Since separation is togetherness’ necessary partner—otherwise, why argue?—and togetherness through separation is unacceptable, where are we headed? This boycott-oriented trax in response to Arizona’s SB-1070 is aligned with The Sound Strike collective of artists who encouraged the active marginalization of Arizona from the music marketplace. Come May 2012—a month before the Supreme Court approved of the de facto “driving while Mexican” provision of the law—the boycott transitioned to an embrace of contact, engagement, and a more laissez faire attitude. (Now, it’s pretty much the same as Artist for Action’s stance, without the active pedagogy or artist adulation.) Problem solved? Not quite. Singers invoke the Declaration of Independence, ask rhetorical questions, define “nation” as that which “join[s] heart and hand,” and generally follow MLK’s “constructive, nonviolent tension.” This is a growth narrative. Yet a combative posture is assumed, and a symbolic violence is simultaneously the heart of seeming platitudes, especially when one must “dare” to “stand for justice.” These moments—all moments, really—demand this unity in antagonism, infinitely. 

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