ABSTRACT
This chapter examines where concrete involvement in justice movement work appears within the official programming of HONK! and how that involvement has developed over the life of the festival. HONK!’s relationship to justice movement work has been one of ambivalence and hesitation rather than either a wholehearted embrace or active hostility, reflecting a tension between political and antipolitical stances. The Principles of Unity that HONK! adopted in 2018, and published on its website, mark a decisive change in how the festival talks about itself. Similarly, the connection between HONK! and Resist the Raids began in 2013 when the Rude Mechanical Orchestra’s received a sudden invitation to join incarcerated immigrants’ relatives and community members on an overpass facing the jail, where they would be visible and audible from the cell windows. Movement-oriented bands have found ways to steadily expand HONK!’s participation in justice movement work.
