By Meaghan Anderson Forbis

Dr. Micha Cárdenas came to my Women’s and Gender Studies class and did for us a version of the presentation she gave to the general public. She presented examples of her work, including UNSTOPPABLE, a work done in collaboration with Patrisse Cullors. Dr. Cárdenas’ projects all stemmed from her activism, are all attempts to solve social problems through the marriage of art and technology.

What I most appreciated about her presentation was how she talked about the relationship between creation and implementation. It really resonated with what Harding said about how “the oppressed should have at least four or forty years to experiment with rebuilding;” Cárdenas talked a lot about how her prototype projects were often not successful in implementation, or unfeasible for mass-production, but that the interventions made by her work were nonetheless important. She also talked about how her performance pieces acted as protest—she told a story about one of the performances of her Autonets piece, performed as an act of protest, where police approached the group and ended up not identifying them as protesters. I think it speaks to the discussions we had about creative organizing, about how to construct new movements that interact in new and different ways with their issues. Because the protest was in a non-traditional format, it managed to disrupt and challenge the police while still maintaining the safety of the participants.

Cárdenas also addressed criticism about how her UNSTOPPABLE project, made in collaboration with #BLM activists, is too focused on putting the burden on people to protect themselves, rather than dismantling state violence. She talked about how her project was something that addressed real dangers, real short-term needs—but didn’t claim to supersede the need for greater change. Her work springs from her experience, from her communities, and tries to address practical problems while still making larger social commentary, which I think is a good balance to strike in activist work.