My Voice, My Art, Our Cause Artivism Contest: 1st Place
1st Place Winners Artivism Contest
Tobi O., 16, North Carolina
Free Speech & Freedom to Protest
Instagram: @tobi_onasanya
“I chose this issue area because during the past year freedom of speech and protest has been challenged as more and more people stand up to face inequality (especially surrounding race). My artwork represents those who feel unheard in their efforts to speak out. I hope my work will convey a feeling of passion and almost anger, like the feeling of screaming without being heard.”
Jessica H.B., 21, California
Access to Voting
“I chose to draw about access of voting because it helps the people who can vote have access to voicing who are their representatives, voice the propositions, as well as help the community. Access to voting helps people exercise their democracy in on issues that impact their community, family, people, and oneself. Our vote is our voice. I hope my art will convey the impact that access to voting creates in all communities. Voting is a voice that should not be silenced just like someone who gets the microphone and says something or sings. It is a right that is necessary to emit for the future of the community, of many generations, of representation, of looking into the issues that affect everyday life, and oneself.”
Camila T.G., 24, Washington, D.C.
Criminal Justice Reform & Mass Incarceration
Instagram: @byunnaturalcauses
Twitter: @byunnatcauses
“While the media has shifted attention away from the Black Lives Matter movement, the problems that incited the protests are still there, unaddressed by our government. Namely, the systemic racism in our injustice system means that no matter who you are, if you are black, you are in danger of police brutality and harsher punitive sentences than white people. If we do not approach criminal justice as a matter of racial justice, then we will not be able to build new structures of transformative justice that uplift true democracy, accountability, and equality.”