On-line Film Response–Rock, Rage and Self-Defense

Samuel Juarez-Solis

• Why did the Home Alive collective form?
  • The Home Alive collective was formed in response to the rape and murder of the  singer Mia Zapata. The community felt unsafe, especially because they thought Zapata was such a powerful figure and never imagined someone like her being raped and murdered. A group of local musicians and artists close to Zapata decided to raise money to teach free self-defense classes to people who usually can not afford them.
• How did the Home Alive collective define self-defense?
  • The Home Alive collective defined self-defense as any means to keep oneself alive. Whether it be by physical means, guns, or escape routes the person had to stay alive.
• What are some of the issues and tensions the Home Alive collective faced once they became an organization?
  • One issue the Home Alive collective faced once they became an organization is that many places around the world wanted a Home Alive branch, but the members thought it would best to just stay local. Also, there was a problem of who was allowed to go to the sessions. One member complained they were uncomfortable that a person who identified as a woman had a penis. But the head members believes violence permeated through the lives of everyone so they let anyone join.
• Why does the work and approach of Home Alive matter? What is the organization’s legacy?
  • The work and approach of Home Alive matters because heinous crimes like rape and murder can be avoided if people have the proper self-defense techniques. The organization’s legacy is that they now have a website and are able to reach millions around the world. Whether they liked it or not, the organization did have feminism undertones that promoted the lives of women.
• This documentary emerged out of the oral histories that students conducted in the first version of this class in 2011. If you could make a documentary film on an artist, scene or music’s relationship to social activism, what would it be about? Why?
  • I would make a documentary film about Freddie Mercury in support of the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. I feel like that community is facing a tremendous hardship right now and a documentary about one of society’s beloved rock stars would be a huge encouragement to support the lives of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ people.