HONK! for Activism
By: Raven Richard
HONK! labels itself as a "festival of activist street bands." There is no one activist cause that is being promoted by HONK!; instead, any participating band can choose the message that it wants to communicate, or even whether or not its performance will be outwardly activist at all. I learned about HONK!'s stance on activism before attending the 2019 festival, and I was both interested in and skeptical of how activism would appear at the event. Two of the HONK! organizers came to speak to my Music Festivals class about the festival, and I could definitely visualize "activism at HONK!" when they spoke about activities such as a planned trip to play music outside of a local detention center in solidarity with detainees. However, their description of HONK!’s Sunday parade sounded too chaotic for me to comprehend, and I wanted to see if a day at this "activist festival"--featuring activism planned by participating bands and organizations--would be able to make any kind of lasting impact. To interpret the activism at HONK!’s 2019 takeover of Harvard Square on Sunday, October 13th, I observed and interviewed many people at HONK!, focusing on how people perceived the activism.
Walking around Harvard Square on the Sunday of the HONK! festival, I was surprised by the number of vendors and nonprofits that had set up under tents along the streets. I was on the lookout for "activism," and I quickly found people who consider themselves to be doing activist work. I walked over to a tent for Pharmate since its brand looked somewhat activist--if activism can be said to have a certain appearance--and I had a conversation with one of the Pharmate employees. He informed me about Pharmate’s inherently activist mission. When I brought up activism at HONK!, the Pharmate employee said, “We’re activists, but we’re doing something about it.” Pharmate was at HONK! with the clear purpose of informing people about their ideal healthcare model and notifying interested persons about how they could get involved to help the cause. In our conversation, I learned that the organization itself tries to provide medications that are affordable and accessible, to advance research that can benefit the public, and to increase awareness of the current American health care system. Most of the activism at HONK!, however, seemed to be less about "doing something" and more about spreading a message; in my experience, the HONK! platform is most conducive to the display of short visual or auditory slogans. For this reason, most of the HONK! attendees seemed to support activist messages while at HONK!, but may not get a chance to actually contribute to the activist cause at the Festival. As a result, I did notice many activist signs and sounds while walking around the Square, but I had a hard time articulating the impact HONK!’s Sunday event in Harvard Square made on any of the supported causes. However, this may be because much of the actual work and contributions often go unnoticed.
The HONK! parade started at 12pm, and I witnessed band after band walk through the center of Harvard Square from my position on a large stage on Mass Ave. As some bands passed by, I could not tell whether or not they were activist bands. Other bands, however, proudly placed clear activist slogans on their apparel, on their instruments, or on handmade signs. In my opinion, the bands were more visually activist than musically activist. Since most of the bands performed instrument-heavy brass music, they typically did not feature activist lyrics, but there were a few exceptions. During part of the parade, I was volunteering behind the main stage, and I started a conversation with a volunteer who had volunteered at many past HONK! festivals. He explained that he had been volunteering for a group called Puppeteers Cooperative, which makes a huge puppet on a different theme each year for HONK!. For this volunteer, HONK! gives activist groups and artists a platform to creatively deliver whatever message they want to deliver, and this safe space for activists allows organizations and groups of people to reach a broader audience. Therefore, HONK! helps to facilitate the spread of activism through exposure: an audience member may want to reach out to an organization to get involved, or they might want to spread the activist message themselves. Since HONK!’s platform strives to be inclusive, many very different types of groups can put their spin on what an activist street band looks and sounds like. As a result, the HONK! parade appeared to me as a large, diverse, and inclusive form of art and activism.
Even if I had stumbled across the festival by accident, the "activism" at HONK! is hard to miss. On the streets of Harvard Square, many participants wore clothing with activist slogans, and there were even people walking up to groups of bystanders to speak about their own particular activist cause. I casually spoke to two older men sitting down, observing the atmosphere. They said the scene appeared to be a relatively free-for-all activist space, where anyone can loudly preach any cause and it is acceptable. Activism was everywhere, but it definitely had a liberal Cambridge slant: much of the audience's and participants' visible activism (clothing, signs) disapproved of the Trump administration and the policies his administration has implemented. But I did not notice anyone who seemed to be uncomfortable in this setting, and there was a freeing aspect to this activism. I later approached two people enjoying HONK!, and we had a great conversation in which I began by explaining that the Festival featured many self-identifying activist bands and organizations. Then, I asked how they observed "activism at HONK!." They both saw the cultural diversity at HONK! as beautiful and key to the activism, promoting a more progressive culture. They explained that they felt "activism" was at the root of what they were observing in the overall HONK! environment. This take on activism centers HONK!’s Sunday parade in a culture of openness where people are welcome to talk to others about their views, or to publicize their views to a wide audience, in hopes of possibly inspiring someone else to help make a difference.
While I was primed to notice the activism at HONK!, I was curious to talk with audience members and bystanders in Harvard Square to know how much "activism" bystanders really perceived. I first spoke with a couple who was not planning to go to HONK!; they said that they noticed something going on when they got off at the Harvard Square T-station and walked over to check out the festivities. When pressed, they mentioned seeing a climate change banner, but past that the activist aspect of the festival was not clear to them. I also talked with two girls in high school who were sitting on a curb. One had attended many past HONK! festivals, while the other was seeing HONK! for the first time. Neither had thought much about the activism at HONK!, but they had observed activist slogans coming from the bands, which they found to be interesting. Overall, many people casually observing HONK! noticed some type of "activism," but there is no evidence that it had an impact on their future actions. What is clear, however, is that HONK! serves as a great platform that gives bands and organizations a voice to speak to people who are willing to listen to them.
After watching the HONK! Sunday parade, I started to understand HONK!’s label as a "festival of activist bands." In many of my interviews at HONK!, I falsely explained HONK! as an "activist festival," failing to correct myself by saying that the activism comes from the people--from the bands, organizations, and audience members--rather than from the festival itself. However, I’ve noticed that HONK! makes most sense to audiences when they think about it as a safe space within which to advocate for change in certain aspects of society, and within which diversity and the acceptance of different kinds of people are valued. Although there are those who may believe that activism doesn't have an impact if people do not act to help further the goals of a cause, sometimes activism can be a single person mustering the courage to speak about their beliefs, in hopes that others will relate to them and feel like they can also speak out about the same cause. The fact that HONK!’s ethos embraces the opinions and dissatisfactions of many different kinds of people is important to maintaining America’s democracy and culture, and it is a pleasing and welcoming atmosphere in which audiences can witness--and possibly be moved by--compelling displays of activism.
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