NATIONALLY

We need a sane immigration policy at Homeland Security. African artists and other Africans seeking employment in the US on an H visa are increasingly being denied admission for what appears to be arbitrary reasons. This is particularly so if the artist is a Muslim (hmm maybe it is not arbitrary at all!). We need to be able to get master dancers and drummers in and out of the US so that we can keep our knowledge base fresh and growing. Artists need to be able to enter as artists, and be free to work. Those of our artists who are already here and who are undocumented need to be able to stabalize their immigration status so that can both teach us and reunite with their families in their homelands.

African cultural organizations throughout the US are hurting for funds. With the economy in a crisis state, discretionary funding for the arts is disappearing at frightening levels. This impacts all of us. The loss of even a small grant here or there can be the death knoll of a group trying to bring culture arts into a community. In the Depression era, the WPA program was created. In addition to putting Americans of all walks to work, it included providing work opportunities for artists. Many of the great names in African American art were able to survive and develop their talents because of the WPA. No civilised nation can preserve itself without a strong cultural foundation. Hopefully, whatever plan emerges to deal with the financial crisis will include consideration of the arts community.

LOCALLY

Our president-elect needs to do one thing in Washington: bring sanity and respect for human dignity back to the White House! Our new president is an extremely intelligent man. He made a promise to return to diplomacy and to respect our international obligations. That is a great start and we can only hope that his mere presence in Washington will change the tone of dialogue in the US just enough to get a few things done. We are not wearing rose colored glasses though. President Obama has a hard, hard road ahead of him. But we here at the Cultural Beat wish him the best of luck and will do what we can to assist his administration.

No matter what happens around the world, or in Washington, we must all remember that the real political work happens every day, not just once every four years. So each of us, must commit to do whatever we can, to help make the future better for us, for our children, for the nation, for Africa and the world. Peace.