Miami's Tammy Brown Inspires Activism Through Art

By Hannah Fierle
Miami University journalism student

“What motivates you?”

That was the central question around which Professor Tammy Brown’s lecture, “Art is a Weapon for Social Change” revolved.

The program, which took place on Wednesday, March 1, was formatted as a workshop, with a group of fifteen students and faculty in attendance. From varying disciplines and majors, the audience included individuals involved in creative writing, music and performance, gender studies, and journalism.

Brown: An Academic and Artist

Brown, an associate professor of Black World Studies and History at Miami, used her background as both a scholar and an artist to structure the program.

Prior to her career at Miami, Brown earned a B.A. in International History at Harvard University and completed a Ph.D. in American History and African Diaspora Studies at Princeton University.

In introducing herself, Brown emphasized that in the beginnings of her career, there was much more fluidity in what it meant to be an academic and an artist than exists in today’s more rigid academia.

“Are you a scholar or an artist?” Brown asked, imitating a professorial voice. “I am all of the above,” she answered, throwing a peace sign to the group.

A History of Activism Through Performance

The majority of the lecture focused on a history of protest and civil rights through expressions of art. Beginning with historical examples such as Pearl Primus desegregating the New Dance Group in New York City in 1941, the lecture progressed to present day representations in popular culture.

In transitioning to modern examples, the discussion focused on Kendrick Lamar’s performance from the 2016 Grammy Awards, Black Lives Matter sit ins, and a disruptive, spontaneous performance at the St. Louis Symphony Opera protesting the death of an African American teenager.

“As a violinist and the president of the symphony orchestra here at Miami I was especially inspired by the video we saw with the requiem for Mike Brown,” says Silver Flight, a Miami senior in attendance. “It was also helpful to get an idea of how to go about the process of designing a performance to promote social justice.”

The workshop also featured much of Brown’s own research, including photography and insight from her book “City of Islands: Caribbean Intellectuals in New York.” This book highlighted Black Caribbean immigrants during the early 20th century, who combatted racism and the hardship of immigration through dance, music, and sermons.

Students Brainstorm within Oxford Community

Taking advantage of the setting, Brown divided participants into small groups and asked them to create their own form of protest through art or performance.

Ideas coming from the small group exercise included a mock simulation of a border crossing at Miami’s Phi Delt Gates, in which people with the names of white male terrorists, such as “Dylann” and “Adam,” would be stopped, in protest of the recent travel bans. Another idea featured a workshop for high school and middle school aged students to engage in dialogue and role-play to become more familiar with and empathetic to transgender individuals.

“I found the workshop inspirational because the students were so engaged and committed to exercising their creativity to make the world and our communities more just and livable for all,” says Madelyn Detloff, a Professor of English and Global and Intercultural Studies who attended and has worked with Brown in the past.

In closing, Brown asked the group to sum up their findings and inspirations from the workshop in one word. The most common answers were two words brought up frequently throughout: empathy and disruption.

You can find more about Brown's work at her website.

Photo: Students listen to their peers' idea for performance activism. -- Photo by Hannah Fierle.