Advocating for the Arts: A Critical Moment

Written By Courtney Wasson

Stay awhile… this is going to get juicy and we need to talk about it.

As a non-profit organization, we are prevented from campaigning for individual candidates. That being said, non-profit organizations are not restricted in terms of advocating for or against issues that impact the communities we serve.

As you may be aware, this past Monday evening, the Trump administration issued an order to freeze all spending on federal grants and loans in order to review and evaluate if those programs align with their agenda. The memo, authored by Matthew J. Vaeth (acting director for the Office of Management and Budget) stated that,

“The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve.”


The freeze was halted prior to going into effect yesterday and, just today, the memo that issued the freeze has been rescinded… however, the executive orders on funding reviews issued by President Trump "remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments."

At this point, we are unsure of how or if this will impact the arts sector. However, our sector, i.e. “the arts”, is an easy target due to D.E.I efforts and the subject of gender identity.

Let’s dig into this:

  • Diversity is a value added component of the art world. Who in the world only wants one crayon to color with? only one viewpoint? only one note? Diversity in the artworld can apply to many things from people to medium to concept. It is an asset. It leads to innovation.

  • Equity relates to fairness. As a non-profit, we are obliged to be equitable. To treat those we serve fairly.

  • Inclusion is bound to the concepts of welcome, respect, support, value, and belonging.

  • Transgendered and non-binary people… are exactly that, people. Humans. They have value and should be treated fairly/equitably.

If you’ve been reading my newsletters with regularity, you may have picked up on my fascination with language - the various meaning, definitions, and interpretations.

So, let’s keep digging in an effort to understand…

Another term is being used in regards to the freeze is “woke.” The administration is trying to eliminate spending on “woke ideologies.” The word woke is often used when describing liberal agendas and policies, but where does the term come from?

Woke, a slang word for awake, was used in the 1930s and earlier to refer to awareness of social and political issues affecting African Americans.

 

Photo of folk-singer, Lead Belly, by William P. Gottlieb

Here’s a tidbit from Wikipedia about Lead Belly’s use of the term (links and citations are included):

Black American folk singer-songwriter Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, used the phrase "stay woke" as part of a spoken afterword to a 1938 recording of his song "Scottsboro Boys", which tells the story of nine black teenagers and young men falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. In the recording, Lead Belly says he met with the defendant's lawyer and the young men themselves, and "I advise everybody, be a little careful when they go along through there (Scottsboro) – best stay woke, keep their eyes open."[2][11]

Why dig into this?

Because this has reverberating impact. Why target these values, people, and concepts? What threat do they pose? Upholding these values and recognizing that transgendered and non-binary people are people does no one harm. It excludes no one.

So again, why target this? Let’s talk about Tuesday…

Here’s where it gets personal: Tuesday morning, I was both angry and scared for my friends and family that identify as queer, BIPOC, and children of immigrants… all of which have shared their struggle to feel that they have belonging in U.S. society and culture.

I also understood the potential impact this memo would have on the arts in Kansas City. There was and is no clear guidance regarding the memo. In my role as KCAC’s Executive Director, I reached out to some of the other nonprofits in our city to understand how this memo and freeze would impact their organizations, to learn how they planned to respond, to share resources, and to offer support to our community of artists - especially those specifically targeted by the memo.

Visible 12 by Harold Smith, KCAC Board Member and retired educator

Later that morning, I was warned to not send texts that referenced the memo and freeze as there was a concern that arts leaders may have been placed on a watch list. Welp… that wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card and it was intimidating.

In 2022, I attended the TransCultural Exchange, an international conference of artists and arts leaders, and sat in an auditorium to listen to other artists and arts administrators from Ukraine, Cuba, and Afghanistan speak about their different experiences. The panel was moderated by Julie Trébault, the Founder and Executive Director of ARC: Artists at Risk Connection. They spoke about the perceived threat artists posed to these regimes due to the fact that artists are capable of exposing truth, imagining other possibilities, and have the ability to lend form and vision to movements. They also shared how their colleagues had been dislocated, imprisoned, and assassinated.

This memo and it’s specific targeting was meant to be intimidating. And I started to feel scared into a type of silence or compliance at the risk losing potential federal funding for KCAC.

However, by the end of the night, I had shed my fear. This shedding was a result of the questioning I outlined earlier in this note to you. Upholding our values and supporting artists in our community is not immoral nor illegal. I/we have nothing to hide. I/we will continue to support and advocate for artists and the arts in our community.

I woke up resolute.

~ Courtney Wasson

Courtney Wasson
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FORUM’S EXTENDED INTERVIEW | 2024 CSF Visual Arts Awardees