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Title: Liberation Music Therapy Author: Dorian Wallace Date: 06/13/2022 Language: en Topics: music, liberation psychology, social psychology, artivism, music therapy, libertarian socialism, social change, psychology Source: http://www.dorianwallace.com/blog Notes: Published part of the Anarchist Essays series of the Anarchism Research Group
We experience life through vibrations. Music has been a vital part of
our evolution since the Paleolithic era and is an integral part of our
history. Music can bring people together, encourage social, political,
economic, or environmental change, facilitate healing, and illuminate
human transcendence through peace and solidarity. In other words, music
can connect with the human psyche in ways that, when practiced with
focused intention, have the potential to treat entire communities that
have undergone transgenerational trauma at the assault of colonialism
and Capitalism.
My name is Dorian Wallace, and I am both a composer and a music
therapist, concentrating on existential and sociopolitical issues from a
socialistic perspective. In a colonialist definition, music therapy is
the clinical and evidence-based practice of music interventions within a
therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional. While there are
valid reasons to maintain accountability procedures for monitoring
practices and interventions affecting the human psyche, there is also a
valid critique of the current paradigm we use and how it consciously and
unconsciously targets specific groups of people for oppression. Given
that modern psychology was built within a colonizer paradigm, it is
reasonable to suspect that an innate bias exists within its structure.
Let us consider that this structure elevates the colonizer while
depressing the colonized. What are we to do?
I want to acknowledge that modern psychology has a substantial body of
work and outcomes that have helped many individuals manage mental health
concerns. I also want to acknowledge that most, if not all, mental
health professionals are doing good work and serving those in need to
the best of their ability. Nonetheless, as a society, we often only
consider someone “healed” if one can effectively engage in Capitalism,
and if they cannot, we incarcerate them. By existing within a
colonialist model, there are inherent biases that keep certain people
oppressed. We must remember that psychology is simply the scientific
study of the mind and behavior and that the Eurocentric model does not
solely define the discipline. A synthesis from diverse cultural
orientations could provide more significant insights into the mind and
communal consciousness.
Liberation psychology is a school of thought that originated amongst a
body of psychologists in Latin America in the 1970s as a direct response
to the colonialist conception of individuality present in much of modern
psychology. Spanish-born Jesuit priest and social psychologist Ignacio
MartĂn-BarĂł is considered the founder of liberation psychology due to
his writing on the subject. With a concentration on the perspectives,
expertise, and movements of those who have been alienated and
marginalized, it addresses the implications of colonial power and
institutions on oppressed people and the lived experiences of poverty,
social injustice, suppression, persecution, and violence. Liberation
psychologists strive to absorb, amplify, and integrate the genius of
people most afflicted by various forms of oppression into theory and
practice, going beyond a clinical response to trauma, connecting
people’s emotional experiences with societal struggles against impunity
and for ethical, social transformation.
Since long before the beginning of British imperialism, music has been a
part of the healing process and has traditionally been a practice to
elicit a therapeutic reverie through rhythm and song, serving as a means
of sublimation in civilizations around the planet. Sufi mystics and
other spiritual practices worldwide have realized the significance of
music in transporting them to another sense of consciousness that
contributes to higher comprehension. The rhythmic heartbeat of a drum
induces an awakened state in persons involved in various shamanic
practices. Drumming elicits consciousness and keeps a person in the
mental space while rites and rituals occur. Chanting, which commonly
applies the recitation of a mantra, can also contribute to this state,
as seen in Hindu, Buddhist, and Celtic traditions. Chanting and singing
can also be holistic medicinal songs within many shamanic practices,
inviting those seeking treatment to examine themselves to see what the
music signifies to them. Chanting and vocalizing can involve overtones
and harmonics as part of their spiritual technologies to attain a
non-ordinary state. Trance music is a result of the contemporary rave
cultures. European classical music or neo-indigenous art forms like hip
hop or reggae can serve to create an experience of elevation. Seeing an
orchestral or a hip-hop performance firsthand can be mesmerizing and
existentially stimulating.
The connection between music and politics cannot be understated and
lives in many cultures. Music can express anti-establishment and
pro-establishment sentiments, and communities can use music to portray
specific political messages. We can consider all music political from a
cultural perspective, regardless of political content, simply by its
presence within a specific time, space, and place. Interpretive readings
of lyrics and performances strongly emphasize historical contexts and
links to social groups. Consider the concept of “artivism,” a hybrid
term uniting art and activism popularized through a 1997 convergence
between Chicano artists from East Los Angeles and the Zapatistas in
Chiapas, Mexico. Artivists utilize art to elevate political objectives
in multiple contexts, emphasizing improving social, environmental, and
technological awareness.
As activist M. K. Asante puts it, “The artivist uses her artistic
talents to fight and struggle against injustice and oppression—by any
medium necessary. The artivist merges commitment to freedom and justice
with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body, and the
imagination. The artivist knows that to make an observation is to have
an obligation.”
Given the right historical circumstances, cultural conditions, and
aesthetic connotations, popular music can help bring people together to
form effective political movements. Music may productively address the
deep understanding of what it is to be sentient, tackling the message of
the material needs of the popular majority while integrating with the
spiritual nourishment that art provides—communal cohesion for the
community and self-expression for the individuals involved. A
liberation-oriented music therapist must consider all of these factors.
We use music simultaneously as a function of art, ritual, therapy, and
politics, all within a cipher of lived experience and cultural genius.
From this perspective, a liberation music therapist is less of a
clinician but more of a cultural practitioner.
ConcientizaciĂłn is a sociological concept promoted by Brazilian
pedagogue and theorist Paulo Freire. It translates as “consciousness
raising” or “critical consciousness.” The term derives from a French
term, conscienciser, coined by the French psychiatrist and political
philosopher Frantz Fanon in his 1952 book, Black Skins, White Masks. It
focuses on developing a deep and adaptable comprehension of one’s
existence, allowing one to uncover their positionality within
socioeconomic and cultural paradoxes and take action against
authoritarian forces in one’s life. Music, specifically lyrics, can
support in more effortlessly and intimately identifying these paradoxes.
Activist and writer Audre Lorde wrote poetry to communicate for women of
color activists and resistance groups.
A technique used in music therapy is lyric analysis. A lyric analysis
involves using existing songs to facilitate meaningful discussion. Use
songs that are popular within a community, as music frequently reflects
who a community is and how they see themselves in the world. Take this
song by American rapper
which I frequently use when working with people in custody at Rikers
Island. Here is the first verse and chorus.
Notice your response to this song. How did the rhythm affect your body?
Was there any noticeable unconscious movement, say a head-bobbing or
foot-tapping? If so, you have just experienced entrainment, a
biomusicological term for the unconscious synchronization to an
externally detected rhythm. Although there are known examples of
specific nonhumans experiencing entrainment, humans are the only species
where all members of the species experience it. Evolutionary
musicologist Joseph Jordania suggests that the forces of natural
selection developed the human ability to be entrained as a vital part of
achieving the specific altered state of consciousness known as battle
trance. Attaining this state, in which humans forfeit their
individuality, do not feel fear or pain, and are integrated with a
shared collective identity to act on behalf of the community, was
critical for our ancestors’ survival needs against large predators. I
play the music that I know is popular in the community while working
with a group of persons in custody. Even when I am not verbally
interacting with someone, I look for entrainment as it signifies
unconscious communication. By presenting music that I know is
significant to the community rather than music that I assume they should
hear, I recognize their beliefs and culture on their level, showing
regard, carefulness, and respect. We will not advance toward
revolutionary transformation as activists until we meet communities
where they are psychologically, intellectually, and spiritually. The
liberation music therapist must be an active participant in the
proletariat struggle, not just another brainwashed colonialist clone
pushing decisions from their ivory tower. Real will always recognize
real, and projecting an artificial, imposed, self-centered,
inconsiderate, or entitled posture decreases the chances of authentic
class solidarity.
What lyrics stood out to you in this song? Were there any moments that
communicated a concientizaciĂłn position? Are there any lyrics that
increase awareness of your specific positionality within the
socioeconomic landscape you and your community inhabit? What can you do
with this knowledge?
Although this passage is explicitly about intraracial conflict, it also
reveals how colonial power applies pressure and force upon those who
should otherwise understand the struggle. Individuals impaired by a
colonial worldview will often act dismissively toward others who should
be their comrades. Self-hatred develops over time due to past trauma,
feelings of inadequacy, unrealistic expectations, social criticisms, and
habitual behaviors. Whatever line is made in the sand, whether class,
gender, ethnicity, geographic location, orientation, political
convictions, or other distinctions, there is a need to see past the
resistance a person might put up and reach them where they authentically
are.
I’ve witnessed unnecessary clashes amongst anarchists,
Marxist-Leninists, Trotskyists, and Social Democrats, often over minor
ideological differences that all involved could sort out productively if
everyone took time to cool down. Leftists will often bash liberals for
being ignorant of the struggle of working people, and liberals will
accuse leftists of being too idealistic. How can we build solidarity if
we cannot keep ourselves in order? Anti-racist activists will, with good
reason, reject bigots entirely. However, to achieve true solidarity, we
must develop ways to communicate with those who hold harmful ideas and
beliefs. I once attended an Industrial Workers of the World Organizing
Training 101 class when a participant asked, “What do you do if there is
a bigot in the workplace?” Before responding, the facilitator took a
moment to think, “You unionize them! Solidarity is the most effective
way to combat bigotry!”
Realize that human beings are complex. We must recognize that the bulk
of these complexities is generated and exacerbated by Capitalism, as
human beings and the environment will always be commodities, resulting
in irrational conflict among the proletariat. Accountability is vital
while organizing movements, and conflicts will arise; however, we must
commit to this practice with empathy from a liberation music therapist
perspective. I hope that this brief essay initiates a more expansive
dialogue and action on music’s role in creative expression, community
engagement, social justice, and mental health. We cannot have one
without the other. Consider these words by stic.man of the hip-hop duo
dead prez, from his verse in Police State off their 2000 album Let’s Get
Free.