LeVar Burton Reacts to Donald Trump Taking Over the Kennedy Center: "Arts Are Above Politics" | THR Video - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

LeVar Burton chats with THR on the red carpet at The Creative Coalition Inaugural National Arts Advocacy Summit in Las Vegas and shares why he felt it was important for him to be a part of this event. Plus, he reacts to Donald Trump taking over the Kennedy Center and what that could mean for the arts.

Transcript

00:00Why was it important for you to be a part of this summit here this week?

00:05Because the arts are at risk.

00:09And I'm a storyteller.

00:11That's what I do.

00:14Whether I'm acting or writing, directing, producing, podcasting, public speaking,

00:19I'm a storyteller, and I believe that stories are the life's blood of humanity.

00:26And that's all at risk right now.

00:29I mean, it has been for a long time.

00:31I mean, I'm old enough to remember when we stopped having music education in schools.

00:37And that was, like, unfathomable to me.

00:41And now it's normal.

00:43And I don't want to pass on a world where storytelling is an archaic art form.

00:52Because that's not okay.

00:54We don't know who we are absent stories.

00:57And it's that critically important, I think, to the human race.

01:05That's why I came.

01:07Because this is an organization, the Creative Coalition, advocates for the arts in society.

01:14And brings attention to how important this endeavor is.

01:18I think art, continuing humanity, depends on it.

01:25The arts are especially at risk right now, it seems like.

01:29Arts have been in the headlines with what Trump has been doing with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

01:33What's your take on that?

01:34And how important does it make this summit and the conversations you're going to have here this week?

01:39Well, see, I don't believe that arts should be a part of a political conversation.

01:45Arts are above politics.

01:47At least they should be.

01:48But I guess I believe, sure, there's politics in everything.

01:52But arts should be outside of that sphere of rhetoric.

02:00Because this is about humanity.

02:02How do you think we work to make that happen?

02:04Well, we bring awareness to it.

02:07We lobby those who have the power of the purse strings.

02:11And we continue to do what we do as artists, which is to do what we can to enhance our journey along our way.

LeVar Burton Reacts to Donald Trump Taking Over the Kennedy Center: "Arts Are Above Politics" | THR Video

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended