Questions! Answers!
Make Justice Normal: what’s in a name?
When Make Justice Normal was founded, we initially wondered: was the name too big? Were we setting ourselves up for failure in a world in which injustice is normal? Could we embrace the emergence of it all?
What is MJN’s theory of change?
For values to become group norms, we must embody in souls. For values to become to lasting norms, we must embody in the systems we control. For embodied systems to scale, we must test and transfer them. (Image by Anjali Deshmukh).
How do narratives form?
MJN sees narrative as the stories and facts told to us and we tell ourselves, including beliefs and ideas formed from words, pictures, sounds, & more. Narratives don’t sit on the surface of content. Instead, they shape how we think, what we think, and what we do — on our own and together.
What need does Street Work address?
Why we need new national platforms for social practice artists and BIPOC-led micro-organizations that advance diverse narratives, present art differently, take about climate change in different ways, and embody different business models.
How might Street Works have an impact?
Why arts have an impact, and why we think today's models of quantifying impact do a deep disservice to the systemic, non-linear nature of human transformation.
What data supports the need for Street Works?
How mountains of data, at the intersection of art, climate, and justice, have led us to design programs the way we have.
Why and how are we practicing “justice”?
How we’re structuring our collective to embody our values of loving care, justice, and solidarity in every thing we do.
Why Street Works, and how does it advance MJN’s mission?
Can our public spaces be electrified with the energy of people exploring and co-creating solutions that match their community priorities? We say yes!
What is the impact of centering artists in collaboration?
Why the wild creative spirits of artists matter, and how to think about effectively working with them towards aligned goals.
What exactly is “social practice”?
An art discipline that aims to create social and/or political change through collaboration with individuals, communities, and institutions, often in the creation of participatory art.
Is Street Works art?
Yes. Street Work is in itself a social practice project by social practice artists. It is not an “arts presenter.” It is centered in mutual aid.