1 00:00:13,139 --> 00:00:14,999 Hi, I'm Nimalan Yogananthan and I'm currently 2 00:00:14,999 --> 00:00:17,279 a PhD student in the Communication Studies 3 00:00:17,279 --> 00:00:18,899 Department at Concordia University. 4 00:00:19,649 --> 00:00:22,169 My research aims to incorporate concepts from 5 00:00:22,169 --> 00:00:23,999 critical race studies into the field of 6 00:00:23,999 --> 00:00:26,339 soundscape studies. I'm interested in how 7 00:00:26,339 --> 00:00:28,349 sound can be deployed as one of many 8 00:00:28,349 --> 00:00:31,349 tactics in anti-racist, decolonial and 9 00:00:31,349 --> 00:00:33,719 decolonial resistance. Now, this can 10 00:00:33,719 --> 00:00:35,969 involve more overt uses of sound and mass 11 00:00:35,969 --> 00:00:38,039 protests, but it can also include more 12 00:00:38,039 --> 00:00:40,589 subtle and quotidian forms of resistance 13 00:00:40,589 --> 00:00:43,919 that may even use silence. I hope 14 00:00:43,919 --> 00:00:47,549 to give some examples of this, of subsonic 15 00:00:47,549 --> 00:00:57,509 tactics in this talk. Now, what brought me 16 00:00:57,509 --> 00:01:00,779 to this field of research interest was 17 00:01:00,839 --> 00:01:03,269 specifically because I found that. I mean, 18 00:01:03,269 --> 00:01:06,239 I have a background in electro-acoustic 19 00:01:06,239 --> 00:01:10,769 music and Media Studies and, and Soundscape 20 00:01:10,769 --> 00:01:14,159 studies. But what, I found was that in a 21 00:01:14,159 --> 00:01:16,589 lot of the literature, I would read it 22 00:01:16,829 --> 00:01:19,319 there was often a failure to include the 23 00:01:19,589 --> 00:01:22,349 perspectives of Black, Indigenous and 24 00:01:22,349 --> 00:01:26,159 People of Color, and especially how sound 25 00:01:26,159 --> 00:01:29,669 affects people's daily lives in different 26 00:01:29,669 --> 00:01:31,889 ways based on their their own identities 27 00:01:31,889 --> 00:01:35,699 and lived experiences. And I 28 00:01:35,699 --> 00:01:39,209 found that often in the compositional work 29 00:01:39,209 --> 00:01:44,459 I listened to, and also in my 30 00:01:44,459 --> 00:01:46,619 own practice, when I would go field 31 00:01:46,619 --> 00:01:50,099 recording and listening to soundscapes, I 32 00:01:50,099 --> 00:01:54,689 found that not a lot of work had a kind 33 00:01:54,689 --> 00:01:58,529 of political aspect to it. And also talked 34 00:01:58,529 --> 00:02:03,989 about how soundscapes are often I 35 00:02:03,989 --> 00:02:07,049 guess, convey a lot of information about 36 00:02:08,129 --> 00:02:12,149 identity, about social justice 37 00:02:12,179 --> 00:02:15,659 issues, and such. So what I wanted to 38 00:02:15,659 --> 00:02:19,289 do with my research is to kind of have an 39 00:02:19,289 --> 00:02:23,549 intervention within the field and and push 40 00:02:23,879 --> 00:02:26,849 scholars in the field to to kind of 41 00:02:26,849 --> 00:02:29,219 broaden their scope of research. 42 00:02:36,810 --> 00:02:38,310 I mean, before continuing, I think it's 43 00:02:38,310 --> 00:02:40,620 important to also give some historical 44 00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:44,070 context. So, the academic fields of 45 00:02:44,070 --> 00:02:46,260 soundscape studies and acoustic ecology 46 00:02:46,260 --> 00:02:49,290 emerged out of Simon Fraser University's 47 00:02:49,290 --> 00:02:51,630 Department of Communication Studies in the 48 00:02:51,630 --> 00:02:55,470 late 60s out in Vancouver. Canadian 49 00:02:55,470 --> 00:02:57,660 composer R. Murray Schaefer and his research 50 00:02:57,660 --> 00:02:59,910 group “The World Soundscape Project” are 51 00:02:59,910 --> 00:03:01,830 concerned with the rise of noise pollution 52 00:03:01,830 --> 00:03:04,200 within Canadian many Canadian cities. The 53 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,270 acoustic ecology research that they did, 54 00:03:06,900 --> 00:03:09,270 and many, and the research that many 55 00:03:09,270 --> 00:03:12,090 soundscape scholars are doing now 56 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,610 examines how sound mediates and provides 57 00:03:14,610 --> 00:03:16,020 critical information about the 58 00:03:16,020 --> 00:03:18,510 relationships between humans and their 59 00:03:18,510 --> 00:03:20,880 everyday environments. The present canon 60 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:22,890 of academic literature and soundscape 61 00:03:22,890 --> 00:03:25,440 studies including the work of original 62 00:03:25,470 --> 00:03:27,480 well, soundscape project members such as 63 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:29,760 Hildegard Westerkamp and Barry Truax 64 00:03:29,790 --> 00:03:31,890 underlines the importance of listening 65 00:03:31,890 --> 00:03:34,260 critically to our everyday environments. 66 00:03:34,290 --> 00:03:37,020 However, some contemporary scholars who 67 00:03:37,020 --> 00:03:39,480 engage in a more critical sound studies 68 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:41,670 approach have suggested the white 69 00:03:41,670 --> 00:03:44,670 normativity, colorblind ideology and even 70 00:03:44,670 --> 00:03:46,860 settler colonial undertones that populate 71 00:03:46,860 --> 00:03:51,000 much of the soundscape studies canon. Now, 72 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,000 for instance, in 1974, the raw sound 73 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,400 soundscape project, documentary and 74 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,070 compositional work, titled: Soundscapes of 75 00:03:59,070 --> 00:04:02,310 Canada, aired on the CBC radio 76 00:04:02,310 --> 00:04:05,040 program 'Ideas.' The documentary was created 77 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,530 using field recordings collected by the 78 00:04:07,530 --> 00:04:09,150 world soundscape project throughout 79 00:04:09,150 --> 00:04:12,090 Canada. This was a pioneering and still 80 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:14,280 widely celebrated early work in the field 81 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,130 of soundscape composition. However, sound 82 00:04:17,130 --> 00:04:19,710 scholar Mitchell Akiyama addresses how the 83 00:04:19,710 --> 00:04:21,540 worlds soundscape project sonic portrait 84 00:04:21,540 --> 00:04:24,300 of Canada failed to include First Nations 85 00:04:24,300 --> 00:04:26,010 people and non European immigrant 86 00:04:26,010 --> 00:04:28,770 communities, within the soundscapes 87 00:04:28,770 --> 00:04:31,530 collected. All interviewees heard in the 88 00:04:31,530 --> 00:04:33,930 program are assuming assumably white 89 00:04:33,930 --> 00:04:36,480 Canadians, despite the fact that Canada at 90 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:38,520 that time was was becoming increasingly 91 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,060 racially diverse in the 1970s. Akiyama 92 00:04:42,060 --> 00:04:44,460 argues that the program exclusively 93 00:04:44,460 --> 00:04:47,490 represented sound marks of Canada's 94 00:04:47,490 --> 00:04:49,740 colonial pasts, such as church bells and 95 00:04:49,740 --> 00:04:52,500 train whistles. For First Nations 96 00:04:52,500 --> 00:04:54,600 listeners who have historically been 97 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:56,760 subjected to colonial dominance as well as 98 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,580 residential schools the bells featured in 99 00:04:59,580 --> 00:05:01,920 the piece perhaps might have rung sinister 100 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,790 for them, as Akiyama argues. For the 101 00:05:05,790 --> 00:05:08,070 immigrants that arrived by boat, the fall 102 00:05:08,070 --> 00:05:10,410 corn so deeply romanticized by the world 103 00:05:10,410 --> 00:05:12,210 soundscape project and this documentary 104 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,310 might have concluded not a sense of 105 00:05:14,310 --> 00:05:16,140 belonging, but perhaps instead the 106 00:05:16,140 --> 00:05:18,510 ambivalence of an arrival in a strange 107 00:05:18,510 --> 00:05:20,520 cold place full of foreign sounds and 108 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,460 practices. So, this important critique by 109 00:05:23,460 --> 00:05:25,500 Akiyama reminds us that seemingly 110 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,650 innocuous everyday soundscapes 111 00:05:28,650 --> 00:05:31,350 can actually symbolize sites of exclusion, 112 00:05:31,740 --> 00:05:33,690 and oppression for certain marginalized 113 00:05:33,690 --> 00:05:34,470 communities. 114 00:05:36,210 --> 00:05:38,850 Also, sound walking is a common 115 00:05:38,850 --> 00:05:41,250 method used by researchers and soundscape 116 00:05:41,250 --> 00:05:44,190 composers to better engage with sonic 117 00:05:44,190 --> 00:05:45,990 environments and learn more about 118 00:05:46,170 --> 00:05:48,900 relationships, sorry about their 119 00:05:48,900 --> 00:05:51,300 relationships with them. Now 120 00:05:51,300 --> 00:05:53,280 unfortunately, the dominant discourse on 121 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:55,770 soundwalk, soundwalking, intends to ignore the 122 00:05:55,770 --> 00:05:57,540 unique experiences of racialized 123 00:05:57,540 --> 00:05:59,790 communities navigating their daily 124 00:05:59,790 --> 00:06:02,190 environments. In contrast, 125 00:06:02,250 --> 00:06:04,680 ethnomusicologists Allie Martin employs 126 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,110 sound walking as a Black feminist research 127 00:06:07,110 --> 00:06:10,350 methodology, and a way of extracting or 128 00:06:10,380 --> 00:06:13,020 sounding out the sonorities of race, 129 00:06:13,290 --> 00:06:17,220 hidden in public spaces. She states quote, 130 00:06:17,490 --> 00:06:20,610 "I utilize sidewalks to humanize myself in 131 00:06:20,610 --> 00:06:22,200 a soundscape that would otherwise 132 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,410 disregard my sonic perceptions in favor of 133 00:06:25,410 --> 00:06:27,750 white hearing as the default standard of 134 00:06:27,750 --> 00:06:30,450 sound." She's aware of how her 135 00:06:30,450 --> 00:06:32,490 intersectional identity as a Black woman 136 00:06:32,490 --> 00:06:35,040 informs her soundwalks through 137 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,260 increasingly policed and gentrified urban 138 00:06:37,260 --> 00:06:40,380 American spaces. The exclusionary features 139 00:06:40,380 --> 00:06:43,050 of everyday soundscapes Martin navigates 140 00:06:43,050 --> 00:06:46,050 is exemplified by the sexist catcalls and 141 00:06:46,050 --> 00:06:48,540 racist slurs she sometimes encounters 142 00:06:48,660 --> 00:06:51,540 while walking. Now, these are just two 143 00:06:51,540 --> 00:06:53,790 examples of how critical race studies can 144 00:06:53,790 --> 00:06:57,030 be bridged with soundscape studies. In a 145 00:06:57,030 --> 00:06:59,550 similar vein, I'm very interested in a 146 00:06:59,550 --> 00:07:01,980 politics of listening that examines how 147 00:07:01,980 --> 00:07:03,870 environmental soundscapes are themselves 148 00:07:03,870 --> 00:07:07,080 sites of political struggle. I question what 149 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:08,730 role sound plays in disrupting 150 00:07:08,730 --> 00:07:11,760 complacently? What anti-racist and 151 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,010 decolonial, decolonized forms of critical 152 00:07:14,010 --> 00:07:17,790 listening can sound like? But it's also 153 00:07:17,790 --> 00:07:19,860 critical to think about how sound can be 154 00:07:19,860 --> 00:07:22,920 used by the state and authorities as the 155 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,650 mode of oppression and control. While, 156 00:07:25,650 --> 00:07:27,510 there is important soundscape literature 157 00:07:27,510 --> 00:07:30,330 that does engage with politics, climate 158 00:07:30,330 --> 00:07:33,030 justice work in particular, the dominant 159 00:07:33,030 --> 00:07:35,100 discourse of the field tends to embrace 160 00:07:35,100 --> 00:07:38,250 whether consciously or unconsciously, a 161 00:07:38,250 --> 00:07:41,070 post-racial or colorblind approach that 162 00:07:41,070 --> 00:07:43,560 risks overlooking the ways in which Black, 163 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,510 Indigenous, and People of Color experience 164 00:07:45,510 --> 00:07:48,450 daily acoustic worlds in different ways 165 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,260 based on their identities. So, my research 166 00:07:52,260 --> 00:07:54,210 is more concerned with an intersectional 167 00:07:54,210 --> 00:07:56,790 approach to soundscape studies. One that 168 00:07:56,790 --> 00:08:00,300 listens to how interlocking racial class, 169 00:08:00,300 --> 00:08:03,180 sexual gender, and disability politics may 170 00:08:03,180 --> 00:08:06,030 influence and are in fact articulated 171 00:08:06,060 --> 00:08:07,560 through our everyday environmental 172 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:08,370 soundscapes. 173 00:08:10,980 --> 00:08:13,500 Now, one of my primary research areas is 174 00:08:13,500 --> 00:08:15,210 listening to the soundscapes of social 175 00:08:15,210 --> 00:08:17,430 movements to understand how sound can be 176 00:08:17,430 --> 00:08:20,100 deployed as a form of resistance to the 177 00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:22,620 political status quo. We are often 178 00:08:22,650 --> 00:08:24,780 accustomed to visual depictions of mass- 179 00:08:24,780 --> 00:08:27,060 protests and uprisings against systemic 180 00:08:27,060 --> 00:08:29,670 racism on the news and via social media. 181 00:08:30,150 --> 00:08:32,160 But there is also important information 182 00:08:32,250 --> 00:08:34,050 that can be conveyed through listening I 183 00:08:34,050 --> 00:08:37,590 would argue. Michael Nardone has studied 184 00:08:37,590 --> 00:08:40,170 forms of sonic agitation, agitation used by 185 00:08:40,170 --> 00:08:42,750 the 'Idle No More' movement. Indigenous 186 00:08:42,810 --> 00:08:45,660 activists performed ceremonial round dance 187 00:08:45,660 --> 00:08:47,490 flash mobs to disrupt the day to day 188 00:08:47,490 --> 00:08:49,980 activities of North American commercial 189 00:08:49,980 --> 00:08:52,500 spaces during the holiday season of 2012. 190 00:08:53,340 --> 00:08:55,110 These took place at downtown street 191 00:08:55,110 --> 00:08:58,410 intersections, train core roars, bridges 192 00:08:58,410 --> 00:09:00,990 and highways. However, Nardone argues that 193 00:09:00,990 --> 00:09:02,940 the round dances that took place in 194 00:09:03,060 --> 00:09:05,730 shopping malls in particular, were very 195 00:09:05,730 --> 00:09:08,640 notable for their sonic disobedience. Nardone 196 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:10,530 describes the 'Idle No More' more 197 00:09:10,530 --> 00:09:13,770 protesters in a Regina shopping mall as 198 00:09:13,770 --> 00:09:17,430 engaging in a live re-edit and remix of 199 00:09:17,430 --> 00:09:19,470 the mall soundscape with Mariah Carey 200 00:09:19,470 --> 00:09:22,350 singing “All I want for Christmas is You”. To 201 00:09:22,350 --> 00:09:25,290 quote him: “The sounds of the singers and 202 00:09:25,290 --> 00:09:27,840 the drummer's mask the malls and ambient 203 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,170 music, canceling it out. The architecture 204 00:09:31,170 --> 00:09:34,410 shakes. Impossible to ignore or avoid, the 205 00:09:34,410 --> 00:09:37,140 music's vibrations effectively claim the 206 00:09:37,140 --> 00:09:39,330 space sonically consumes it”. 207 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,950 So, that was actually a clip of the round 208 00:11:10,950 --> 00:11:13,200 dance flash mobs that that took place at 209 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,900 the West Edmonton Mall. Just to give you a 210 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,170 sense of how the sound produced by the 211 00:11:19,170 --> 00:11:22,230 protesters reclaimed the acoustic space. 212 00:11:23,220 --> 00:11:25,230 So, these 'Idle No More' 213 00:11:25,230 --> 00:11:27,750 protests specifically targeted then Prime 214 00:11:27,750 --> 00:11:30,480 Minister Stephen Harper, his policies that 215 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,060 supported resource extraction industries 216 00:11:33,090 --> 00:11:35,700 and Bill C 45. That would erode treaty and 217 00:11:35,700 --> 00:11:39,510 Indigenous land rights. So, the powerful 218 00:11:39,510 --> 00:11:42,180 noise produced by by 'Idle No More' 219 00:11:42,630 --> 00:11:44,820 reclaimed both the physical and sonic 220 00:11:44,820 --> 00:11:47,370 spaces of the mall, built on traditionally 221 00:11:47,370 --> 00:11:49,470 Indigenous land. But it's also a 222 00:11:49,470 --> 00:11:51,660 reclamation of agency amid ongoing 223 00:11:51,660 --> 00:11:54,210 colonialism and systemic racism against 224 00:11:54,210 --> 00:11:58,770 Indigenous peoples in North America. Sound 225 00:11:58,770 --> 00:12:00,900 studies scholar, Tom Rice proposes the 226 00:12:00,900 --> 00:12:04,170 concept of “acoustical agency” to articulate 227 00:12:04,170 --> 00:12:06,870 how incarcerated populations are often 228 00:12:06,870 --> 00:12:09,150 active rather than passive listeners to 229 00:12:09,150 --> 00:12:10,500 their everyday oppressive prison 230 00:12:10,500 --> 00:12:13,200 soundscapes, such as the frequent sound of 231 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,870 slamming metal gates and guards shouting 232 00:12:15,870 --> 00:12:18,990 at them. Prisoners actively resist the 233 00:12:18,990 --> 00:12:20,970 soundscapes through their own sound making 234 00:12:20,970 --> 00:12:23,880 and this can include noises coming from 235 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:25,950 boom boxes as well as cell to cell 236 00:12:25,950 --> 00:12:29,160 shouting. While it is evidently a 237 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,770 different context, how can this concept of 238 00:12:31,770 --> 00:12:33,660 acoustic, acoustical agency help us 239 00:12:33,690 --> 00:12:36,030 understand the current Black Lives Matter 240 00:12:36,060 --> 00:12:39,180 uprisings and protests? Audio activist, 241 00:12:39,180 --> 00:12:41,430 Kristal L. describes street protests 242 00:12:41,460 --> 00:12:44,040 as marginalized communities gathering to 243 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,680 reclaim and redefine cities through sound. 244 00:12:47,370 --> 00:12:49,170 I would argue that when protesters assert 245 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:52,230 loud chants like "Hands up! Don't shoot!" and 246 00:12:52,230 --> 00:12:54,300 "No justice, No peace" it is a way to 247 00:12:54,300 --> 00:12:56,310 reclaim the acoustic space of the streets 248 00:12:56,310 --> 00:12:59,130 where police often use sonic weapons, like 249 00:12:59,130 --> 00:13:01,470 long range acoustic devices, more commonly 250 00:13:01,470 --> 00:13:04,740 known as LRADS, or sound cannons. LRADS 251 00:13:04,740 --> 00:13:06,840 were also widely used during the 252 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:09,420 Ferguson uprising and during Occupy Wall 253 00:13:09,420 --> 00:13:12,900 Street to disperse crowds. But they 254 00:13:12,900 --> 00:13:14,850 are also known to cause permanent hearing 255 00:13:14,850 --> 00:13:16,980 damage due to their extremely loud volume. 256 00:13:17,850 --> 00:13:19,800 So, protest chants are one way that 257 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,560 protesters refuse to passively submit to 258 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:24,090 the violent domination of urban 259 00:13:24,090 --> 00:13:27,780 soundscapes by police. Also, in their 260 00:13:27,780 --> 00:13:29,580 early weeks of the Black Lives Matter 261 00:13:29,580 --> 00:13:31,830 protest, the Chicago police radio system 262 00:13:31,830 --> 00:13:34,170 was hacked numerous times by protesters. 263 00:13:34,620 --> 00:13:36,480 They interrupted dispatch calls about 264 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,900 riders with recordings of the 1988 protest 265 00:13:39,900 --> 00:13:42,840 song F* the police by rap group NWA 266 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:45,480 some, may view this tactic as of 267 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,490 sonic disobedient disobedience as a 268 00:13:47,490 --> 00:13:49,530 childish prank. But we should instead 269 00:13:49,530 --> 00:13:51,180 listen to it as as a reclamation, 270 00:13:51,210 --> 00:13:53,820 reclamation of acoustical agency perhaps. 271 00:13:54,810 --> 00:13:57,090 Now I also want to give a musical example 272 00:13:57,450 --> 00:14:00,180 of noise being used to assert agency. 273 00:14:00,870 --> 00:14:03,240 Palestinian electronic artists Muqata 274 00:14:03,780 --> 00:14:06,030 collects audio field recordings of the 275 00:14:06,030 --> 00:14:09,150 everyday soundscapes of Ramallah in the 276 00:14:09,150 --> 00:14:11,910 West Bank where he lives. This may include 277 00:14:11,910 --> 00:14:13,620 the sounds of military checkpoints of 278 00:14:13,620 --> 00:14:16,110 surveillance, or surveillance helicopters 279 00:14:16,110 --> 00:14:18,900 flying overhead. As a response to these 280 00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:21,150 oppressive daily soundscapes, Muqata 281 00:14:21,150 --> 00:14:23,550 incorporates and digitally processes 282 00:14:23,550 --> 00:14:25,830 his recordings of Israeli occupation 283 00:14:26,070 --> 00:14:28,410 within his music as a form of sonic 284 00:14:28,410 --> 00:14:29,370 resistance. 285 00:14:43,950 --> 00:14:51,960 First of all, you feel the 286 00:14:51,990 --> 00:14:54,810 urge to write to produce music, responding 287 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,940 with sound because they also attack with 288 00:14:56,940 --> 00:14:59,970 sound, and sound meaning psychological warfare. 289 00:15:00,510 --> 00:15:02,640 As well as sonic weapons that they use, 290 00:15:02,670 --> 00:15:04,950 for example, when they go faster than the 291 00:15:04,950 --> 00:15:09,180 speed of sound with their f 16 that 292 00:15:09,180 --> 00:15:11,130 creates a very huge sound, which is a 293 00:15:11,130 --> 00:15:12,840 sonic boom, and it sounds like they 294 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:14,040 actually bombed. So that's a 295 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:15,690 psychologically, you know, creates this 296 00:15:15,690 --> 00:15:17,310 effect that we don't know where they bomb. 297 00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:20,640 My sound is also responsible. And that's 298 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:22,980 the reason why I make harsh songs and I 299 00:15:23,250 --> 00:15:24,960 distort my songs and my sounds are very 300 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,120 glitchy and very noisy. And how does it 301 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,090 logistically and practically affect how 302 00:15:30,090 --> 00:15:32,520 you make music?. Living in Ramallah, it's 303 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,800 isolated, it's divided or separated from 304 00:15:34,830 --> 00:15:36,930 other cities.That makes it difficult for 305 00:15:36,930 --> 00:15:39,390 the scene to flourish and grow. And for 306 00:15:39,390 --> 00:15:41,430 collaborations, it's hard for the 307 00:15:41,430 --> 00:15:43,860 audience, that, for example, would want to 308 00:15:43,860 --> 00:15:45,780 come to one of my shows. It's difficult 309 00:15:45,780 --> 00:15:47,820 for them to come, even if they're able to 310 00:15:47,820 --> 00:15:49,590 make it probably at night to check one of 311 00:15:49,590 --> 00:15:52,260 my shows, every road between one city and 312 00:15:52,260 --> 00:15:54,120 the other. In the West Bank, which is 313 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,250 supposedly Palestinian control, is Israeli 314 00:15:56,250 --> 00:15:58,320 control. They control what goes in and what 315 00:15:58,320 --> 00:15:59,580 goes out. And there are many people in 316 00:15:59,580 --> 00:16:01,320 other cities and other places that I would 317 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,390 love to collaborate with. And we kind of 318 00:16:03,390 --> 00:16:04,980 do but I mean, a lot of the time you see 319 00:16:04,980 --> 00:16:06,420 people collaborating over the internet, 320 00:16:07,020 --> 00:16:08,700 even though they're like a few miles away 321 00:16:08,700 --> 00:16:10,710 or a few kilometers away. When you're under the 322 00:16:10,710 --> 00:16:11,820 curfew, you're not allowed to leave your 323 00:16:11,820 --> 00:16:13,290 house. You can’t even look out your window 324 00:16:13,290 --> 00:16:15,180 because there's armed soldiers Israeli 325 00:16:15,180 --> 00:16:16,740 soldiers that will shoot you if you 326 00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:18,750 just peek out the window. 327 00:16:31,380 --> 00:16:33,840 So, Muqata repurposes the state's ear- 328 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:35,850 shattering sonic weapons and controls 329 00:16:35,850 --> 00:16:39,060 them, using his own musical tools so as to 330 00:16:39,060 --> 00:16:41,250 symbolically disarm them and undermine 331 00:16:41,250 --> 00:16:43,530 their power, creating a type of sonic 332 00:16:43,530 --> 00:16:45,870 warfare with the state but through music. 333 00:16:46,860 --> 00:16:49,170 French philosopher Michel de Certeau, 334 00:16:49,290 --> 00:16:51,450 famously conceived of a tactic as a way to 335 00:16:51,450 --> 00:16:54,630 construct a space of agency in opposition 336 00:16:54,630 --> 00:16:57,900 to institutional power. He proposed the 337 00:16:57,900 --> 00:16:59,700 notion of “making do” to explain how 338 00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:02,640 marginalized groups deploy everyday small 339 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,680 acts of resistance using whatever tactical 340 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,500 materials they have access to. I've already 341 00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:09,570 given some examples of noise, music and 342 00:17:09,570 --> 00:17:11,850 protest chants used as tactics. But 343 00:17:11,850 --> 00:17:16,260 silence can also serve as a very potent 344 00:17:16,290 --> 00:17:18,990 tactical resistance and making do in 345 00:17:19,020 --> 00:17:22,200 De Certeau's terms. During a 2018 346 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:24,030 press conference, NFL player Malcolm 347 00:17:24,030 --> 00:17:25,920 Jenkins of the Philadelphia Eagles 348 00:17:26,250 --> 00:17:28,590 silently held up large signs that cited 349 00:17:28,590 --> 00:17:30,600 statistics related to police brutality, 350 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,360 and mass-incarceration. When repeatedly 351 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:35,400 asked by reporters whether he was 352 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,160 protesting Trump's this invitation of the 353 00:17:38,190 --> 00:17:40,470 Eagles from visiting the White House, this 354 00:17:40,470 --> 00:17:41,820 was how Jenkins responded. 355 00:17:53,250 --> 00:17:55,680 Are you surprised that you guys eventually 356 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:02,490 decided not to go to the White House? What 357 00:18:02,490 --> 00:18:24,270 aren't we listening to? Now, is it fun? Are 358 00:18:24,270 --> 00:18:26,610 you surprised? Are you surprised? You 359 00:18:26,610 --> 00:18:27,810 know, this is you guys are kind of in 360 00:18:28,980 --> 00:18:38,070 controversy with the white house. Are you not 361 00:18:38,070 --> 00:18:39,660 gonna say anything today or just going to 362 00:18:39,660 --> 00:18:41,490 use these posters? 363 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:45,570 We couldn't see it. 364 00:18:48,299 --> 00:18:49,439 What aren't we listening to? 365 00:19:00,809 --> 00:19:02,129 A little bit higher so we can see. 366 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:10,800 What does it have to do with not going to 367 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:11,760 the White House yesterday? 368 00:19:21,660 --> 00:19:23,460 So you're spreading this message. This is 369 00:19:23,460 --> 00:19:24,870 the message you want us to be listening 370 00:19:24,870 --> 00:19:28,590 to. How? you know you're big on social 371 00:19:28,590 --> 00:19:30,120 justice and social movement but how are 372 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:31,950 you going to take subsidy in this 373 00:19:31,950 --> 00:19:33,600 offseason to continue to promote this? 374 00:19:45,540 --> 00:19:47,310 Do you feel it's fair for the President to 375 00:19:47,310 --> 00:19:49,470 cancel the White House trip even though a 376 00:19:49,530 --> 00:19:51,060 large majority of players were not 378 00:19:51,060 --> 00:20:01,320 planning on attending? Malcolm, are you 379 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,360 upset with with the White House's decision 380 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:04,410 to cancel the event? 381 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:14,040 Now, what is most powerful about this 382 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,470 gesture of resistance is that the reporters 383 00:20:16,470 --> 00:20:18,720 had no idea how to respond to silence. 384 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:20,880 They're expecting dramatic political 385 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,190 statements or slogans that they could use 386 00:20:23,490 --> 00:20:26,250 a short new sound bite. But Jenkins was 387 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:27,990 in fact pushing them to become 388 00:20:27,990 --> 00:20:29,970 uncomfortable and think deeply about the 389 00:20:29,970 --> 00:20:31,860 disturbing statistics on racism he was 390 00:20:31,860 --> 00:20:34,620 showing them. The silence in this case 391 00:20:34,620 --> 00:20:38,640 does so much political work here. We can 392 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:40,410 also listen critically to the civil rights 393 00:20:40,410 --> 00:20:43,560 movement of the 1960s. To hear silence as 394 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,450 a tactic. In his book 'The Sovereignty of 395 00:20:45,450 --> 00:20:48,150 Quiet Beyond Resistance in Black culture' 396 00:20:48,150 --> 00:20:50,820 author and scholar Kevin Quashie suggests 397 00:20:50,820 --> 00:20:52,050 that if we are to understand the 398 00:20:52,050 --> 00:20:54,090 multifaceted nature of Black liberation 399 00:20:54,090 --> 00:20:56,970 struggles, we cannot only look at at more 400 00:20:56,970 --> 00:20:59,160 overt and dramatic displays of resistance. 401 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,440 For instance, we're all familiar with 402 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:03,420 images of the Black Panthers holding 403 00:21:03,420 --> 00:21:05,340 shotguns standing outside the California 404 00:21:05,340 --> 00:21:08,940 State Capitol building in 1967. But we 405 00:21:08,940 --> 00:21:11,910 need to study the silence and interiority 406 00:21:11,910 --> 00:21:13,950 of deeply personal gestures of resistance 407 00:21:13,950 --> 00:21:17,100 too, to get a better understanding. Quashie 408 00:21:17,100 --> 00:21:19,050 gives the striking example of Black 409 00:21:19,050 --> 00:21:22,080 freedom writer activists sitting at white 410 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,150 only lunch counters in the American South, 411 00:21:24,210 --> 00:21:26,730 silently reading books, and refusing to 412 00:21:26,730 --> 00:21:29,070 engage with and submit to the dehumanizing 413 00:21:29,070 --> 00:21:31,440 stares of the white waitresses in front of 414 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:35,430 them. A quiet intensity can also be heard in 415 00:21:35,430 --> 00:21:38,010 the police mug shots of Black civil rights 416 00:21:38,010 --> 00:21:41,490 protesters who subtly smiled and grinned 417 00:21:41,490 --> 00:21:43,800 in defiance when their pictures were being 418 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,220 taken. Therefore, agency is asserted 419 00:21:47,220 --> 00:21:49,950 via a silent performativity only using 420 00:21:49,950 --> 00:21:51,780 gestures of the body rather than the 421 00:21:51,780 --> 00:21:54,660 voice. I want to end with some thoughts on 422 00:21:54,660 --> 00:21:56,460 how soundscapes are linked to the current 423 00:21:56,460 --> 00:21:59,520 pandemic as well. At the onset of, the of 424 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,500 the COVID lockdowns in March numerous 425 00:22:01,530 --> 00:22:03,510 acoustic ecologists and soundscape 426 00:22:03,510 --> 00:22:06,390 composers publicly embraced the supposed 427 00:22:06,390 --> 00:22:08,910 return of silence to our previously noisy 428 00:22:08,910 --> 00:22:12,030 urban spaces. Researchers and sound 429 00:22:12,030 --> 00:22:13,590 artists collected field recordings of 430 00:22:13,590 --> 00:22:15,450 COVID soundscapes and suggested that the 431 00:22:15,450 --> 00:22:18,090 ability to hear wildlife like bird calls 432 00:22:18,090 --> 00:22:20,040 more clearly now because of the reduction 433 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,730 in urban din was indicative of, of perhaps 434 00:22:23,730 --> 00:22:25,560 healthier and more high definition 435 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:27,750 blissfully quiet and clear environmental 436 00:22:27,750 --> 00:22:31,380 soundscapes. In reality, though, I and I'm 437 00:22:31,380 --> 00:22:33,270 sure many others would argue that cities 438 00:22:33,270 --> 00:22:36,510 were not all that silent. There were the 439 00:22:36,510 --> 00:22:38,550 hidden soundscapes of police in Toronto 440 00:22:38,550 --> 00:22:41,160 and Montreal ticketing and harassing Black, 441 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:43,080 Indigenous and homeless people at 442 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:44,790 disproportionate rates for allegedly 443 00:22:44,790 --> 00:22:46,980 violating social distancing directives. 444 00:22:48,180 --> 00:22:49,950 There was also the soundscapes of hospital 445 00:22:49,950 --> 00:22:52,230 wards and of racialized essential 446 00:22:52,260 --> 00:22:54,180 essential workers forced to commute to 447 00:22:54,180 --> 00:22:56,760 work on subways and buses. So, this is 448 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,190 another reminder of how we experience and 449 00:22:59,190 --> 00:23:01,200 interpret sonic environments differently 450 00:23:01,230 --> 00:23:03,420 based on our identities and socio-economic 451 00:23:03,420 --> 00:23:09,960 privileges. A 2018 study by Chakravartty, Kuo, 452 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,200 Grubbs and McIlwain that looked at article 453 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,210 authorship and journal citations between 454 00:23:15,210 --> 00:23:18,360 1990 and 2016 found that the field of 455 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:20,490 Communication Studies remains for the most 456 00:23:20,490 --> 00:23:22,470 part, a space where whiteness is 457 00:23:22,470 --> 00:23:25,560 predominant. This is likely true for 458 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,720 soundscape studies as well, which is a 459 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:31,050 subfield of Communication Studies. So I 460 00:23:31,050 --> 00:23:33,300 hope, Sound Studies and Communication 461 00:23:33,300 --> 00:23:35,430 Studies scholars can take some of the 462 00:23:35,430 --> 00:23:38,100 ideas I've discussed here and apply it to 463 00:23:38,100 --> 00:23:40,530 support or develop their own critical and 464 00:23:40,530 --> 00:23:42,750 intersectional listening modes and 465 00:23:42,750 --> 00:23:45,210 research methods. In terms of smaller 466 00:23:45,210 --> 00:23:47,160 changes that people can make on an 467 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,500 individual level. I hope we can all pay 468 00:23:49,500 --> 00:23:51,750 more attention to our acoustic world, not 469 00:23:51,750 --> 00:23:53,940 just in terms of the threats of noise 470 00:23:53,940 --> 00:23:55,650 pollution and climate change, but also 471 00:23:55,650 --> 00:23:57,720 listen to social justice movements that 472 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,270 are of course often interconnected with 473 00:24:00,630 --> 00:24:02,280 climate justice struggles.