The Personal is Political, and Politics is Public
We all have a thing or two to learn from City Lights Booksellers and Publishers about making a statement. Founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter Martin in 1953, City Lights became home to the Beat generation and began the anti-authoritarian legacy which has guided the store’s book selection, audience, and public image. The Beat generation that made City Lights a literary landmark was never one to shy away from creating an anti-establishment presence, with people like Ferlinghetti at the very core of the institution. And these writers, at that very core, had a goal: to communicate and to engage the world around them in conversation.
City Lights’ statements are public, and for the masses. When they make a statement, they not only make the statement available for all to see, but make sure everyone sees it. The row of windows and terra cotta second story serve not only as architectural components of the structure that houses shelves of revolutionary books, but function as a free, public gallery wall. It is inescapable; every passerby sees the messages black markered signs in the windows or the banners that hang between them. City Lights makes it clear where it stands politically and socially and does it unapologetically.
Anyone walking past, whether City Lights is their destination or simply on their way to their destination, is forced to see, read, and think. They are automatically implicated. The current storefront is an aggressive statement of empowerment. No one is bullying them into reclusion. No one is going to give in. And if you are afraid, City Lights steps up to the plate and is unafraid on your behalf. They give the part of you that is upset, angry, and wanting to speak out a voice, bringing it to the attention of the sympathetic and the enemy alike. It tells the community to rally behind the statement, and tells the antagonist to be afraid.
City Lights has been open now for over fifty years, and has never strayed from being outspoken. City Lights seems special because it is so aggressive, unorthodox, and has an important role in a larger history. But, hanging posters from windows is not unique practice. I am reminded of a window I walk under everyday on my way home; hanging in it are gay and trans* pride flags, hanging for all to see, turning their window from a private space into a public statement of support, a message of solidarity, and one that is likely deeply personal. It isn’t just hanging signs from windows, though; we make statements constantly, with things as personal to us as our bodies. From “I’m With Her ” pins on denim jackets, to cheaply manufactured “Make America Great Again” hats, to the posters we hang on our walls, our windows, our doors, where we go, how we carry ourselves, how we speak and what we choose to say, who we say it to; embedded within the natures of our existences is the capacity to say something, to embody a message. City Lights uses their storefront as a statement-making public wall. We can use our bodies and our actions and make ourselves into statement-making beings. Let’s take after City Lights — if we can become walking statements, shouldn’t we?
