Fall-Winter 2004
The Creative Advocate

by Desiree Nall

Unapologetic Wordsmith

Carrying the torch of relentless progress into the black wilderness of human prejudice, Alix Olson's spoken-word poetry is nothing short of an artistic and social revelation. Her illusion shattering, poetic hammer: impassioned delivery, potent ideas, and undeniable logic, command attention and praise. The 2004 Outmusician of the Year, Alix utilizes music to broaden the appeal of her poignant poetry. Her albums, Independence Meal and Built Like That, are intimate, challenging, thought-provoking, emotional and even sexy.

Touring two-hundred days out of a year, Alix enthusiastically delivers her poetry, accompanied by background music, to people across the U.S. Utilizing her undying energy, infectious smile, and honest lyrics, Alix has headlined events for organizations like the National Organization for Women, the Lesbian Summit, GenderPac, and has even appeared on HBO's Def Poetry Jam. Alix's art has earned the attention of CNN, Utne, and other media outlets. The Minnesota Women's Press wrote: "Alix's poetry inspires audiences and challenges them to think, leaving many dizzy and breathless...keeps the audience engaged even with silence...her performance creates the atmosphere for groundbreaking, intergenerational discussion."

She has also earned negative attention from organizations like the Concerned Women For America (CWA), a conservative women's group. After a member of the group witnessed one of Alix's performances, in 2003, Alix turned up on the CWA's "top ten most dangerous women in America list" — something Alix and her fans are proud of.

It's no wonder Alix's poetry inflames some and inspires others; her art and her politics, as she explained in a recent interview, are inseparable.

We need to understand that "politics" is just an umbrella word for how we structure our relationships to this world, how we distribute wealth, that we can reassign the priorities of this country to be structured around compassion, beauty, freedom, the arts, and quality of life over quantity of stuff.

As a feminist, peace activist, humanitarian, global-patriot, and lesbian, Alix refuses to quiet her criticism of patriarchy, the media, prejudice, globalization, materialism, and corporate America. Armed with a voice as potent as any cannon, Alix leads a fearless revolt in a track called "Warrior," against those antiquated but still vibrant traditions that still slander women, like Hillary Rodham Clinton, even today.

The paper called me a warrior./ A bad girl. A bad example./ The paper says I smile big,/ but I curse to much. And its true, I do/ feel like a warrior just for making it through the day, sometimes /I feel like a fighter. cause I fight/ to keep the fighting away

Raised by political science teachers, in a conservative Pennsylvania town, Alix began writing around the age of ten. Her parents raised her without "gender" expectations and named her after Alix Kate Shulman, a feminist author. Activists themselves, her parents made it clear that she, too, had a duty to give back to society. This is reflected in her poem, "Womyn Before Me," in which Alix recalls a union picket line she and her mother joined:

I was still sucking my thumb/ the first time I sang 'We shall overcome.' It was a numb December night,/ a small town fable,/ my first corporate villain,/ and my mother was the hero — I asked her, 'why are we so mad?' She smiled to herself,/ pondered politics of fingers curled,/ 'this is solidarity,' she whispered to her baby girl.

The poem goes on to list a number of women who have changed history, allowing succeeding generations of women greater liberties. Adding her name to that roster, Alix speaks to the 21 st Century women like few others can. She puts into words, what so many women feel, but can hardly express. Her profoundly psychological poetry gives voice, and clear expression to problems many women have learned to, themselves, deny.

Alix does not buy into society's idea of "femininity." She capsizes the socialized characteristics of "male" and "female" and all the expectations that follow such. In her poem "Sticks" Alix unveils the packaged body of sorrow and sickness that women's bodies have become. In the piece a mother tells her baby girl how women have become dangerously obsessed with beauty.

We crave stick-out collarbones, ribs-/ when we cave in, stomachs sticking out,/ we stick our fingers down our throats.

The poem ends with:

I don't want you sticking flowers/ on my grave, baby girl, mama says, with the weight of the world/ on your stick shoulders./ Crying,/ and not ever knowing why.

While Alix takes time to fold back the skin of struggle, offering a glimpse at the often dismissed, or trivialized plight of womankind, she is surprisingly refreshing and optimistic: she has ideas about how to fix a world steeped in sexism; she calls on women to learn their HerStory, to work together to break down negative female stereotypes, and to use their voices as weapon:

we've got a chance if we sharpen our visions/ with our voices,

says Alix in "Warrior."

It's a choice to make noise, it's hard to be heard/ they'll toss you a muzzle wherever you go/ We gotta get up when we're pushed to the ground,/ they ain't gonna hear us if we're screaming face down.

Her poetry consistently advises women not to rely on future generations to create change, and reminds them that they owe it to their daughters to demand and ignite change now. In "Subtle Sister" she says:

And they say "you've made progress, girls,/ take a rest in-between"/ but see while you're resting,/ someone else is progressing,/ it's what I've seen/ cause they want domestics,/ theyll give us needle and thread/ for patching their egos./ We'll sew revolution instead.

Fully aware of the great sacrifices of those women before her, Alix is today's torch bearer. Light on her feet, despite the immense burden she carries, Alix continues to dedicate her life to fight, not only for women's rights, but also for the equal distribution of wealth, changes in national power dynamics, and complete equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people. Her poem, "I Believe," encompasses many of her beliefs:

I believe Harriet Tubman should be on the dollar bill,/ we've had our fill of white boy faces, time to change places/ I believe small talk is for small people/ who have nothing much to say,/ if you really think it's so nice out,/ shut up and go enjoy the fucking day./ I believe wall street invented/ the criminal mentality,/ the Easter bunny laid /mandatory heterosexuality/ I believe our system is a love affair between the up and upper classes,/ cause it's easy to get screwed when you're just raping all the masses

Though Alix's tireless, often satirical, assault on the injustices that infect our society has earned her a loud chorus of critics, it's her countenance, her resolve to speak the truth no matter how many enemies she makes, that make her one of the U.S.'s most important artists. While generic debate and prejudiced rhetoric bombard radio programs and cable TV, Alix is "stealing back the truth" by touching "one woman at a time" (and even men for that matter). If there's ever been a time for groups like the CWA to be alarmed, the time is now.

One on One with Alix

CA: You are currently working on a documentary, when can we expect this to come out?

Alix: The documentary will be out at the end of October; my filmmaker and I have been working extremely hard on it and I'm very proud of it. The hardest part was determining what to leave out- we had so much footage, so many highlights of road life!

CA: When performing live, do you find that some people are shocked by your messages?

Alix: I'm sure there have been people shocked by my messages, but shock is only a good thing. When we cease to be caught off guard, surprised, blasted into a different mode of thought, we are living in a death-like way.

CA: Some people claim that American's are unpatriotic if they speak out against or disagree with the current Administration. How do you define patriotism?

Alix: This country was founded on the idea of open dialogue and the right to free speech is something patriots have died for throughout history. It would be unpatriotic to not utilize that right. In general, I try to live my daily life as a global humanitarian, as a citizen of this world, not as a nationalist patriot. I find that most of the ethics I devote my life towards transcend national boundaries. As such, I will speak out against wrongdoings, whether those actions are of my government or another country's.

CA: What are some of your thoughts/ opinions about the current candidates in this years
election?

Alix: I think we need to fight to get Kerry into the White House, and then begin to force him towards a more progressive-thinking and peaceful agenda, including ending the Imperialistic and brutal attack on Iraqis and Afghans.

CA: Who inspires you?

Alix: Artists, writers, thinkers, performers, who use their passions and talents to agitate the world into a better place.