the US. I'm not an expert in WWII (since that seems to be our benchmark for fascism--would you call what happened in Japan "fascism"?), but I do know that cohesive resistance movements took a while to coalesce. But there were many small groups that sprung up almost immediately. In France, there were various factions that were almost antagonistic toward each other. The Germans invaded France in 1940, and it took until 1943 (?) to get the resistance groups aligned and organized. I think we're in that early stage of many smaller groups. And how long did it take the Civil Rights Movement to take hold? (Too long, too long.) Aside from the groups of people who have been under attack overtly or by micro aggression for several centuries (Black and Brown folks, Indians) and are unsurprised, white Americans have seemed stunned. But I think a month here can't show you all the graffiti, the political cartoons, the protest songs, or even the politically motivated art that people are creating. For one thing, a lot of it is intangible because it's being disseminated online (gosh, I miss the printing press). But it IS being created. In the future, historians will gather it, somehow, and it will look much more planned and "of a piece," just as the 60s and 70s stuff looks to you now, looking back.
Interesting take on the cultural stagnation angle. The point about platforms actively quashing dissent changes the game compared to the 60s or even 2003. Back then artists had space to build momentum, now algorthims and moderation crush things before they spread. Maybe the protest art is hapening in smaller venues like that Brooklyn club, we're just not seeing it amplified the way we used to.
You asked for it https://youtu.be/1RAhMegHPVA?si=SELmbkIAU0ve2Yqp
“Somehow, Tay Zonday returned.”
The artists are the right wing memers and shitposters probably
Some. Not all:
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2026-01-29/bruce-springsteen-streets-of-minneapolis-ice-protest-song
(Thanks to Rochelle for pointing this one out!)