The nation once was led by a Liberal Democrat who believed that the arts were important.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Arts-and-Culture-in-the-Kennedy-White-House.aspx

Music and the arts are international language. Now the only thing Washington understands is cash.

and considered critical in order to become a well-rounded and healthy human.

Art is a waste of time and money! 3 R's! TEST TEST TEST. Bah humbug!

Educated, enlightened, thinking, compassionate, well-rounded and creative people are the backbone of democracy. So, we can't have that as they might endanger the plutocrats with their "ideas."

Liberal Democrats I admire are unafraid of ideas, new or old. Ideas that conflict with their own thinking are especially appreciated for that is how we learn new things and better ways of doing them.

Do you enjoy Duckman, MerryBlooms? If so, a little humor that's relatively safe for work about a town based on the belief that the chicken came first...

looking forward to watching this clip-- thanks for the link.

I honestly feel I grew as a person when I finally (far too late) discovered jazz. I wish I had come to it as a child.

Last edited Mon Jul 13, 2015, 02:07 PM - Edit history (1)

is the American Music Abroad program, which is part of the area of the State Department I work in (public diplomacy). American Music Abroad promotes jazz and also other American music -- both that which has found a world audience (like blues and hip-hop) and that which is relatively unknown in other countries (like bluegrass, gospel, and zydeco). When I head overseas again next year, I'll be in a position to program such visits, and I'm already excited about the potential concerts I might get to organize.

What an incredible adventure... I'm green with envy. I hope you'll journal and treat us here on DU to an excerpt or two of your travels/experiences.

I got to meet the author (she's a professor at Univ. of Michigan) at an event at the National Archive last year during Jazz Appreciation Month; I think she was surprised at how much I enthused about it. Really good read if you're interested in jazz history.

My parents loved Louis Armstrong and his trip behind the iron curtain was supposed to be a major news story, talked about on national TV for several days. Eastern Europeans loved American jazz. However, Armstrong supposedly just couldn't stand it anymore as far as the treatment of black people in America was concerned. It was in the days of violent and racist opposition to integration in the public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. His major act of public protest made national headlines. At least, that's how I remember it.