Ep. 9 - Chi DNA: Art in Activism ft. Charles Preston

This is the first Chicago Drill and Activism (AKA "Chi DNA")
installment of Bourbon ’n BrownTown. Chi DNA is an ongoing
documentary and multimedia project, which also features
interviews, micro-documentaries, and editorial pieces on drill
rap and the activist resurgence in Chicago.


GUEST
Charles Preston is a Southside Chicago activist, journalist, and
creator of Church on the 9, a glorified corner cypher series for
Chicago artists and the Chatham community. Charles played a
pivotal role as an organizer during the #SaveCSU campaign, and
has worked with BYP100, BLM Chicago, and is a member of TEMBO.


OVERVIEW
Charles and BrownTown discuss the role art has always had in
social movements and continues to have today. Now in the digital
age, Chicago activists use various artistic mediums to push the
resurgence forward. From traditional studio art to informative
and beautiful zines to community corner spoken word, creative
narratives are employed to educate, express, and cope. Art has
been a tool of movements' past and continues to serve as a
versatile component of contemporary movements. With authenticity
and expression at the center, this episode also unpacks drill as
a type of misunderstood art in-and-of-itself. What would not
conventionally be considered movement art, the subgenre unpacks
the ills of disenfranchised Black communities in a totally
different way, often times coping with larger structural problems
with interpersonal and intercommunal affects.


CHI DNA
The Chicago Drill and Activism project explores the creation,
meaning, perspectives, and connections between drill rap and the
resurgence of grassroots activism since the early 2010s through
the eyes of the people involved. It focuses on contemporary
Chicago as an intentional place for the resurgence of these two
formations of cultural and political resistance during relatively
the same time period. It examines how authenticity, community,
and other important values to the subjects are impacted and
promoted via technology, social media, and a rejection of
traditional means of movement politics and corporate structures.
As told by activists and drill rappers alike, the project
situates the the subjects’ experiences and actions into a broader
theoretical and empirical history of systemic inequality and
resistance in Chicago. Follow the ongoing project at Chi-DNA.com
for more.


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CREDITS: Intro song Arrogant by King
Louie. Outro song Fuck Your Institution by Ric Wilson.
Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro. Episode art by Sarah-Ji.


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