HONK! for Activism
Walking around Harvard Square on the Sunday of the HONK! festival, I was surprised by the number of different 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 are doing activist work with organizations at different tents at HONK!. I walked over to a tent for Pharmate since its brand looked somewhat activist, if activism was known to have a certain appearance, and I had a conversation with one of the Pharmate employees at the tent. He informs me about Pharmate’s mission, which is inherently activist. When I brought up activism at HONK!, the Pharmate employee says, “We’re activists, but we’re doing something about it.” Pharmate was at HONK! with a clear purpose of trying to inform people about their ideal healthcare model and to notify interested persons about how they can get involved to help the cause. 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. Other activists that are “doing something about it” are prevalent under tents and in the parade. However, most of the activism at HONK! aims to spread a message, since the HONK! platform is more conducive to the display of short visual or auditory slogans. For this reason, most of the HONK! attendees seem to support the activist messages while at HONK!, but many do not get a chance to actually contribute to the activist cause. Therefore, while walking around the Square, I did notice many activist signs and sounds, but I had a hard time articulating the impact HONK!’s Sunday event in Harvard Square made on any of the activist 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 a large stage on Mass Ave. As some bands passed by, I could not tell whether or not they were activist bands. However, other bands had clear activist slogans on their apparel, on their instruments, or on signs they made. In my opinion, the bands were more visually activist than musically activist. Since most of the bands were instrumental, they typically did not have activist lyrics, but there were a few exceptions. During part of the parade, I was volunteering behind the main stage, and I started talking to 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 with a different theme each year for HONK!. 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, as an audience member may want to reach out to an organization to get involved in the activism, or they might want to spread the activist message themselves. Since HONK!’s platform is very inclusive, many very different types of groups can put their spin on what an activist street band looks and sounds like, and as a result, the HONK! parade appeared as a very large, diverse, and inclusive form of art and activism.
Even while walking around the streets, the activism is hard to miss. Many people wore clothing with activist slogans, and there were even people walking up to groups of HONK! bystanders to speak about their activist cause. I casually spoke to two older men sitting down and observing the atmosphere, and 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. The activism was everywhere, but it definitely had a liberal Cambridge slant, as much of the visible activism that the bystanders wore was in disapproval of the Trump administration and of 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 approached two people sitting on the ground and observing the atmosphere, and we had a great conversation in which I explained that the HONK! festival was comprised of many activist bands and organizations, and I asked how they observed the activism at HONK!. They both saw the cultural diversity at HONK! as beautiful and key to the activism, which is promoting a more progressive culture. At its root, activism is what they were seeing in the overall HONK! environment, they explained. This take on activism centers HONK!’s Sunday parade around 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.
Even though I did notice the activism at HONK!, I was curious to see how much activism bystanders really noticed, so I interviewed some people standing or sitting down in Harvard Square. 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. They mentioned seeing a climate change banner, but past that, the activist aspect of the festival was not clear. I also walked up to two girls in high school who were sitting on a curb. One had gone to many past HONK! festivals, and 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 observing HONK! noticed some activism, but they did not seem to be very impacted by the activism at HONK!. The bystanders who wore certain slogans could have felt more compelled to join in the activism than the bystanders who did not, but overall, HONK! is 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 the interviews with people at HONK!, I falsely explained HONK! as an activist festival, failing to correct myself and say that the activism is coming from the bands, organizations, and audience members instead of coming from the festival itself. However, I’ve noticed that HONK! makes sense when bystanders think about it as a safe space for people to preach how they believe certain aspects of society should change, where diversity and the acceptance of different kinds of people are valued. Some people may believe that activism is not impactful if people are not being called to partake in an action to help further the goals of a cause, but sometimes activism can just be one 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. HONK!’s environment that embraces the opinions and dissatisfactions of many different kinds of people is important to America’s democracy and culture, and it is a pleasing and welcoming atmosphere in which many bystanders can witness and possibly be moved by a compelling display of activism.
