Following years of tumultuous restructuring, Yasmin Williams isn't going to let the music stop at the Kennedy Center if she can help it. Last year, after a mass exodus of artists from the center's committee in protest of Trump firing several board members and installing new ones who then elected him chairman, Williams continued to fight for the center's integrity and its union members. That included playing a show there last September, where she was heckled by Trump supporters. This summer, Ben Folds brought the episode back into the spotlight while testifying before Congress about Trump's takeover of the institution.
In a new Instagram post, Williams shared that she's helping to book shows at the Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage. "Yes, I am helping book shows at The Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage," she wrote in the post's caption. "Yes, shows are still happening in the Millenium Stage series… they’re now on the River Pavilion at The Reach! Let’s support the shows being booked by attending them to keep the arts going at the Center and not let the idiocracy win."
Her main post reads:
I'm happy to announce that I'm helping book shows at the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage, now at The Reach! This may be surprising to some folks, but I'm excited at the opportunity to try to keep music happening at the Center.
I'm sure it's come to a lot of people's attention that the Trump administration is bankrupting and attempting to demolish the Center. However, it's an institution that a lot of people still care about in the DMV.
I feel compelled to help the Center stay open by programming good music. However, to support the artists myself and other folks are booking, y'all gotta come to the shows!
My first booked show at Millenium Stage is on October 17 featuring Tre. Charles with his full band. Please come support Tre and help the Millenium Stage do what it was made to do: to provide FREE, high quality performances and to honor the arts.
She also responded in the comments to someone questioning why she's "abandoning a boycott" (although Williams was never a part of a boycott of the Center), and "book radical artists and political rebels in order to bring back the music and arts he was trying to silence." Williams, as always, responded very eloquently:
well, I've been keeping up with/a part of the kennedy center news for a while now. My booking artists there has nothing to do with what you're talking about and I'm not sure how it connects to abandoning a boycott? I've never been for boycotting the center anyway, as I've made abundantly clear multiple times now. You can choose what shows to go to. You can go to ones that align with your sensibilities, or not. I genuinely don't understand your point.
In other Trump vs. Kennedy Center news, he has threatened to demolish the building, but a recent New York Times report says it may not be that easy. Following photos of Trump appearing aboard Air Force One with a sign that reads “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED,” a federal judge announced that the administration would need to provide more than 30 days’ advance notice.
“Beyond that court-imposed buffer, experts say there are layers of legal protections that insulate the Kennedy Center from the wrecking ball,” the Times added. The article goes on to detail the legal hoops Trump would have to clear to demolish the building — a scenario that is unlikely to involve an actual bulldozer but might be achieved through sustained neglect.
See Williams' full post with comments below.
