Art has a unique power to create social change because it can focus attention on an issue in a way that nothing else can.
The iconic photo of the Napalm Girl by Nick Ut galvanized the consciousness of America against the Viet Nam war, because no caring human being could view it and not say, "This is wrong! It must stop!"
The photo of ChongLy Scott Thao, the Hmong elder being rousted by ICE, did the same for the invasion of the Twin Cities, as did the heart-rending image of little 5 year old Liam Ramos being kidnapped by Trump's ICE agents.
We never know when a song, an image, a phrase, will almost mystically capture the spirit of a moment, and all the anguish, struggle, and confusion suddenly finds its voice. All we know is that art alone has the power to capture and coalesce that moment.
It is not unreasonable to say that the photos of ChongLy Scott Thao in his blanket and Liam Ramos in his bunny hat marked the moments when indifferent or uninvolved or uncommitted America sat up and said, "This is enough. This is wrong. This must stop."
Remember this, all you artists when you think you are not doing enough, and all you non-artists when you think that art is a frivolity or a luxury and that it has no real place in the down and dirty affairs of the real world. Art is mysterious and magic, and sometimes mystery and magic are what we need to keep our vision and our dreams alive.