We are one week into the new administration… how is everyone doing?
We understand our musical community’s anger, frustration, and anxiety. We are right there with you.
Last week, we were assaulted by a blitzkrieg of executive orders making it legal for employers to discriminate based on race, religion, and gender, declaring trans and non-binary folks don’t exist, stopping funding for cancer research and clinical trials, increasing the cost of life-saving medications, pulling out the World Health Organization, putting a freeze on our health agencies sharing data about infectious diseases (as we are facing a potential crisis with Bird Flu), stopping funding for the infrastructure bill meant to repair our aging roads and bridges, pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and letting 1500 insurrectionists, many of whom violently assaulted police officers defending the capital, out of jail. Entire industries face a looming labor crisis as immigrants are being swept up in expensive mass deportations.
The Constitution has been removed from the White House website.
We are experiencing the visceral, gut-wrenching feeling of watching an all-out assault on our democracy and our civil rights.
I am a female small business owner who employs primarily women. A good chunk of our clientele belongs to the LGBTQ community. I book openly queer and trans artists to perform on our stage. We operate in a city rich with the cultural influence of immigrants from all over the world.
The 25% tariffs scheduled to take effect this week will seriously threaten small businesses, including mine.
If last week is any indication, the next few years will be rough for those of us who are not in the top 2%.
But –
The 443 is a safe space for everyone this administration is trying to marginalize. We will not tolerate hate. We will continue providing a platform for original music because music and art have never been more important. Keeping that spark of hope, joy, and human light alive is vital.
We have built a community of music lovers, and we’ll continue to provide a space for our community to gather and share the pure magic of live music. As we navigate the next few years, we’ll seek ways to support and strengthen that community.
Music has ALWAYS been intertwined with protest.
From the spirituals sung by enslaved Africans in the South to Billie Holiday, Pete Seeger, Woodie Guthrie, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Bob Marley, Green Day, NWA, Public Enemy, Ani DiFranco, Rage Against The Machine, and Syracuse’s own inimitable Hamell On Trial… too many artists to name here have given their voices and platforms to affect positive change in the world.
For those who feel musicians should “shut up and sing” and businesses should not make “political” statements, I respectfully submit that this is NOT about politics. This is about protecting our human rights, and we do not have the luxury of remaining silent.
They say music can change the world.
Keep the faith… or as our friends Mel & Rich from SIRSY like to say – “Be Brave & Kind”.
