By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and CEO, National Newspaper Publishers Association
Long before D.C. was branded as a destination city, Black Washingtonians built its cultural economy, from go-go music and jazz clubs to community theaters and neighborhood arts spaces that doubled as gathering places and incubators for talent. But increasingly, interference from politicians and monopolistic corporations has undercut The District’s arts in profound ways.
Fortunately, the local D.C. community — from its age-old venues, community organizers to its political leadership— is aggressively pushing back.
The Washington National Opera’s decision to part ways with the Kennedy Center should be understood for what it is: a necessary act of independence in response to Donald Trump’s failure to respect the arts as institutions that require stability, autonomy, and long-term investment.
Since Trump’s return to power, the Kennedy Center has been subjected to political interference and a short-sighted business model that treats art as acceptable only if it can immediately justify itself through ticket revenue. Shared services were stripped away, productions were required to be fully underwritten years in advance, and leadership priorities shifted in ways that ignored how cultural institutions actually function.
D.C. is right to resist Trump’s meddling in its cultural institutions, because when national politics destabilize local arts organizations, the damage does not stop at the Kennedy Center’s doors. It ripples outward — into neighborhoods, small venues, and the lives of local artists who already operate on the margins. For Black artists in particular, that instability compounds existing pressures presented by gentrification.
As rents rise in neighborhoods like Shaw, NoMa, and the H Street Corridor, many of the artists who helped make those areas culturally vibrant are being pushed out. As affordable studio space and small venues continue to close, Black music and theater are increasingly being replaced by large, commercial productions with little connection to the surrounding community.
Mayor Bowser has been clear about the stakes, and her administration’s oft-publicized push to make Washington the “Capital of Creativity” represents a commendable good-faith effort to reverse this trend.
“Arts, culture, film and entertainment, and sports are such a big part of our economic growth agenda because they bring people together, they get people excited, and they generate even more pride in our city,” she said this summer. “That’s why it’s so important that we lean in and double down on the industries that are producing for our city.” She is doing so through promoting the D.C. entertainment industry’s achievements through the highly-publicized 202Creates Months and supporting D.C. creators’ work through the D.C. Film, Television, and Entertainment Rebate Fund. And yes, protecting the D.C. arts means confronting the forces that exploit them.
This is a national issue as well aa a D.C. issue.
President Trump is one example of such forces, but another big one that Mayor Bowser’s administration is addressing is Ticketmaster.
“Over the years, Live Nation (Ticketmaster’s parent company) has grown to dominate nearly every corner of the live entertainment ecosystem, developing a stranglehold on the industry that has eliminated any meaningful competition.” said Mayor Bowser’s Attorney General, Brian Schwalb. “Almost every sizable concert venue in the District is locked into a Ticketmaster deal, resulting in District concertgoers paying Ticketmaster’s exorbitant fees to enjoy shows.”
That is why Attorney General Schwalb, is suing Ticketmaster’s parent company for monopolistic activity — to get prices to The District’s cultural events back under control. It is also why Mayor Bowser’s administration is opposing the price controls the company proposed under the guise of “lowering ticket prices” — because the real effect would be to increase Ticketmaster’s power in The District.
Industry experts have warned that the price cap proposal would help Ticketmaster and hurt consumers because the only company that is wealthy enough to continue doing business if price caps get enacted is Ticketmaster itself. In other words, price caps may unintentionally make Ticketmaster — the company The District is currently suing for allegedly abusing its residents — the only ticket seller in town. That would inevitably mean higher fees, worse terms for D.C. venues, and fewer opportunities for smaller, independent artists — many of them Black-owned or community-based — who would be left with less flexibility and less revenue.
So, it shouldn’t be surprising that Muriel Bowser’s administration took the time to testify against this policy idea just months ago. It wants to ensure AG Schwalb can lower ticketing prices through the court system, and this price cap proposal would undercut that effort. And that is the strength of Mayor Bowser’s leadership. She is not afraid to speak truth to power — whether that power belongs to Donald Trump or to some of the largest corporations in the world. She governs with D.C. residents in mind, not deference to outside influence. Culture cannot thrive under chaos and cannot survive when controlled by monopolies. Once it is driven out of a city, it is far harder to bring back.
Protecting the arts in D.C. ultimately means protecting the people who create them — not the politicians who meddle in them, and not the corporations that exploit them. Thankfully, Mayor Bowser recognizes exactly that. And she will keep fighting for us through and through.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Executive Producer of The Chavis Chronicles on PBS TV Network dr.bchavis@nnpa.org
