There is no simple formula for the relationship of art to justice. But I do know that art—in my own case the art of poetry—means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage. The radical disparities of wealth and power in America are widening at a devastating rate. A President cannot meaningfully honor certain token artists while the people at large are so dishonored.
Happy birthday, Adrienne Rich! The 1997 letter with which the beloved poet became the only person to turn down the prestigious National Medal of Arts.
– reblogged from http://exp.lore.com/
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