WALELA NEHANDA, POET AND ORGANIZER, RELEASES EP ON RADICALISM, SELF-DEFENSE AND SELF DETERMINATION : ANDREA BALDRIAS
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In the words of Toni Cade Bambara, the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible. With “artivism” (the practice of combining art and activism) culture today, it can be seen how artists who engage with political content are less obligated to do more than just that.
It begs the question: what is the relationship between art and organizing today? What does it look like when both are successfully in conversation with each other? The interrogation of the symbiotic relationship between these two spheres is the importance of what 25-year old non-binary, New Afrikan community organizer (they/them pronouns), Walela Nehanda, is doing in their work as an artist and organizer.
On February 26th, Walela released Resurrection which is their first body of work in three years. Their last release was a nine-track album which was titled Baptism. “It’s kind of ironic because this EP is called Resurrection. So, I guess there was a period where I died, and my art did as well.