Humor engulfs us. It is at every corner, every turn, in every city, and nearly every interaction we have. For those who are involved in political spheres, this is no different. Activists know of the power of humor to bring joy and point out inequalities in the world. From political cartoons to funny protest signs, political movements are able to use humor to advance their causes. Philadelphia has many examples of activists and political movements using humor to strengthen their causes. One example of this is in temporary autonomous zones created by anarchists and other activists. To quote Hakim Bey, an anarchist writer, author of T. A . Z.: Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism
“weird dancing in all-night computer-banking lobbies. Unauthorized pyrotechnic displays. Land-art earthworks as bizarre allen artifacts strewn in State Parks. Burglarize houses but instead of stealing, leave Poetic-Terrorist objects. Kidnap someone and make them happy. Pick someone at random and convince them they’re the heir to an enormous, useless and amazing fortune — say 5000 square miles of Antarctica, or an aging circus elephant, or an orphanage In Bombay, or a collection of alchemical mass. Later they will come to realize that for a few moments they believed in something extraordinary, and will perhaps be driven as a result to seek out some more intense mode of existence … if it does not change someone’s life (aside from the artist) it fails” (T.A.Z).
This advice by the author to be silly, to create humorous performance art that subverts the system and brings joy, really works. I experienced this first hand this summer while spending time at the unhoused encampments in Philadelphia. Throughout the summer, we had the opportunity to use humor to put across our political points many times. One specific example of this is when we invited the Mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney, to brunch at camp James Talib Dean, the unhoused encampment downtown near the Rodin museum.
Mayor Kenney ignored this invitation, which proved the points of the organizers that he was not interested in negotiating with the residents of the camp or providing solutions to end homelessness in Philadelphia. Still, large amounts of food for the brunch were donated by a local restaurant and enjoyed by community members and camp residents, who spent the morning in community with each other. The joy, laughter, and togetherness that came from the performance action pushed along the movement of housing justice in Philadelphia, and the mayor’s decision to decline only made the art and the humor of it stronger.
Another way Philadelphia has used radical humor is in the 2020 election. With an international pandemic and a hugely contested election, Philadelphia needed some joy. Because of this, the “count every vote” protest in Philadelphia in front of the convention center downtown turned into a massive dance party. Gritty, Philly Elmo, drumlines, drag queens, and dancing mailboxes were just a few of the notable parts of these day-long protests. From an inquirer article about the protest “We’re dancing in the streets like Lionel Richie,” said Rowena Dabney, 43, a small-business owner from North Philadelphia. “This energy is coming from hope.” She was among about 400 supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden who rallied Thursday evening outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where mail ballots were still being counted.” (Reyes). These protests meant a lot of Philadelphians like Rowena. It also meant a lot to Americans all over the country and outside of the country, such as the Gritney, the female Gritty created to celebrate the win of Joe Biden by London costume designer Riot Rogers, who had this to say about the costume “I think she’s like a manifestation of my own anger and grief — and just, like, ‘Oh, you want to f*** with me? Alright’,” (PhillyVoice). This hilarious use of political art was a huge part of the reason that the election was so memorable, and why so many people were brought to higher levels of political education. When humor was involved, it made it easier and more fun to come together as communities and as humans.
A third example is the term “Soup for our Family”. A few months ago, during the riots, Trump said this: “and you have people coming over with bags of soup and the anarchists… start throwing it at our cops… And if it hits you, that’s worse than a brick because that’s got force… And when they get caught, they say, “No, this is just soup for my family.” (Trump). This hilarious monologue Trump went on about soup has not only been laughed at, but has been endlessly parodied, and even reclaimed by mutual aid groups. One example of this is Philly based mutual aid group “Soup for the Fam”. This group, which currently feeds and provides resources to unhoused communities in Kensington and Frankford, uses the reclamation of this term to both pick fun at the ex-president’s silly words, as well as to build solidarity with those who have need. This radical use of humor advances their movement as it shows the failure of the state in the form of President Trump and the solidarity that his failures have created within the working class.
Bey, who I quoted in my introduction said in relation to political performance art “if it does not change someone’s life (aside from the artist) it fails” (T.A.Z). This is a very important distinction to me between humor that is somewhat political and radical humor. The life goal of the radical, of the activist, is liberation. I think it is no coincidence that humor, laughter, is liberating. That physically, the feeling of laughter is healing. In the communities that activists work in, where healing is few and far between, joking and humor create solidarity that is the foundation of the work that they are able to do there. I also think it is no coincidence that many activists are artists, many more of those performance artists. Take Crackhead Barney for example. A performance artist who uses humor against Trump supporters, always getting truthful answers from those she approaches because of the way she approaches them. This comes out as hilarious to us, those who see the brilliance in her art and the idiocy of those who disrespect her and then become the butt of the joke. She proves many of the left’s points simply by making the right admit them. When asked about herself and her art “I’m upset right now, I’m an alien from Mars, and I feel like I give you all you need to know about me from my performance art. That’s it, next question.” (Crackhead Barney and Friends).
To end with a personal anecdote about radical humor: this summer during the Black Lives Matter protests for Black Liberation, a now good friend and comrade of mine took it upon herself to buy hundreds and hundreds of tiny pig squeaky toys on which she wrote things like “ACAB” “1312” “FUCK 12” etc. During the protests, our group of protestors would use these squeaky toys to find each other and ensure all of our group was safe. These small squeaky toys were a hilarious part of a very radical point of my life so far, and I keep a few of them around to remind me of that time and all that I learned and was a part of.
Citations
T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism. Accessed March 2, 2021. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/hakim-bey-t-a-z-the-temporary-autonomous-zone-ontological-anarchy-poetic-terrorism.
Reyes, Anthony R. Wood, Anna Orso, Oona Goodin-Smith and Juliana Feliciano. “At Vote Count Protests in Philadelphia, Partisan Bickering Yields to a Party.” https://www.inquirer.com. Accessed March 2, 2021. https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/philadelphia-protests-vote-count-election-results-trump-biden-20201105.html.
“Yes, Philly Elmo and the Drum Line Positive Movement Are Still Hitting the Streets during the Pandemic.” Accessed March 2, 2021. https://www.inquirer.com/news/coronavirus-covid-philly-drum-line-elmo-positive-movement-pandemic-20200427.html.
“Crackhead Barney and Friends | Metal Magazine.” Accessed March 2, 2021. https://metalmagazine.eu/en/post/interview/crackhead-barney-and-friends.
PhillyVoice. “Gritty Has a Female Counterpart, Grittney, Trolling Trump in London,” November 10, 2020. https://www.phillyvoice.com/gritty-grittney-riot-rogers-london-philadelphia-flyers-mascot-2020-election-trump/.
