Art Frees Our Minds

Don't let anyone cancel our joy

Just a few of the amazing artists @middlechurch.

One Sunday I was called to do the Jonathan Capehart show. In that beautiful chance thing that happens, I was leaning against a wall talking to Katie Phang and the force that is Min Jin Lee joined us. She is the warmest, kindest, most brilliant light. We had a conversation one Sunday about “Mothering the World into Healing” during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. You can see our talk here. Her books are stunning. Panchinko is my favorite; it widened my heart and mind to her experiences as a Korean immigrant. Her art changes me, changes us.

Min says,

“We cannot help but be interested in the stories of people that history pushes aside so thoughtlessly.”

Of course this is true. So maybe the way this administration is pushing aside the stories of BIPOC and Queer people will have some positive impact despite POTUS’ intent. Maybe because Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is banned from the U.S. Naval Academy library, those sailors will run to read it. Maybe summer programs and community centers will stock their shelves with banned books that tell diverse stories and increase our sense of belonging to each other. Maybe because the National Endowment of the Arts has cut funding from artists, we who know these stories matter will rush to fill the financial gaps.

We need art to stretch us, to encourage and inspire us, to help us envision worlds in which we are all well and thriving. Art frees our minds. Resisting this moment means sustaining what we care about with our attention and our resources. Trinity UCC in Chicago, led by my friend Otis Moss III, and our congregation—Middle Church— enjoined others to make donations to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. I’ve belonged since it opened and now my church does, too.

Maya Angelou wrote a powerful poem, Caged Bird. One strophe reads

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

Fearful people, bigoted people, trapped in their bigotry, biases and privileges, want to erase our stories, cancel our art, and silence our freedom songs. They hope we will forget the power of stories to heal us and transform our world. We resist. We keep making art, and art makes us remember. Artists tell the stories that create a global neighborhood in which we all belong, in which we are all connected.

There are stories to be told, to quote my artistic friends Bil Wright and Dionne McClain-Freeney, and we must go out and tell them. My community at Middle Church is full of artists like Kaliswa Brewster, chair of the board of Moliere in the Park. Though her funding was deeply cut, she is moving forward with The Imaginary Invalid, named by The New York Times as one of 13 must-see Off-Broadway plays. She offers free theater in Brooklyn to foster empathy and unity within the diverse communities there. Art does that.

Our Parron Allen is a fashion designer who makes wearable art, designing inventive collections that incorporate fabric remnants, discarded textiles, and thrifted garments. It’s been amazing to celebrate his rise from designing lovely clothing for this author to styling Rosa Lander for the Met Gala. He created a striking ensemble that honored the legacy of garment workers, masterfully crafted from dead stock fabric with purpose. Art puts justice on the table.

In this Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month I am also celebrating our Shanta Thake who produces incredible art at Lincoln Center, where she has increased free and pay-what-you-can programming so art can reach more hearts. Art promotes accessibility.

Thank God for the art, and the artists who use their imaginations to help us see better. See them, listen to them, watch them move on a stage and in cinema. Support them with such subversive intent that we heal our souls and the world with art.

Here is some folks telling important stories that are on my heart today. Join me in supporting what moves you!

The Public Theater

National Public Radio
The Schomburg Center

The Classical Theater of Harlem
The National Museum of African American History and Culture

And, always—Middle Church, where art and justice live side by side. I’m shouting out to more of our artists: John Del Cueto, Drew Wutke, Lars Swan, Matthew Johnson Harris, Charles Randolph Wright, Tituss Burgess, Aly Palmer, Shari Carpenter, Joy Lau, Patti Carpenter, Lyn Preston, Elizabeth Stanley, Karen Pittman, Natalie Renee Perkins, Erica Hunt, Jamia Wilson, Branch Woodman, Mark Rhenstrom, Antwayn Hopper, Aunjanue Ellis, Michael Dinwiddie, Mary Jo Lombardo, Elisabeth Rodgers, Dawn Davis, Caelyn Osborn, Ellington Tanner, Christian Unthank, Gary Posner, Adriene Hurd, Lutin Tanner, Jonathan Dudley, Dean Hubbard, Deborah Berg McCarthy, Angie Dykshorn, Patrick Mulcahy, Peter Calderon, Lulie Haddad, Genesis Be, Peter Hedges, Lauren Ashcraft, Ivan Anderson, Macky Alston, Isaac Bush, Harold Slazer, Carol Wierzbicki, Tiq Milan—and that’s just a FEW of our talented artists! Come through anytime where art is celebrated and love boldly works to create a just society. Join us this October for Freedom Rising: The Fierce Urgency of Now.

Fill your life with (he)art on. Let it move you to flourishing!

Love,

Jacqui

PS: Want to be moved by art? Join me and Rev. Natalie Renee, May 13 for an evening screening of Sinners, the new Michael B. Jordan film. We'll gather in person at 7:00 p.m.at the Regal Theater at Union Square—and if you can't make it, join us the next evening on Zoom for a rich conversation unpacking faith and justice.