Rakistang Aktibista (Side Notes on the 2009 UPLB Feb Fair)

This is a response to a series of comments that surfaced in one of my e-groups, so a backgrounder is needed first.

The recently concluded UPLB Feb Fair almost didn’t push through after tensions between the Chancellor’s Office and the University Student Council led to the latter’s inability to secure an early permit for the event. The fair only pushed through after dialogues between the administration and the student government led to the granting of an 11th-hour approval from the Chancellor on the day before the fair was scheduled to start.

Early this week, a blog entry from a disgruntled concessionaire (apparently also a UP alumna) was reposted in one of my e-groups. In the entry, the emotionally-wrought woman aired her frustrations over what she claimed was the USC’s lack of transparency in its business dealings with the fair concessionaires. She also criticized the arrogant demeanor and lack of professionalism of the USC’s activist leaders, especially during her narration of a heated confrontation with certain officers. She pointed out that given their elevated status as duly-elected officers of the student government and official representatives of the entire student body, the behavior shown not only towards her but towards the other concessionaires as well, was totally inexcusable.

The blog entry didn’t really focus much on the rift between the admin and the USC, so the comments posted in my e-group were mostly criticisms leveled against the USC’s activist leaders. It is against this backdrop that I wrote this rejoinder to some of the comments (snippets of which I’ve quoted anonymously just to contextualize some arguments).

I initially planned to post this in the e-group (which I’ve chosen not to identify throughout the piece) but given the length I came up with, I decided against it especially since the availability of custom visuals here would help me better emphasize some points.

And so…

My dear brothers and sisters in music,

It’s equally hard to lend credence to arguments against activists if the arguments are coming from perspectives based on an established stereotype that reflects mostly a superficial knowledge of the protest movement. Contrary to criticisms about activists being all “fire and brimstone” rabble-rousing rally addicts out to sow discontent, we also engage in more “sedate” forms, if you will, of protest.

We have visual artists who use their respective specializations to execute visually-arresting obras that depict social realities; we have filmmakers who create critical masterpieces whose alternative content and radical treatment challenge status quo sensibilities; some of us are writers of thought-provoking poetry, essays, short stories, and novels that force readers to question individual as well as collective value systems; many of us troop towards depressed areas in order to organize, educate, and empower the marginalized and disenfranchised; we hold seminars and various academic and cultural forums to critically discuss local and international issues; many of us blog or otherwise make use of the internet’s vast resources to bring our concerns to a worldwide audience; we also network with international organizations that advocate human rights vigilance, trade equity, and environmental protection, just to name a few.

As a high school instructor, I do it in the classroom setting whenever I teach kids to discover their own truths not by subscribing blindly to the colorful opinions and beliefs of demagogues (whether of the petty or charismatic kind) but by becoming critical thinkers who’ll anchor their beliefs on scholarly research, practical application, and the eventual syntheses borne out of real-life experiences. Then, of course, there’s also that means I employ as a musician, where protest takes on the form of a stage performance whenever I sing about “tibak-tibakan” issues with my band.

As for rallies, they’re “noisy” because that’s their nature. The reason why so many people tend to think that activists do nothing but hold these “noisy,” time-wasting, traffic-congesting mass actions is mainly due to the fact that rallies are arguably the most effective media and public attention-grabbing forms of protest available to activists all over the world. Considering all the other protest forms just mentioned, rallies actually comprise a small part of the mechanisms utilized to air concerns, and it’s unfortunate how some people seem to be too quick to dismiss a movement’s significance without considering the many other less obvious facets of its complex dynamics.

But even without having to discuss the variety of means, generalizing about activists without taking into account the variety itself of representative ideologies that exist in the socio-political spectrum (right-wingers and left-wingers of all kinds, anarchists, liberals, etc., the non-violent, the fundamentalists and extremists, and all others in-between) can only result in fallacious arguments, especially when it appears that the term “activist” as referred to in the thread points to none other than the prevailing “godless communist” stereotype, to the exclusion of all others.

Going on to the blogger’s contention about the USC not being forthcoming enough in it’s business dealings with the concessionaires and the Business Affairs Office, if there is merit in the allegation, I see no reason not to side with her on that aspect. As a former administrator and student council adviser during my time in UPIS, I stressed to my officers the importance of having all business dealings clear-cut and aboveboard, not only because it was the professional thing to do, but also because we had a legacy to protect. It wouldn’t have done well for the student government’s integrity and reputation if they were vocal about administrative policies but totally neglectful of basic organizational concerns such as fiscal responsibility and accountability. We would have come off as a big fucking noisy joke.

In all honesty, I don’t feel the least bit slighted when people take stabs or poke fun at my being an activist-musician, or raktibista, as I’ve come to label our kind of musikero. What I do take offense at, however, is when the questionable behavior of a few is used as a takeoff point for sweeping arguments like:

• “…may urge…magdadaldal ng hindi gumagamit ng utak.”
• “…madaming bobong ‘tibak’ ngayon.”
• “…para itong mga DEMOCRATS, puro salita wala namang katotohanan.”
• “…all they do is complain… complain… complain… complain.”
• “…all growl, little substance.”
• “…dinaan na lang sa galit at emotion.”
• “…gusto lang magrebelde kasi ‘cool.’”

and my personal favorite, the superbly cake-taking:

• “…walang babaeng tibak na cute!”

(which, despite it’s having been offered jokingly, would, in all likelihood, still translate to a manifest prejudice in the real world, be it the author’s or somebody else’s).

To be fair, I’m willing to concede that some of these may have been off-the-cuff remarks nonchalantly blurted out in the context of an informal, relaxed forum inhabited by like-minded, budding musikeros; but that doesn’t absolve the reactors from their arguments’ lack of logical foundation. In the spirit of academic excellence and sound argumentation, we’d do better to substantiate; otherwise, we’ll simply come off as purveyors of “glittering generalities” ourselves. And for musicians – for artists – this would be the creative equivalent of dishing out perfumed bullshit, much like the senseless mind-crap that this buffoon to the right keeps on feeding his witless wonderfans.

But enough of that.

I’d like to go now to a relevant side note (relevant inasmuch as we consider ourselves musicians and artists) where I’d also like to make a statement and an appeal based on the activist issue just discussed and, more importantly, on the implications of the dominant mindset reflected in most of the comments. With many of us presenting ourselves as representative of a newer, fresher breed of alternative music artists in the country, I believe that the following discussion is very much warranted.

To begin, here’s a horribly irritating cliché from The Amazing Spider-Man movie:

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Not everyone has what it takes to be a true artist, and that’s why a true artist’s talents are uniquely double-edged gifts. A true artist possesses the means to inspire people through creation; in the musician’s case, through music and lyrics. But a true artist lacking in direction will instead have the dangerous ability to reinforce escapist mentality, submissiveness, and conformity. For those of us who won’t be fortunate or resolute enough to go beyond the 15-minute fame mark, the talent may early retire to a quaint, perhaps even painful corner of memory. But for those who’ll persevere and perhaps even break into the scene with a vengeance, talent suddenly takes on a more enormous significance.

Art for art’s sake is a luxury that our counterparts in developed countries enjoy, sometimes to the point of absurdity. In our country, this just isn’t the case. If you’ve ever given a thought as to why most musicians who pursue their craft outside the mainstream tend to struggle and/or starve, you should know what I’m talking about. But despite this reality, the sorry state of affairs is precisely why we should push on and continue evolving as artists, as musicians.

The bigger picture here involves the direct and indirect assaults against our freedom to be able to fully express ourselves; to be able to make truly original, maybe even visionary musical masterpieces without being burdened by the economic restrictions imposed by an industry that caters mostly to the sensibilities of the status quo.

When we use our music to change people’s perceptions, we help our culture evolve and mature by showing others that there are alternatives to a sick, conservative culture. And when sensibilities mature, the musikero’s role in national development should become integral and unassailable. At the very least, the music profession should transform into a more viable and practical means to…well, make a goddamn fucking living.

(That last point might have sounded self-serving, but artists need to eat, too, especially if people want us to keep coming up with more inspiring shit.)

Truth is, until economic realities take a turn for the better, the negative consequences on the creative gene pool will only get worse. If you think about it, just how many of us have already been forced to give up on music in exchange for the financial security offered by a local corporate desk job or higher-paying overseas work? If there’s one thing that I feel hasn’t been emphasized enough in discussions on diaspora, it’s that brain-drain also translates into artist-drain as sick economics continues to force potential creative geniuses out of the country for lack of long-term basic survival opportunities.

And all this in spite of possessing a power that even government pundits (kasama na rin yung mga nagpu- pundit-punditan) envy and fear?

Just how many times have politicians called upon us to bait voters with catchy jingles designed to make them look like fun people? Just how many times have politicians asked artistas to grace campaign trails and become official celebrity endorsers? Hell! Even the Abu Sayyaf once asked bad boy Robin Padilla to play the part of hostage negotiator! (Okay, he’s not a musician; and fuck it, he’s not even a good actor.) But if that don’t beat all, how many times have entire governments been forced to rethink official policy or undergo massive PR damage control after suffering international embarrassment at the hands of musicians denouncing injustices through a collective display of musical outrage?

Look to the works of Gary Granada, Noel Cabangon, Jess Santiago, Joey Ayala, Yano, The Wuds, and The Jerks and find out just what kind of meaningful impact these musicians have had in the lives of the people they’ve inspired to take on proactive stances; to change and better themselves, their families, and the larger community of people they belong to.

And if these artists are altogether alien to your musical universe, then perhaps looking at the significant social, political, and cultural impacts of bands such as Green Day, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, and U2 would be enough to drive home the point that musicians as activists do make a difference.

Ultimately, it all boils down to perspective. And fortunately, as members of the creative community, we should have tons of that stuff, right? Though finding the right one that works well enough to inspire substance as well as material fulfillment can be quite tricky, it’s actually the committing part that can really be one hell of a mind-job. But all this can be made easier if we can reconcile ourselves to the fact that real artists are natural-born activists. And in the world of rakenrol, this has never been more self-evident.

Of course, it’s one thing to challenge a movement; it’s quite another to propose an alternative to it. But the question is, whenever we do pose challenges, do we do so armed with a well-grounded set of beliefs and principles? Or do we simply challenge out of contempt? Or worse, out of a sheer laziness that’s just conveniently hidden under the mask of “personal” ideology? Because the danger in sporting the “yeah!-fuck- them!-but-I-can’t-give-you-any-better-organized-alternative-I’m-willing- to-risk-going-into-at-the-moment” ideology is that in time, inconsistencies will strip the facade and expose the credibility of its standard bearers to attack and ridicule.

So, given the “tibak-bashing” that transpired, herein lies the rub: If you happen to be a rakista, you should know that rock history is a history of protest, and it is in this light that we, whether we consciously accept it or not, are actually natural agents of rebellion. But when our kind of artistry fails to elicit meaningful changes in the way people evaluate the kinds of choices they’re entitled to, in a way, we fail our mandate and devolve into pathetic practitioners of self-gratification. Of masturbation.

The unique national context we belong to should compel music artists to challenge what is essentially a repressive and unjust system controlled by the obscene machinations of the political, economic, and even religious elite. For what is the plight of real artists indicative of but the repression that continues to bear down upon similarly marginalized sectors of society? In simple terms, a true artist expresses nothing but truth in his or her creations. And even if truth is relative, someone devoted to its search shouldn’t have the stomach to swallow lies perpetrated by a privileged few, especially when the destructive consequences of such lies on the many are already glaringly obvious.

\m/ \m/

“It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies.” (Noam Chomsky)

“To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.” (Edward R. Murrow)

Enjoy the Music. Arm Your Mind. Join the Fight.