One of the first places Joan took me when I started regularly visiting her on Staten Island was Snug Harbor. I was kind of surprised to find an institution of such beauty that supported the arts in the least populated borough. Through the years, I have played there, attended theater and celebrations, seen giant animatronic dolls walk through it, marveled at its seasonal changes and found myself very grateful for its presence.
So, when I read an article in the Advance/SILive.com about cuts to it and several other institutions, I was hopping mad.
First of all, what a slap in the face to the many people on this Island who voted for the president. I’m sure they didn’t think he would pull the rug out from under one of their most beloved institutions. He was going after criminals and illegal immigrants and government waste. And he found it…right in our own back yard. The president of the United States has decided that Snug Harbor, The Botanical Gardens and other organizations associated with the National Endowment For The Arts are not “worthy” of funding unless they change their priorities to align with his.
I wonder…what exactly are his priorities? Erasing the history of LGBTQ+ people and people of color from history? Taking over the Kennedy Center and causing the cast of “Les Mis” and Yo-Yo Ma to cancel their performances? Defunding grant programs that fund local artists?
I’ve seen his bathroom. The man simply has no taste.
Secondly, what’s the message here? Art isn’t worth funding? And why would that be? I have a theory. Would you like to hear it? (Well, you’re gonna if you keep reading!)
Art is dangerous. Art is political. Art makes you see things a different way from the way you saw them before you experienced that particular work of Art. Think of a painting by Monet. A play by Mamet. A song by the Beatles. A film by Martin Scorsese. All of these are examples of great art that alter your perception.
They make you think, and I seriously don’t believe that this administration wants us to think. They do, to paraphrase the late George Carlin in 2005, want a nation of compliant workers who will do exactly what they are told and never complain.
That’s not the America any of us grew up in. We were taught to work hard and to question authority. We were taught to respect our elders and to care for the weak, the downtrodden, the children and those that needed our assistance. This administration seems hell bent on removing all of that and replacing it with the worship of the almighty dollar. Golden calves spring effortlessly to mind.
Uh-uh. No. Not here. Not in the country I love. I know for a fact that everybody who loves this country will fight as hard as they can for it. And when they see their freedoms being taken away, when they see a rise in food and gas prices, when they see their neighbors being dragged off the streets and piled into an unmarked van by men both masked and hooded, they will refuse to not act and demand justice.
When Bruce Springsteen recently made remarks about the current president at the opening of his tour in England, the comments on social media were hilariously room blind and also frightening. A lot of “shut up and play;” “If he doesn’t like it here, he should leave;” “He hasn’t been relevant in years;” and “He shouldn’t mix politics with music.” That last comment really threw me. Whoever wrote it is very unfamiliar with Bruce’s discography. From “Born In The USA” to “Tom Joad,” from “The Rising” to “Working On A Dream,” Bruce has always been political and he has always taken the side of the “little man.”
He only began backing specific candidates after George W. Bush because he saw an inherent threat to the American way of life.
But, all of this “shut up and play” and “America…love it our leave it” stuff…yeah, we’ve all heard that before, usually by people who were unwilling to entertain the thought that they might just be wrong about some things.
Conan O’Brian recently received the Mark Twain Award for comedy. He almost decided not to accept it because of the president’s takeover and dismantling of the board of the Kennedy Center. But then he figured that this might be the last award, so he better grab it while he could. In his acceptance speech, he quoted Mark Twain as saying “Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time and your government only when it deserves it.” Thomas Jefferson wrote that “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing” and that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
We may be at that point. Because there are severe disagreements among us about what constitutes an America where each of its citizens can enjoy “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” When that’s only meant for a chosen few and not for all, that’s not a democracy. That’s tyranny. And our ancestors came here hundreds of years ago to avoid that very thing.
I came to this borough in 1995 to woo a woman and wound up finding a home. I am a proud Staten Islander, although my obituary will say I was “carried here” (actually, I drove.) And I will be dammed if I will let any person or organization take away my right to enjoy my life here just because they disagree with me. I would strongly suggest that whoever has that in mind consider the fact that they might be wrong about some things. Perhaps many, many things.
Hold those magnificent grey heads high. Support Snug Harbor!
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