When President Donald Trump’s series of declarations that seemed too absurd to be true became a reality, artists — including the producers of Hamilton — formed a movement against the censorship of the Kennedy Center and, ultimately, a movement to protect their First Amendment rights.
On Feb. 7, in reference to the Kennedy Center and the termination of multiple members from the Board of Trustees, Trump posted to Truth Social, “We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” While met with frustration from many, there was not an abundance of panic surrounding his plan to become Chairman due to the typical senselessness of his social media posts.
Three days later, Trump posted again, stating that there was to be “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST.” While disconcerting, the statement seemed, once again, more like an empty threat rather than a promise of the censorship that was to occur in the coming weeks.
Then, on Feb. 12, Trump was elected Chairman of the Kennedy Center board by the Board of Trustees — excluding the eighteen whom he had terminated the week prior. Naturally, the realization that the once fanciful plans to erase controversial or thought-provoking programming from the center would be coming true created outrage.
While answering questions aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked the reasoning behind his choices to terminate members of the Board of Trustees and appoint himself Chairman. “We don’t need woke at the Kennedy Center,” he responded.
Thus began the mass exodus of programs from the Kennedy Center. Since his appointment as Chairman, the Kennedy Center has seen numerous programs cancel their runs in protest, including the award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton and artists like Rhiannon Giddons, Balún, Issa Rae, Low Cut Connie, and Amanda Rheaume. Others, like the children’s musical Finn, had the choice made for them, with the Kennedy Center itself canceling their shows. Some, like the composer of Parade, Jason Robert Brown, refuse to go down without a fight. The show plans to continue with its run without complying with the removal of “woke” material.
The protest against the Kennedy Center’s actions under Trump’s leadership concerns more than canceling specific performances or shifting artistic tastes. It’s about a much larger issue concerning the First Amendment and the role of government intervention in regulating artistic expression.
The First Amendment guarantees fundamental freedoms: speech, religion, the press, peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government. When we begin to dismantle these protections, we take the first step down a slippery slope. Right now, artistic expression is under threat.
But this begs the question: what’s next? What about when the right to freely practice our faith is eliminated?
Then what? Is journalism next? It’s not fear-mongering if it’s a real possibility. After all, the entire business of journalism could be, rightfully so, considered “propaganda.”
The attack on the arts is not an isolated issue. It is a warning signal that our most basic freedoms could be at risk. Allowing political influence to dictate art opens the door to broader restrictions on our rights. The question we must ask ourselves isn’t “What’s next?” — it’s “How do we stop it?”