When politics fails the people, artists have always intervened

JVL Introduction

In this article, Nesrine Malik reminds us that artists speaking out is something that has always happened. We could add to the many examples she provides Marilyn Monroe (insisting Ella Fitzgerald be allowed to perform), Frank Sinatra and  The Beatles’ refusing to play in Jim Crow segregated venues and in the 1930s, a whole movement of Visual Artists came together Against Fascism.

Malik’s key point is that performers like Macklemore and many more, who act in support of Palestine, are impelled to do so at least in part because politicians are failing to make a stand for justice and international law.  Far from acting to end what is happening in Palestine and elsewhere, many governments have criminalised those of us who protest.

It is not possible for art to ignore politics. If people insist we must leave politics behind when we enter the concert hall, the cinema or other cultural setting, then politics needs to step up and create a world that works for everyone.

This article was originally published by The Guardian on Mon 21 Sep 2026. Read the original here.