"More art! More poetry!"

Lisa Yun Lee, writing for In These Times, gives us a brief history of the Hull House Settlement, a depression-era progressive organization co-founded by Jane Addams which organized unions, put on avant-garde plays, supported community activities, and was a place “where cultural and creative rights were as important as political and economic ones.” Lee argues that we should look to Hull House now as inspiration, at a moment when the Republican-proposed plan to cut funding to the arts threatens the livelihood of artists and cultural workers everywhere:

Arguments against this drastic plan have focused on the role of the arts and culture as an important engine for economic development. While the economic arguments are both true and compelling, I suspect that those committed to sustaining the status quo know and fear the power of the arts and culture to change the world.

Poets, artists, writers and other cultural workers create the engines for our imaginations and build the framework for our dissent. They provide new ways for us to communicate across lines of difference. They help us find creative ways to imagine solidarity and to re-make the world.