Are you being an Effective Activist? ft. Founder of #CultureFix & Creative Consultant Nora Rahimian

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Impact Everywhere Podcast

4 min readJul 13, 2020

In today’s episode of Impact Everywhere with Benjamin Von Wong, we hear from Nora Rahimian. Nora is a creative consultant that has been helping artists and musicians from all over the world have a more significant impact using art as a tool for change. She has been working in the field for over a decade, and she is now the founder and lead consultant at #CultureFix.

In our conversation, Nora shares her thoughts on the responsibility that we hold as individuals and brands in situations of social injustice, such as gender inequality and racism. Nora shares a story from when she was working for a non-profit organization in Liberia, where they found that music was used as a far more effective tool to connect and communicate with the youth.

Nora shares her thoughts on how and why new and upcoming artists should speak up on issues of social and environmental injustice through their music. Last but not least, she speaks to us on what it’s like to be an activist in today’s highly technology-based world and what leading businesses can and should do to promote equality. Listen to the full podcast at one of the links below so you don’t miss out so you don’t miss anything!

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Key Points From This Episode

Why Art is necessary to add effectiveness to the work of non-profits

Non-profits tackle the symptoms, not the root cause. Art can move people to action through an emotional connection that helps to shift norms.

Why artists and brands shouldn’t be afraid to speak up

Often when starting out, artists are afraid to make statements. But taking a stand shows your support base that you care about them because you care about things that affect them, and that makes people buy into you more. Audiences no longer tolerate complicitness.

How to differentiate authentic activism from bandwagon posturing

If the risk being taken is proportional to everything that someone/a brand has and the action they take is equal to the output rhetoric, chances are the activism is authentic.

Tweetables

“A lot of disability activists have advocated for we need to work from home, we need to change the structures, and we’re told, no. You have to be in an office; you have to work nine to five because that’s what capitalism tells us work looks like. And then here comes COVID. And now all of a sudden, all these things that we thought were impossible are possible.” [0:24:43] nora rahimian

“ When I used to do gang intervention work, donors wanted to see what like how do I know that this stops someone from being in a gang, and honestly, I don’t know. I can’t give you a before and after a survey of how likely I am to commit violence now and how likely I am after that. It doesn’t work that way. But I can tell you if one of my students decides to fist fight you rather than pull out a gun, that’s progress.” [0:31:37] nora rahimian

“I think we maybe live in a world where you’re either an activist or you’re not, at least that’s the way social media tends to portray things.” [0:21:44] @norarahimian

Coming Up Next

Next episode, we’ll hear from Blair Glencorse, who is the founder of Accountability Lab — an organization that Names and Fames outstanding individuals with integrity all over the world to fight against corruption. He’s also the founder of Integrity Icon — where they’re looking for outstanding citizens in Philadelphia! Join us next week by subscribing so you don’t miss any upcoming episodes.