Sequoia Snyder created a multi-media piece of performance art to express her belief that joy can be a form of resistance for Black people. Recently, that artwork received the “Most Inspiring – Performance Art Award” at the 4th Annual Social Justice Art Festival at Michigan State University.

Snyder, a Jazz Studies senior in the MSU College of Music, said she wanted to look beyond the weight of social injustice when she paired her original music and poetry with video. Instead, “Delight” shows how taking joy in everyday life becomes a mode of resistance, healing and affirmation in an oppressive society.

“I wanted to do something related to Black people, but I didn’t want to do something that was depressing or traumatic,” Snyder said. “There are other things to the Black experience.”

Snyder, a musician and performer from Washington, D.C., performs under the name REDWOOD. She had been working on the musical component of her award-winning piece for a year or two, and was inspired to finish it for the annual festival of student artworks centered on social justice. Her friend and musical collaborator Austin Muthyala, a jazz trumpeter and fellow College of Music student, provided critique as she curated media from Black Archives—an Instagram site based in Washington, D.C. that spotlights the Black experience.

Snyder’s four-minute piece asks how joy can exist in moments of cruelty, and suggests how Black people learn and find ways to thrive despite unjust circumstances. Her creation overlays imagery of children and adults smiling, playing, dancing and laughing from the mid-20th century to the present, and concludes with the idea that Black revolution is not just struggle and strife, but good things like joy, love and unity.

“The whole reason I do music is just to try to have a positive effect on somebody else,” Snyder said. “That’s always a goal.”

MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences alumna Pamela Sherrod Anderson was among the judges at 2021 SJAF, held virtually from January 18-21. Anderson earned her master’s in communications with an emphasis in journalism and is founder of Graceworks Theater and Film Productions in Chicago. She said Snyder’s piece captured the essence of the festival that recognizes art that moves, expands thinking, increases empathy, and inspires people to take action. Snyder’s work stood out, she said, by showing the unexpected side of social justice: people of all ages expressing inner joy.

“You don’t think of seeing joyful images when you think of social justice, but this is what is at the heart of social justice—knowing we have that joy within us that surfaces in our smiles, our dance, our movement, our walk, our dress and our talk,” Anderson said. “The revolution comes in knowing that we will not surrender the joy for life within us to only replace it with the negative forces that deplete us.”

The Social Justice Arts Festival was created in 2017 by Dr. Amber Benton, Director of Diversity Programming and Student Engagement for James Madison College. The first festival kicked-off on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January 2018. The festival provides a unique platform that engages undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and the MSU and East Lansing communities around social justice topics through artistic expression. The event is a partnership of units and colleges across campus, including the James Madison College, the Residential College of Arts and Humanities, the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives, and the MSU Federal Credit Union.

“Everyone really enjoyed the piece. It was a true standout,” said College of Music Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs Talitha Wimberly, who also serves on the SJAF committee. “Both committee members and the outside jurors couldn’t say enough about the power, beauty and refreshing take on social justice that Sequoia’s video and music provided in the festival. It really lives up to its name.”