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Jazz as a metaphor for Democracy

Jazz great teaches kids about sound of democracy

Famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis sees jazz music as the perfect metaphor for democracy.

"The question that confronts us right now as a nation is, 'Do we want to find a better way?'" Marsalis says.


To understand what democracy and jazz have in common and to see how music can engage a new generation of Americans to appreciate the democracy we all love, watch this short video:

There are so many examples of how music and the arts are connected to democracy. In the coming days and months, we will present many more to you. However, the heart of music is the interplay between the entertainer and the audience. So please engage.

Please email us at pop-culture@fulcrum.us and tell us other examples that you think represent the connection between the arts and democracy. Whether music, theater, poetry, comedy or other mediums, please send us your ideas.

Thank you.

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A Cruel Season at the Bus Stop

File: ICE agents making arrests

A Cruel Season at the Bus Stop

The poem you’re about to read is not a quiet reflection—it’s a flare shot into the night. It emerges from a moment when the boundaries between surveillance and censorship feel increasingly porous, and when the act of reading itself can be seen as resistance. The poet draws a chilling parallel between masked agents detaining immigrants and the quiet erasure of books from our schools and libraries. Both, he argues, are expressions of unchecked power—one overt, the other insidious.

This work invites us to confront the slippery slope where government overreach meets cultural suppression. It challenges us to ask: What happens when the stories we tell, the knowledge we share, and the communities we protect are deemed threats? And who gets to decide?

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Where’s Athlete Activism During Trump’s Second Term?

Antoine Bethea #41 and Rashard Robinson #33 of the San Francisco 49ers raise their first during the anthem as Eli Harold #58 while teammates Colin Kaepernick #7 and Eric Reid #35 take a knee, prior to the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi Stadium on October 2, 2016 in Santa Clara, California.

(Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

Where’s Athlete Activism During Trump’s Second Term?

Despite the 2016-17 NFL season featuring Tom Brady and the New England Patriots’ iconic 28-3 comeback over the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl, the retirement of legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, and the emergence of Joey Bosa as one of the top defensive players in the league, one monumental event stands above the rest: Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem in the heart of Donald Trump’s first term to protest racial injustice and police brutality in the United States.

Kaepernick spawned one of the most talked-about protests in the history of American sports, leading to national conversations about police brutality while earning himself severe backlash in the process.

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Political Spectacle: Sydney Sweeney’s “Great Jeans”

A digital advertising display featuring US actress Sydney Sweeney is seen outside an American Eagle store in Times Square in New York City on August 4, 2025.

Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

Political Spectacle: Sydney Sweeney’s “Great Jeans”

What began as a denim campaign has morphed into a political spectacle, with far-right groups, conservative commentators, and progressive critics all weighing in on Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad. The slogan—“Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”—was interpreted by many as a pun on “genes,” sparking accusations of racial messaging and white supremacist undertones.

- YouTube youtu.be

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A Place for Women of Color: Woman Made Gallery

Building a Home Out of Dirt (2018)

A Place for Women of Color: Woman Made Gallery

While the Trump administration seeks to erase places for those with historically marginalized identities, Woman Made Gallery offers more than representation—it offers response. Through exhibitions like the most recent Acts of Care, the gallery creates an intentional space where women, women of color, and nonbinary artists don't have to ask for permission to belong—they build that belonging themselves. As a nonprofit rooted in justice and community dialogue, Woman Made Gallery continues to model what inclusive, women-of-color-led spaces can look like: ones that honor lineage, complexity, and care as forms of resistance.

For Program Coordinator Corinne Pompéy, the mission of Woman Made Gallery is more than just representation—it’s about creating an entry point for connection and care. “Our goal is to ensure women and nonbinary artists are seen in the art world,” she said. “But more than that, we want people to feel something when they walk in—whether that’s reflection, joy, or even release.”

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