Just over two years ago, I returned to my hometown of Charleston, South Carolina for the summer to report on rising sea levels and the creative response by artists, who were—then and now—focused on generating public understanding even in the midst of collapse. I went into the work feeling hopeless and left feeling inspired to believe in the power of community, art, resistance, and resilience in activist traditions across the Lowcountry—a place full of as much violence and oppression as beauty and history.
Along the way, I came into contact with hip-hop artist and Lowcountry native Benny Starr, who became fundamental to my environmental philosophy. As he said to me all the way back in the summer of 2021 when asked about the artist’s role in responding to climate change, “Art is one of the natural predators of power. The goal of art is disruption. It is disruption that inspires joy, freedom, and community. You might be able to snuff out one voice, but you can’t snuff out the collective.”
The work we do here at Good Folk—and indeed the core of what I now consider my life’s work, both in this project and in my larger academic research—is to organize, unite, and empower that collective—even against all the odds.
At the top of his website, Benny quotes James Baldwin, who writes that “A society must assume that it is stable, but the artist must know, and he must let us know, that there is nothing stable under heaven.”
Our role as artists is to reckon with the world around us, which exists in constant flux. But it is also to help us find communal roots amidst flux—something I cannot emphasize the importance of enough when it comes to climate work in the American South, which my academic research now centers around. Both Benny and I consider the South Carolina Lowcountry home—which means we both know how high it is at risk of being lost.
There are times where I think it would be easier to let it go—to let the water wash it all away and for us to restart in a place with less tumult, violence, and division. Of course, in America, a country founded on colonialism, escaping those legacies becomes impossible. And here again I turn to what Benny has taught me over the years: to think of water as a tool. Water reveals as much as it washes away; it shows us the spaces where community is needed most. Our work now is to return to those spaces of tension and believe in something better.
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be joined by Benny today on the podcast for a conversation about legacy, environment, and the power of creative practice. Benny’s art reflects the landscape of the Lowcountry, where Black music and Southern culture intersect with deep roots in hip hop, gospel, jazz, blues, and rock, all of which are woven with rich histories of resiliency, eliciting a quest for a higher calling in those who connect with them.
Benny’s most recent solo project, A Water Album, takes up this quest. It was recorded live with his fellow bandmates, The Four20s, at Charleston Music Hall and released on Juneteenth 2019. Following the release of A Water Album, Benny has been featured in The Oxford American’s yearly Southern music issue and made history by becoming the first Hip-Hop artist to perform at Spoleto Festival USA, as well as A Water Album being named “South Carolina’s Best Album” in 2019 by the Free Times.
In 2020, Native Son, a duo of Benny Starr and harmonious singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Rodrick Cliche, was formed. Together, they are redefining what it means to be dynamic while remaining highly respected. When merging the comforting allure of Southern breakfast at Grandma’s house with the triumphant command of a revolutionary’s chant, you get the sonic resonance that their sound taunts—decadent and nourishing.
Native Son’s most recent release, “The Land,” is a rallying cry that echoes the injustices of Black Legacy Farmers at the hands of the USDA and is part of an ongoing partnership with The Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund and The Black Farmers Appeal: Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign.
As a part of the ongoing collaboration, Native Son screened “Restoration: A Concert Film” on Juneteenth 2020. In the fall, “Restoration” was also released for a limited-time viewing to coincide with the Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020, introduced by U.S. Senators Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand on November 30th. To date, “Restoration” has been screened at the Pan African Film Festival, WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, Seattle Black Film Festival, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series, Nevada City Film Festival, Rhode Island Black Film Festival, Las Vegas Black Film Festival, Nice International Film Festival, and more.
The U.S. Water Alliance welcomed Benny Starr as their inaugural One Water Artist-in-Residence in October 2020. Through his 18-month residency with the Alliance, Benny worked with staff and the Alliance network to infuse arts and cultural strategies into thinking, problem-solving, and programming. He was named one of Grist’s 50 Fixers of 2021, a list that includes emerging leaders in climate, sustainability, and equity who are creating change nationwide. After serving as Senior Fellow of Arts & Culture with the U.S. Water Alliance, Benny has begun his consultancy, Watercolor Creative, which utilizes creative strategies, artistic processes, and social practice to strengthen the efficacy of arts partnerships and integration.
I’ll leave you with Benny’s own words, from his artist statement, which I think say it best: “My work is spiritual. It’s ritual, improvisation, repetition, and imperfection. It is a space for dreaming, but equally important, a space to fail, reflect, refine, and improve. And I hope that when people engage with my creations and process, it moves them to engage deeply with their creativity in everything they do.”
Yes. Here’s to engaging deeply. I hope you enjoy this conversation.
EP 25: Benny Starr