Will India’s Childish Gambino please stand up?

It’s been more than a month since Donald Glover’s Childish Gambino avatar debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. This is America nearly broke the Internet in the days following its May 5 release. The song has the trappings of a hit: powerful lyrics, peppy beats, and groovy dance moves. Yet Gambino’s artistry lies not least in these aspects, but in his ability to make the viewer acknowledge the ironical realities of being Black in America though a video that has now been viewed more than 286 million times on YouTube.

Perhaps Glover’s song is the anthem that American football player Colin Kaepernick can consider unbending his knee for. The dissent that is on display in contemporary America, from the national anthem protests that Kaepernick spawned to the #MeToo campaign, which has brought Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein to a nadir, remains unparalleled as a response to injustice. Inspired by Glover, a Nigerian rapper released This is Nigeria.

Released days after Glover’s song, Folarinde ‘Falz’ Falana’s cover dwells on the widespread corruption in the African nation. It became an overnight hit and now has over four million views. Pussy Riot, a feminist band with the balls to stand up to Russia’s all-mighty leader Vladimir Putin, is another group that has taken on the powers-that-be.

India isn’t short on celebrities or celebrity culture. Still, there’ve been no remarkable notes of dissent from our luminaries in response to the number of outrageous incidents witnessed in the last few months alone, be it the violence at a Dalit memoriam, the rape-and-murder of an eight-year-old girl or the killings in Thoothukudi. It isn’t that famous Indian personalities are insensitive. Indeed many leading film stars, singers, athletes and cricketers have been co-opted by the administration of the day for initiatives, including the promotion of cleanliness and yoga. Some even demonstrated by taking to the streets alongside ordinary citizens holding placards to protest the targeting of minorities. These celebrity endorsements have, no doubt, helped galvanise support for their respective causes, yet none of their voices have been strident.

The potential of popular culture in capturing public imagination is a powerful tool, one that has been summoned time and again. Earlier this week, ‘The Boss’, Bruce Springsteen condemned on stage ‘senior government officials’ for the US’s controversial policy to separate children from adults/parents on the border for illegally entering America. His peer, folk artiste Bob Dylan, channelled the angst of the civil rights movement and the Cold War era in his lyrics as did British legend John Lennon in his anti-war songs.

On the home front, Rabindranath Tagore hoisted Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s poem Vande Mataram to rally against the British colonial rule and such was the rousing strength in L Subramania Bharti’s odes during the freedom struggle that the state of Madras bought the copyright to his works to make them available in the public domain soon after independence. Post-independence, it was Pt Bhimsen Joshi’s Mile Sur Mera Tumhara that became a de-facto anthem for national inclusion even as Shaan’s Ho Halla became the song that spurred Indore’s residents to clean up their city last year — both melodies in sync with nationalist initiatives.

A handful of artistes, including — but not limited to — balladeer Sambhaji Bhagat, rapper MC Kash and Kabir Kala Manch, are among the ones to raise their voice against injustice. They remain largely on the fringe, perhaps too alternate for the mainstream and the masses to embrace and idolise them. This is the label that has also been put on the few gallant voices who’ve spoken out against the insidious Hindi film industry. Actors Kangana Ranaut, Swara Bhasker, Huma Qureshi and Radhika Apte have been trolled on social media for challenging Bollywood’s status quo. Moral of the story: If you are an outspoken public figure in India, you are shunned. Ask the members of All India Bakchod. The motley group of stand-up comics sparked an outcry the second they tried to have fun at the expense of singer Lata Mangeshkar and former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar not too long ago.

It is not surprising then that our artists — musicians, actors, painters — are reluctant protesters. Rarely, if at all, do they speak their mind. If they are happy to push FMCG products, lend a hand to beautify their neighbourhoods and hash-tag their photographs to the latest viral trends, they can surely read the day’s newspaper every once in a while and take to social media to throw their weight behind what they perceive as a gross injustice of the day. And stand firm on the ground on which they stand. Until that happens, it’ll reinforce the view that our cultural icons are a tad cowardly to complain. 

The author is a journalist