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Following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, citizens around the globe are protesting against racial suppression and police violence.

“There’s a sense that everything is possible right now,” says Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, in a conversation with Michael Eric Dyson, sociology professor at Georgetown.

The transformation happening across the country is on the magnitude of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Dyson says, and it’s largely led by young activists. Together with Eugene Scott of the Washington Post, they discuss policing and safety in our communities, the discomfort that comes with big cultural shifts and the importance of self-care to sustain the movement.

Playwright Anna Deavere Smith and opera director Yuval Sharon explore how this extraordinary moment in our history will both influence their work as artists and compel all of us to reinterpret art from the past. 

While social change has emboldened artistic expression throughout history, evident in ancient Greek plays and centuries-old Shakespearian dramas, artistic expression has always strived to enliven culture and move minds in the moment. Sharon and Deavere Smith illustrate how artistic endeavor — regardless of provenance — continues to be reinvented against the landscape of the here and now.

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Speakers from the 2020 Aspen Ideas Festival: Michael Eric Dyson and Alicia Garza on the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Anna Deavere Smith and Yuval Sharon on the role of the arts in these turbulent times. 

2020 Aspen Ideas Festival: Alicia Garza, Michael Eric Dyson on Black Lives Matter; Anna Deavere Smith, Yuval Sharon on the arts

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