Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer those
of the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's staff management or ownership.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Good morning, you'll find out Pete and the Poet Gold.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm Peter Leonard and I'm the Poet Gold, and.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We're on the air this morning with Aunt George Amelio Sanchez,
the founder of the First Amendment Culture Team, and we'll
also have people in the studio with us Supremum. She's
a team member as well as Unclee. And before we
get to our group of people talking about the First Amendment,
a dear American subject, we're going to go right to
(00:36):
the poet Cold or her weekly prayer poem incantation called
let It Roll.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Thank you, Peter.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I'm going to do courage this morning, a shift in mind,
creating peace amongst the broken pieces, resolute, leaning into it, fearlessly,
becoming your own sun by day, the stars and the
moon by night, navigating the darkness, weightless in the galaxy,
freeing yourself from pain from carrying heavy locks and change.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Courage encourages what we need. I guess is it. Absolutely
There's never a time you don't need it, But it
seems like we need more nail than ever. And one
of the people who is stepping up on this is George.
You might want to give us a sense of what
the First Amendment Culture Team is about and what made you,
(01:23):
what drove you to start this organization.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
That's great, Thank you so much, and thank you for
that incantation. And may I just add courage is contagious,
So I love the fact that you started that way.
My name is Georgie Meo Sanchez. I live in Brooklyn,
New York, and I'm a performance artist and I actually
in twenty nineteen began a performance series entitled Performing the Constitution,
(01:49):
and that came out of this initiative of the First
Amendment because the first time that that guy who is
in the Oval office today I forgot his name, when
they first got elected, I knew that immediately there was
going to be a constitutional crisis and there was going
to be an infringement on our rights. So I began
something called the First Amendment Sanctuary Spaces. That was the
(02:12):
first incarnation of this and it was really simple and
what it is today now it's become the First Amendment
Culture Team that has an incredible array of wonderful, beautiful,
courageous people like the ones in your studio today who
are who've taken this to heart. And that is this.
A lot of people in this country do not understand
(02:33):
the importance and the significance of the Constitution, most importantly
for our purposes, the First Amendment. And there are five
basic rights embedded in that First Amendment. Freedom of religion,
to practice or not to practice, freedom of speech, freedom
of the press, and most importantly or very importantly, the
(02:54):
freedom for the that people have the right to assemble peaceably,
and last but not least, the right for people to dissent.
And so, as a professor in a college as well
as being an artist, I know very well how young
people today do not get the kinds of civics lessons
that I used to get when I was in school,
in primary school, elementary school, junior high school, and there
(03:15):
was a deep gap and people understanding the importance of
the First Amendment. And this administration has had a complete
assault on these rights and people get confused that and
a branch of our government in this case, the executive branch,
can have programs, can promote initiatives that actually abridge or
(03:36):
infringe on our rights, and so that's when it becomes
a matter of the courts. So when this began earlier
this year, I went to New Yorkers for Arts and
for Arts and Culture. I spoke to the person I
know I believe as the founder of it, or the
person who's mainly in charge, Lucy Sexton. And Lucy and
(03:57):
I she knew about my initiative in twenty seven team,
so I asked if I could present this to the group,
and that's where I met Gully Stanford Stanford and a
lot of other people and we took this to heart.
So it's become something unbelievable. Where we created a poster
both English and Spanish. We created a whole menu of
options for people to actually put into practice at their sites,
(04:21):
at their spaces, in their theaters, whatever, where they can
do a simple thing like before an event or performance,
read out the First Amendment forty five words.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Let me just put it in a little bit because
it's such a large and fascinating pros But when you
give the title of your group First Amendment, Culture Team,
I got to say when we hit the word culture right,
put it up against First Amendment, I'm surprised that's an
alarming and or interruptive phrase. So what's your relationship to
(04:58):
culture with the ASTs and it's relationship to the first environment.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
It was done for two reasons. One was the acronym,
So the acronym is fact fact, So that was one
thing that we really wanted to hit that this is
a fact of our civic lives in this country, the
First Amendment. Secondly, the group that is sort of really
spearheading this project because New Yorkers for Arts and Culture.
So we felt that that was a proper umbrella for
(05:26):
us to use because we think it's really important in
arts and cultural spaces that we reassert and reaffirm the
First Amendment rights that we all.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Have right and usually artists that are at the forefront
of movements like this initially in order to in order
to get the information out to the people in a
way that where the people can receive it as well.
I have a question for Soaprina, who's also a part
of the team.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
How did you all meet?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
How did you become a part of this team First
Amendment Culture Team?
Speaker 5 (05:59):
Actually Stanford roped me right into it. He came to
my gallery in Maine Street on Poughkeepsie in Poughkeepsie and
brought me the poster they have, which is fabulous and
I now have it hanging both in Spanish and English
on my front door MC Gallery and it's right up
my alley. Because you know, as you know, I do
(06:20):
work that's social, political, and environmental. That's my work. That's
what I do. And Gully knows that too, so he
brought it on said we need to spread this through
the Hudson Valley and I said, I'll do my best.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Well, you initially when you got into the studio, you
said you'd like to be framed as the spreader.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Yes, the spreader of the spreader in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 6 (06:43):
Good.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah, let's just take an extrament on Soprena's art work.
I mean, she has a gallery on Main Street and Poughkeepsie.
And if you could tell us how that gallery works
and the specific connection you have between art and politic life.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
Oh wow, Okay. So I opened the gallery because Main
Street and Poughkeepsie is suffering and I wanted to be
a beacon of light and hope on Main Street. And
so my goal was to keep the lights on twenty
four to seven where people could see the artwork whether
they're coming at a bar two thirty in the morning,
(07:22):
or whether they're just coming from a lunch break in
the middle of the day and happenstance on art. They
don't even have to walk inside the building. A lot
of people are inhibited to go into art galleries, and
this was a way to make the art gallery a
public happening. And in the three years I've been open,
more and more people of color have been coming into
(07:44):
the gallery where they felt like they were not supposed
to come into the gallery before that. So I think
it's really worked. It's really helped, and I'm integrating into
the community, which is what I wanted to have happened.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Now, George, I know that you had listed what the
first and that covers, but the five tenants of it.
But can you give us the statement because there's a
definite you know, uh statement, Congressional statement that Congress shell
da da da da.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Can you read that for our audience? Do you know
that off the top of your.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Head, I'm pretty sure Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or the practice thereof, the free
practice thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of
the press, or the right of people peasibly to assemble
and the right for people and the people have the
right to dissent and to and ask for a redress
(08:34):
of grievances.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Okay, I wanted to put it up a little bit,
but you got it.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
No, Yeah, I wanted the audience to be able to
to uh, to be able to hear it, you know,
the way that it actually is is presented. And I
know that you all have put together signs, artistic signs
to be able to spread around communities in New York
City as well as up in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Yeah, and I'm glad you asked it. Real quick, I'll
be real short. The part that people have been overlooking
until now is the right of people peaceably to assemble.
So that is really really important, you know, because that
means not only are the speakers or the artists free
speech infringement jeopardized, but the right of people to hear
(09:15):
to listen. And that's really really.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Key, right absolutely, if you're just tuning in, you're listening
to finding out with Pete and.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
The poet Gold.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
I'm Peter Leonard and.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I'm the poet Gold, and we're here with George Emilio Sanchez,
the founder of First Amendment Culture Team, and some team
members as well. In the studio we have Soprina who
is a local gallery owner here in the Hudson Valley
on Poughkeepsie Main Street, and as well as A Gully
who is a coordinator and a team member for Fat Gully.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
I know you have a certain articulation of what you're
participating on in your First Amendment Culture Team. You think's
your First Amendment is important because let me leave it
at that.
Speaker 7 (09:59):
Well, because this is an opportunity for us to bring
people together regardless of their political party affiliation. So the
arts in New York City has this wonderful group, New
Yorkers for Culture and Arts, and they work on the
arts budget and the arts education budget. And you were
(10:22):
kind enough to have me on some months ago to
talk about arts education. I participate on behalf of a
statewide group known as the New York State Alliance for
Arts Education. And so when George brought up this whole idea,
I think our slogan is First Amendment practiced here. It
(10:44):
was a bridge for us, particularly here in the mid
Hudson where we are a bridge community. We have the
sophistication of wonderful arts and culture and education. But we
are also a bridge into rural and conservative New York.
So it's easy for us to say what we're against. Yes,
(11:07):
we are against the cuts to the nationally domited arts,
the nationally down humanities, the museum and library service, public broadcasting,
our schools and colleges. We're against the eleven priorities for
falling in line ideologically with the current federal administration. And
(11:31):
we resist. And there have been lawsuits, and our Attorney
General has been particularly successful with other attorneys general. And
what really intrigues me is this is about what are
we for. I'm an immigrant, I had to learn about
the First Amendment. But in our schools, so there's not
(11:52):
only the censorship that is taking place proactively and invasively,
but there is all so the self censorship that's happening
in our classrooms today. So I feel the First Amendment
Culture Team. And by the way, Jane Honda, Jane Fonda
(12:13):
has revived her her father's First Amendment Committee, which he
created in the nineteen fifties in order to protect But
the First Amendment Culture Team, what it's what we're for
or for democracy? With a small d So regardless of
your political ideology, surely we can all to come together
(12:37):
to support this fundamental plank in the platform of our democracy.
We were able to reach out to and I'm sure
she won't be upset if I share her name. We
reached out to the faith community just last week with
George and Susan Fortunato of Christ Episcopal is part of
(12:58):
our group, and we're going to reach out to the
Council of Churches because these five freedoms affect everybody, even
if you disagree with me, but the freedom to assemble.
Look at what is happening to our immigrant community.
Speaker 6 (13:16):
Kids are not going to school, People are not going
to their hearings, people are not going to hospital. People
are not going and buying their basic material needs for
fear that their rights will be.
Speaker 7 (13:28):
Chopped off by essentially by these violations at the First Amendment.
So it's what we're for, and I hope that the
whole community, even if you disagree with me about the
best way of providing public health or whatever else we
disagree on, surely we can all agree that these five
(13:50):
freedoms are basic to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
And what's remarkable though, is you're saying and you're correct,
and saying it as if it's a controversial thing that
we can all agree. But of course we all agree.
Who has ever until a year ago but against the Constitution.
Nobody's been against the Constitution. Freedom of religion, freedom of expression,
freedom and the press. These are all things that we
(14:18):
do agree on. And you know your notion that it's
a non partisan issue, that's really true. And I love
the idea that we have that uncle we enjoys having
these articulations of the political principles and then the connection
(14:38):
to the arts through soprena.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I think one of the head George, what are you
about to say?
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Ye, well, that we don't all agree on this because
Trump when he became when he was elected in twenty
sixteen Montapei was elected, somebody burned a flag for Trump
said well, that person should go to jail, and that
was the first signal that we were in trouble. Because
we have the right to burn the flag. That's part
(15:04):
of our reason. It's breedom of expression, and it's the
right to dissent. So I'd like to believe we all agree,
but I think there are really important gray areas where
we don't. And that's why Gully's point is really needs
to be emphasized. This is something that really is brings
us together, regardless of political viewpoint, and that's really really important.
But unfortunately we have seen we don't all agree on
(15:28):
some of these basic rights.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Well, I think.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I think also what the challenges of George and everyone
in the City of today is the lack of understanding
of the rights that you have and the lack of
understanding of what the First Amended Amendment is. I think
there's a probably a very large percentage in America that
have no clue what the first Mimit is and have
(15:50):
no clue of the rights that they are losing in
this whole administration and this process. So the education campaign
of this is so crucial, I think, and integral in
having it to be successful for a successful outcome.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
And exactly exactly George's pointed, Uh, not everybody acts as
if they agree with the First Amendment. But my point
was nobody is theoretically against it. I mean, all Americans.
Nobody is defending the position, Hey, let's get rid of
freedom of speech. You know, sometimes the administration acts specifically yeah, yeah,
(16:33):
but I mean, still nobody will say it out loud.
In other words, they'll commit censorship that's controversial, well maybe
even illegal, but nobody is standing on the principle. Let's
get rid of freedom of religion, let's get rid of
freedom of the press, us the freedom of expression. Now
they act in ways that are contrary to what they
(16:56):
say they believe. And George, do we agree on that.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Oh, we totally agree, and thank you for clarifying that.
But also to add to the conversation is the self
censorship that's being experienced now between organizations boards. You know,
it's like we know that it's wrong, but we're not
going to say anything. So last week we were at
New York City hearing, a City Council hearing, where the
(17:21):
chairman of our Cultural Affairs Committee said to us in
the hearing that he had reached out to many organizations
arts and culture who refused to testify because they were
afraid of retaliation.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
And to that point, I have to say, I was
at art opening last weekend and brought your I made
stickers out of your First Amendment practiced here and passed
them out and passing them out to people, and the
galeries actually actually asked me to stop soliciting. I said, wow,
I said, it's the First Amendment talking about so listening anything.
(17:54):
And I said, but I'll stop. And she said, thank
you for understanding. And I said, oh no, don't get
me wrong, I don't understanding this.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
But it's your space, so I'll respect absolutely if you're
just putting in you're listening to finding out with Pete
and the poet Gold Peter, and I'm the poet Gold.
And we're here with George Emilio Sanchez, a founder of
the First Amendment Culture Team, and with some team members
Suprina as well as Gullie Stanford.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
You know, the notion of fear. Uh. You know, we
we have many myths in America, and myth I don't
mean in the sense of things that are untrue, I
mean life giving stories. And one of the myths is
that we're on the home of the brave. And we've
seen a lot of non brave. We've seen like actually.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
Have a whole administration of them.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
We have cowardice afoot and it actually takes some nerves
to do a nerve for good political values to do
with George and the rest of you are doing. So
let's say with George's opening line about emphasizing courage courages.
(19:07):
You don't have the First Amendment without courage.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Can you can you give us the website place to
go and learn more.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Yeah, it's www dot fact fact dash usa dot com.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
So what is the strategically the next move with the
organization George or or someone here in the studio today.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Well, one thing we're going to do immediately is we're
trying to organize. We're going to be on a call
actually tomorrow morning. December fifteenth, seventeen ninety one is the
date of when the Bill of Rights were first you know,
added to the Constitution. So just as a reminder, when
the Constitution was ratified and when the first administration took
office in seventeen eighty nine, there were no Bill of Rights.
(19:58):
It took another two years to get that because even
when they were doing the first Constitution, there were people
that were aware of like okay, but there's nothing about
the individuals here, So it took a little time, a
lot of back and forth. So we want to make
that a point for all of us to celebrate. So
we're planning to do an action. We wanted to do
it in the Wall Street area, because the first capital
(20:21):
of the US was not in d C, was not
in Philadelphia, was in New York City. So we wanted
to We're going to do something on December fifteenth this
year to celebrate the two hundred and thirty four year
anniversary of the Bill of Rights and to build on that.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
You know what, well, I really like the idea of
using the power of the Oughts. You now, Sabrina's Sobrina
has been an artist so her life and has been
very public and successful. And Gully has also worked in
the arts, especially in theater, and has been a tireless
Oughts advocate locally in Poughkeepsion Valley, especially with regard to education. So, Gollie,
(21:04):
I'm seeing a couple of things coming together for you.
One your very beautiful notion of saying I'm an immigrant.
I had to learn about the First Amendment. You know,
you have education, you have your own arts background and
your arts advocacy, and now what's winding up to be
a political commitment. So I appreciate if you just give
(21:25):
them a sentence or two about your own journey as
an artist and political activist.
Speaker 7 (21:34):
Ah, well, thank you so much. I've been very lucky
just to play on teams of people led by inspiring,
articulate individuals like George. So George comes up with an
idea like I'm a stage manager. In fact, I have
a tiny little actor's equity pension which allows me to
(21:55):
buy the occasional theater ticket, or at least these days,
a share in a theater ticket in or no what
we discovered. I mean, George Washington started this, though he
didn't found the National Endowment for the Arts. He said
the arts and sciences, essential to the prosperity of the
(22:16):
state and the ornament of human life, deserved the support
of every lover of his country and mankind. I mean,
it's it's as old as as the nation. John Adams says,
I must study politics and war so my sons can
study math and science, so that their children can study
(22:37):
music and the arts. And you know, Lyndon Johnson, when
he put the National Endowment for the Arts into legislation,
he says, the arts reflected the vision, and when there
is no vision, going to the Book of Proverbs, the
people perish. John Kennedy, the arts are not a mirror
(22:59):
to reflect life, but a hammer with which to shape it.
So advocacy. So okay, you go back to what puts
the arts together, the geniuses who create our theater and
music and poetry and art, and dunce the artistic people,
and then the managers who say, yes, we'll make this happen.
We'll build the bard of On Theater. Where by the way,
(23:21):
our poster is on display at the bard of On
Theater as it is at the Coonean Hacket, who sustain
the arts, and then the marketers who sell the tickets,
the advocates, and we forget that advocacy is woven into
this whole being of what we do. Poet Gold, I'm
(23:45):
in your shadow here. You do this so well. I'm
just a stage manager who checks the boxes here. But yes,
so we have some suggestions. As George said with his
eloquent reading all the First Amendment, we are asking for
curtain speeches at the beginning or the end of the show.
(24:07):
We are asking for people to put up the posters,
put it in their programs, share with their audiences. Again,
because regardless of where you're coming from, you don't have
to be an artist to be affected for good or
if it's curtailed for ill, by the presence of the
first amendments. So yes, this is what I do right
(24:29):
now is try to ensure that the thread of advocacy
is woven into the whole tapestry of creativity.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
That was so poetic.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
This is why we need immigrants. Anybody who wants to
be as immigrant after that, So we go right ahead.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
And I appreciate the false humility of Gully because there's
no date manager like Gully.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
That's right, You're right, You're right about that.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Yes, And let mean, I know nobody is attacking Gully,
but I have experienced nothing false about him at all.
There might be it might be more than one strain
of Gully thing, but we do have to put that
aside for a moment in Suprina, when in your actual work,
(25:28):
I think you weren't clear enough about your environmental work,
and you know and how that plays out on you
in your actual work, and how the environment includes a
political dimension. Can you talk about that?
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Right?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
That's because you're a fellow artist.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
I am an artimist, yes, fellow artist, thank you?
Speaker 3 (25:48):
So yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:49):
I think this reason Gully came to me is because
my work really perfectly, you know, it works with this
whole concept right now, working on a distressed flag series.
So just as flag is one that's hung upside down
and backwards, it's legal. I've checked all that out too
before I did that. And the first one I did
(26:11):
out of matchsticks and wrote the words that Trump is
trying to take off of our government websites, words like
Native American, Gulf of Mexico, black race, female, systematic racism.
You know, I mean, there are unbelievable words. So it's
written in mag sticks on this piece. That's the last
(26:33):
piece I did. So I take an ordinary thing like
match sticks and turn it into words, and so match
sticks can be lit on fire, so there's potential behind
that too. And my latest piece is from a book
called Poverty, Poverty in America, and it's a quote that
(26:55):
talks about how poverty takes away our artists and our poets,
our environmentalists, our.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
All kinds of people.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
I'm losing my thought now, but how because of poverty,
there's so many millions of souls that can't make the
contributional they were born to make, simply for that reason.
And so that's a really important point for me too.
I think people ask me why do I do this
kind of work? That is why I do it because
(27:32):
so many people can't see.
Speaker 7 (27:33):
It wonderfully it's conveyor conveyor, and because on main Street
it is. It is a touchstone of creativity right on
Main Street in Poughkeepsie. Don't sell yourself short is Trochie.
You are a wonderful asset to our community.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Thank you. And I show other work of other artists
that are social, political and environmental.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
So and one of the things I wanted to mention Razors,
I'm thinking about the First Amendment because of this show.
One of the things that is, we don't usually think
of the First Amendment. When you're allowed to say what
you feel or think or want to say, it becomes
controversial because some people deliberately want to lie. Okay, and
(28:22):
I know, and the question becomes should it be legal
to say things that everyone knows are not factual? When
I say everyone knows everyone who's willing to see things
in an objective way. For instance, the winner of the
two thousand President Show twenty twenties presidential election was Joe Biden,
(28:42):
and the current President of the States to say he
won that one too. We know that's not true, but
the First Amendment protects his rights to say that and
I think that's a controversial thing, right, right, Do you.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Have any thoughts on the George, you're about to say something.
We have about thirty seconds, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Well, Supreme Court Justice Brandeis had a response to that
one Waite and I think it was in the thirties.
I'm not exactly sure. The answer to hate speech or
seditious speech is more speech. So you don't want to
keep somebody from lying. We agree that's a lie, and
we know it's wrong. But the right of free speech,
(29:23):
Ben gives someone that that that space. But how you
respond with more speech so we can say that's a lie.
Somebody can lie, but we can call it out. That's
a lie, and here's my proof and that's important to remember.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Thank you so much on that, and we're going to
end on that note.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
I want to thank the first member Culture Team founder,
George Emilio Sanchez, for sharing with us find out more
information at Suprina.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
What's the website.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
Www dot fact dash usa dot com.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Okay, gully, Suprina, thank you for being here to our listeners.
Thank you so much for tuning in once again to
finding out with Pete and the poet go.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
We truly appree Hu
The views and opinions expressed in the following programmer those
of the speaker and don't necessarily represent those of the station.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's staff management or ownership.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Good morning, you'll find out Pete and the Poet Gold.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm Peter Leonard and I'm the Poet Gold, and.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We're on the air this morning with Aunt George Amelio Sanchez,
the founder of the First Amendment Culture Team, and we'll
also have people in the studio with us Supremum. She's
a team member as well as Unclee. And before we
get to our group of people talking about the First Amendment,
a dear American subject, we're going to go right to
(00:36):
the poet Cold or her weekly prayer poem incantation called
let It Roll.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Thank you, Peter.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I'm going to do courage this morning, a shift in mind,
creating peace amongst the broken pieces, resolute, leaning into it, fearlessly,
becoming your own sun by day, the stars and the
moon by night, navigating the darkness, weightless in the galaxy,
freeing yourself from pain from carrying heavy locks and change.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Courage encourages what we need. I guess is it. Absolutely
There's never a time you don't need it, But it
seems like we need more nail than ever. And one
of the people who is stepping up on this is George.
You might want to give us a sense of what
the First Amendment Culture Team is about and what made you,
(01:23):
what drove you to start this organization.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
That's great, Thank you so much, and thank you for
that incantation. And may I just add courage is contagious,
So I love the fact that you started that way.
My name is Georgie Meo Sanchez. I live in Brooklyn,
New York, and I'm a performance artist and I actually
in twenty nineteen began a performance series entitled Performing the Constitution,
(01:49):
and that came out of this initiative of the First
Amendment because the first time that that guy who is
in the Oval office today I forgot his name, when
they first got elected, I knew that immediately there was
going to be a constitutional crisis and there was going
to be an infringement on our rights. So I began
something called the First Amendment Sanctuary Spaces. That was the
(02:12):
first incarnation of this and it was really simple and
what it is today now it's become the First Amendment
Culture Team that has an incredible array of wonderful, beautiful,
courageous people like the ones in your studio today who
are who've taken this to heart. And that is this.
A lot of people in this country do not understand
(02:33):
the importance and the significance of the Constitution, most importantly
for our purposes, the First Amendment. And there are five
basic rights embedded in that First Amendment. Freedom of religion,
to practice or not to practice, freedom of speech, freedom
of the press, and most importantly or very importantly, the
(02:54):
freedom for the that people have the right to assemble peaceably,
and last but not least, the right for people to dissent.
And so, as a professor in a college as well
as being an artist, I know very well how young
people today do not get the kinds of civics lessons
that I used to get when I was in school,
in primary school, elementary school, junior high school, and there
(03:15):
was a deep gap and people understanding the importance of
the First Amendment. And this administration has had a complete
assault on these rights and people get confused that and
a branch of our government in this case, the executive branch,
can have programs, can promote initiatives that actually abridge or
(03:36):
infringe on our rights, and so that's when it becomes
a matter of the courts. So when this began earlier
this year, I went to New Yorkers for Arts and
for Arts and Culture. I spoke to the person I
know I believe as the founder of it, or the
person who's mainly in charge, Lucy Sexton. And Lucy and
(03:57):
I she knew about my initiative in twenty seven team,
so I asked if I could present this to the group,
and that's where I met Gully Stanford Stanford and a
lot of other people and we took this to heart.
So it's become something unbelievable. Where we created a poster
both English and Spanish. We created a whole menu of
options for people to actually put into practice at their sites,
(04:21):
at their spaces, in their theaters, whatever, where they can
do a simple thing like before an event or performance,
read out the First Amendment forty five words.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Let me just put it in a little bit because
it's such a large and fascinating pros But when you
give the title of your group First Amendment, Culture Team,
I got to say when we hit the word culture right,
put it up against First Amendment, I'm surprised that's an
alarming and or interruptive phrase. So what's your relationship to
(04:58):
culture with the ASTs and it's relationship to the first environment.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
It was done for two reasons. One was the acronym,
So the acronym is fact fact, So that was one
thing that we really wanted to hit that this is
a fact of our civic lives in this country, the
First Amendment. Secondly, the group that is sort of really
spearheading this project because New Yorkers for Arts and Culture.
So we felt that that was a proper umbrella for
(05:26):
us to use because we think it's really important in
arts and cultural spaces that we reassert and reaffirm the
First Amendment rights that we all.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Have right and usually artists that are at the forefront
of movements like this initially in order to in order
to get the information out to the people in a
way that where the people can receive it as well.
I have a question for Soaprina, who's also a part
of the team.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
How did you all meet?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
How did you become a part of this team First
Amendment Culture Team?
Speaker 5 (05:59):
Actually Stanford roped me right into it. He came to
my gallery in Maine Street on Poughkeepsie in Poughkeepsie and
brought me the poster they have, which is fabulous and
I now have it hanging both in Spanish and English
on my front door MC Gallery and it's right up
my alley. Because you know, as you know, I do
(06:20):
work that's social, political, and environmental. That's my work. That's
what I do. And Gully knows that too, so he
brought it on said we need to spread this through
the Hudson Valley and I said, I'll do my best.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Well, you initially when you got into the studio, you
said you'd like to be framed as the spreader.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Yes, the spreader of the spreader in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 6 (06:43):
Good.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah, let's just take an extrament on Soprena's art work.
I mean, she has a gallery on Main Street and Poughkeepsie.
And if you could tell us how that gallery works
and the specific connection you have between art and politic life.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
Oh wow, Okay. So I opened the gallery because Main
Street and Poughkeepsie is suffering and I wanted to be
a beacon of light and hope on Main Street. And
so my goal was to keep the lights on twenty
four to seven where people could see the artwork whether
they're coming at a bar two thirty in the morning,
(07:22):
or whether they're just coming from a lunch break in
the middle of the day and happenstance on art. They
don't even have to walk inside the building. A lot
of people are inhibited to go into art galleries, and
this was a way to make the art gallery a
public happening. And in the three years I've been open,
more and more people of color have been coming into
(07:44):
the gallery where they felt like they were not supposed
to come into the gallery before that. So I think
it's really worked. It's really helped, and I'm integrating into
the community, which is what I wanted to have happened.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Now, George, I know that you had listed what the
first and that covers, but the five tenants of it.
But can you give us the statement because there's a
definite you know, uh statement, Congressional statement that Congress shell
da da da da.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Can you read that for our audience? Do you know
that off the top of your.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Head, I'm pretty sure Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or the practice thereof, the free
practice thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of
the press, or the right of people peasibly to assemble
and the right for people and the people have the
right to dissent and to and ask for a redress
(08:34):
of grievances.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Okay, I wanted to put it up a little bit,
but you got it.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
No, Yeah, I wanted the audience to be able to
to uh, to be able to hear it, you know,
the way that it actually is is presented. And I
know that you all have put together signs, artistic signs
to be able to spread around communities in New York
City as well as up in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Yeah, and I'm glad you asked it. Real quick, I'll
be real short. The part that people have been overlooking
until now is the right of people peaceably to assemble.
So that is really really important, you know, because that
means not only are the speakers or the artists free
speech infringement jeopardized, but the right of people to hear
(09:15):
to listen. And that's really really.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Key, right absolutely, if you're just tuning in, you're listening
to finding out with Pete and.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
The poet Gold.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
I'm Peter Leonard and.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I'm the poet Gold, and we're here with George Emilio Sanchez,
the founder of First Amendment Culture Team, and some team
members as well. In the studio we have Soprina who
is a local gallery owner here in the Hudson Valley
on Poughkeepsie Main Street, and as well as A Gully
who is a coordinator and a team member for Fat Gully.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
I know you have a certain articulation of what you're
participating on in your First Amendment Culture Team. You think's
your First Amendment is important because let me leave it
at that.
Speaker 7 (09:59):
Well, because this is an opportunity for us to bring
people together regardless of their political party affiliation. So the
arts in New York City has this wonderful group, New
Yorkers for Culture and Arts, and they work on the
arts budget and the arts education budget. And you were
(10:22):
kind enough to have me on some months ago to
talk about arts education. I participate on behalf of a
statewide group known as the New York State Alliance for
Arts Education. And so when George brought up this whole idea,
I think our slogan is First Amendment practiced here. It
(10:44):
was a bridge for us, particularly here in the mid
Hudson where we are a bridge community. We have the
sophistication of wonderful arts and culture and education. But we
are also a bridge into rural and conservative New York.
So it's easy for us to say what we're against. Yes,
(11:07):
we are against the cuts to the nationally domited arts,
the nationally down humanities, the museum and library service, public broadcasting,
our schools and colleges. We're against the eleven priorities for
falling in line ideologically with the current federal administration. And
(11:31):
we resist. And there have been lawsuits, and our Attorney
General has been particularly successful with other attorneys general. And
what really intrigues me is this is about what are
we for. I'm an immigrant, I had to learn about
the First Amendment. But in our schools, so there's not
(11:52):
only the censorship that is taking place proactively and invasively,
but there is all so the self censorship that's happening
in our classrooms today. So I feel the First Amendment
Culture Team. And by the way, Jane Honda, Jane Fonda
(12:13):
has revived her her father's First Amendment Committee, which he
created in the nineteen fifties in order to protect But
the First Amendment Culture Team, what it's what we're for
or for democracy? With a small d So regardless of
your political ideology, surely we can all to come together
(12:37):
to support this fundamental plank in the platform of our democracy.
We were able to reach out to and I'm sure
she won't be upset if I share her name. We
reached out to the faith community just last week with
George and Susan Fortunato of Christ Episcopal is part of
(12:58):
our group, and we're going to reach out to the
Council of Churches because these five freedoms affect everybody, even
if you disagree with me, but the freedom to assemble.
Look at what is happening to our immigrant community.
Speaker 6 (13:16):
Kids are not going to school, People are not going
to their hearings, people are not going to hospital. People
are not going and buying their basic material needs for
fear that their rights will be.
Speaker 7 (13:28):
Chopped off by essentially by these violations at the First Amendment.
So it's what we're for, and I hope that the
whole community, even if you disagree with me about the
best way of providing public health or whatever else we
disagree on, surely we can all agree that these five
(13:50):
freedoms are basic to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
And what's remarkable though, is you're saying and you're correct,
and saying it as if it's a controversial thing that
we can all agree. But of course we all agree.
Who has ever until a year ago but against the Constitution.
Nobody's been against the Constitution. Freedom of religion, freedom of expression,
freedom and the press. These are all things that we
(14:18):
do agree on. And you know your notion that it's
a non partisan issue, that's really true. And I love
the idea that we have that uncle we enjoys having
these articulations of the political principles and then the connection
(14:38):
to the arts through soprena.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I think one of the head George, what are you
about to say?
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Ye, well, that we don't all agree on this because
Trump when he became when he was elected in twenty
sixteen Montapei was elected, somebody burned a flag for Trump
said well, that person should go to jail, and that
was the first signal that we were in trouble. Because
we have the right to burn the flag. That's part
(15:04):
of our reason. It's breedom of expression, and it's the
right to dissent. So I'd like to believe we all agree,
but I think there are really important gray areas where
we don't. And that's why Gully's point is really needs
to be emphasized. This is something that really is brings
us together, regardless of political viewpoint, and that's really really important.
But unfortunately we have seen we don't all agree on
(15:28):
some of these basic rights.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Well, I think.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
I think also what the challenges of George and everyone
in the City of today is the lack of understanding
of the rights that you have and the lack of
understanding of what the First Amended Amendment is. I think
there's a probably a very large percentage in America that
have no clue what the first Mimit is and have
(15:50):
no clue of the rights that they are losing in
this whole administration and this process. So the education campaign
of this is so crucial, I think, and integral in
having it to be successful for a successful outcome.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
And exactly exactly George's pointed, Uh, not everybody acts as
if they agree with the First Amendment. But my point
was nobody is theoretically against it. I mean, all Americans.
Nobody is defending the position, Hey, let's get rid of
freedom of speech. You know, sometimes the administration acts specifically yeah, yeah,
(16:33):
but I mean, still nobody will say it out loud.
In other words, they'll commit censorship that's controversial, well maybe
even illegal, but nobody is standing on the principle. Let's
get rid of freedom of religion, let's get rid of
freedom of the press, us the freedom of expression. Now
they act in ways that are contrary to what they
(16:56):
say they believe. And George, do we agree on that.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Oh, we totally agree, and thank you for clarifying that.
But also to add to the conversation is the self
censorship that's being experienced now between organizations boards. You know,
it's like we know that it's wrong, but we're not
going to say anything. So last week we were at
New York City hearing, a City Council hearing, where the
(17:21):
chairman of our Cultural Affairs Committee said to us in
the hearing that he had reached out to many organizations
arts and culture who refused to testify because they were
afraid of retaliation.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
And to that point, I have to say, I was
at art opening last weekend and brought your I made
stickers out of your First Amendment practiced here and passed
them out and passing them out to people, and the
galeries actually actually asked me to stop soliciting. I said, wow,
I said, it's the First Amendment talking about so listening anything.
(17:54):
And I said, but I'll stop. And she said, thank
you for understanding. And I said, oh no, don't get
me wrong, I don't understanding this.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
But it's your space, so I'll respect absolutely if you're
just putting in you're listening to finding out with Pete
and the poet Gold Peter, and I'm the poet Gold.
And we're here with George Emilio Sanchez, a founder of
the First Amendment Culture Team, and with some team members
Suprina as well as Gullie Stanford.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
You know, the notion of fear. Uh. You know, we
we have many myths in America, and myth I don't
mean in the sense of things that are untrue, I
mean life giving stories. And one of the myths is
that we're on the home of the brave. And we've
seen a lot of non brave. We've seen like actually.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
Have a whole administration of them.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
We have cowardice afoot and it actually takes some nerves
to do a nerve for good political values to do
with George and the rest of you are doing. So
let's say with George's opening line about emphasizing courage courages.
(19:07):
You don't have the First Amendment without courage.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Can you can you give us the website place to
go and learn more.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Yeah, it's www dot fact fact dash usa dot com.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
So what is the strategically the next move with the
organization George or or someone here in the studio today.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Well, one thing we're going to do immediately is we're
trying to organize. We're going to be on a call
actually tomorrow morning. December fifteenth, seventeen ninety one is the
date of when the Bill of Rights were first you know,
added to the Constitution. So just as a reminder, when
the Constitution was ratified and when the first administration took
office in seventeen eighty nine, there were no Bill of Rights.
(19:58):
It took another two years to get that because even
when they were doing the first Constitution, there were people
that were aware of like okay, but there's nothing about
the individuals here, So it took a little time, a
lot of back and forth. So we want to make
that a point for all of us to celebrate. So
we're planning to do an action. We wanted to do
it in the Wall Street area, because the first capital
(20:21):
of the US was not in d C, was not
in Philadelphia, was in New York City. So we wanted
to We're going to do something on December fifteenth this
year to celebrate the two hundred and thirty four year
anniversary of the Bill of Rights and to build on that.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
You know what, well, I really like the idea of
using the power of the Oughts. You now, Sabrina's Sobrina
has been an artist so her life and has been
very public and successful. And Gully has also worked in
the arts, especially in theater, and has been a tireless
Oughts advocate locally in Poughkeepsion Valley, especially with regard to education. So, Gollie,
(21:04):
I'm seeing a couple of things coming together for you.
One your very beautiful notion of saying I'm an immigrant.
I had to learn about the First Amendment. You know,
you have education, you have your own arts background and
your arts advocacy, and now what's winding up to be
a political commitment. So I appreciate if you just give
(21:25):
them a sentence or two about your own journey as
an artist and political activist.
Speaker 7 (21:34):
Ah, well, thank you so much. I've been very lucky
just to play on teams of people led by inspiring,
articulate individuals like George. So George comes up with an
idea like I'm a stage manager. In fact, I have
a tiny little actor's equity pension which allows me to
(21:55):
buy the occasional theater ticket, or at least these days,
a share in a theater ticket in or no what
we discovered. I mean, George Washington started this, though he
didn't found the National Endowment for the Arts. He said
the arts and sciences, essential to the prosperity of the
(22:16):
state and the ornament of human life, deserved the support
of every lover of his country and mankind. I mean,
it's it's as old as as the nation. John Adams says,
I must study politics and war so my sons can
study math and science, so that their children can study
(22:37):
music and the arts. And you know, Lyndon Johnson, when
he put the National Endowment for the Arts into legislation,
he says, the arts reflected the vision, and when there
is no vision, going to the Book of Proverbs, the
people perish. John Kennedy, the arts are not a mirror
(22:59):
to reflect life, but a hammer with which to shape it.
So advocacy. So okay, you go back to what puts
the arts together, the geniuses who create our theater and
music and poetry and art, and dunce the artistic people,
and then the managers who say, yes, we'll make this happen.
We'll build the bard of On Theater. Where by the way,
(23:21):
our poster is on display at the bard of On
Theater as it is at the Coonean Hacket, who sustain
the arts, and then the marketers who sell the tickets,
the advocates, and we forget that advocacy is woven into
this whole being of what we do. Poet Gold, I'm
(23:45):
in your shadow here. You do this so well. I'm
just a stage manager who checks the boxes here. But yes,
so we have some suggestions. As George said with his
eloquent reading all the First Amendment, we are asking for
curtain speeches at the beginning or the end of the show.
(24:07):
We are asking for people to put up the posters,
put it in their programs, share with their audiences. Again,
because regardless of where you're coming from, you don't have
to be an artist to be affected for good or
if it's curtailed for ill, by the presence of the
first amendments. So yes, this is what I do right
(24:29):
now is try to ensure that the thread of advocacy
is woven into the whole tapestry of creativity.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
That was so poetic.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
This is why we need immigrants. Anybody who wants to
be as immigrant after that, So we go right ahead.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
And I appreciate the false humility of Gully because there's
no date manager like Gully.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
That's right, You're right, You're right about that.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Yes, And let mean, I know nobody is attacking Gully,
but I have experienced nothing false about him at all.
There might be it might be more than one strain
of Gully thing, but we do have to put that
aside for a moment in Suprina, when in your actual work,
(25:28):
I think you weren't clear enough about your environmental work,
and you know and how that plays out on you
in your actual work, and how the environment includes a
political dimension. Can you talk about that?
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Right?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
That's because you're a fellow artist.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
I am an artimist, yes, fellow artist, thank you?
Speaker 3 (25:48):
So yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:49):
I think this reason Gully came to me is because
my work really perfectly, you know, it works with this
whole concept right now, working on a distressed flag series.
So just as flag is one that's hung upside down
and backwards, it's legal. I've checked all that out too
before I did that. And the first one I did
(26:11):
out of matchsticks and wrote the words that Trump is
trying to take off of our government websites, words like
Native American, Gulf of Mexico, black race, female, systematic racism.
You know, I mean, there are unbelievable words. So it's
written in mag sticks on this piece. That's the last
(26:33):
piece I did. So I take an ordinary thing like
match sticks and turn it into words, and so match
sticks can be lit on fire, so there's potential behind
that too. And my latest piece is from a book
called Poverty, Poverty in America, and it's a quote that
(26:55):
talks about how poverty takes away our artists and our poets,
our environmentalists, our.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
All kinds of people.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
I'm losing my thought now, but how because of poverty,
there's so many millions of souls that can't make the
contributional they were born to make, simply for that reason.
And so that's a really important point for me too.
I think people ask me why do I do this
kind of work? That is why I do it because
(27:32):
so many people can't see.
Speaker 7 (27:33):
It wonderfully it's conveyor conveyor, and because on main Street
it is. It is a touchstone of creativity right on
Main Street in Poughkeepsie. Don't sell yourself short is Trochie.
You are a wonderful asset to our community.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
Thank you. And I show other work of other artists
that are social, political and environmental.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
So and one of the things I wanted to mention Razors,
I'm thinking about the First Amendment because of this show.
One of the things that is, we don't usually think
of the First Amendment. When you're allowed to say what
you feel or think or want to say, it becomes
controversial because some people deliberately want to lie. Okay, and
(28:22):
I know, and the question becomes should it be legal
to say things that everyone knows are not factual? When
I say everyone knows everyone who's willing to see things
in an objective way. For instance, the winner of the
two thousand President Show twenty twenties presidential election was Joe Biden,
(28:42):
and the current President of the States to say he
won that one too. We know that's not true, but
the First Amendment protects his rights to say that and
I think that's a controversial thing, right, right, Do you.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Have any thoughts on the George, you're about to say something.
We have about thirty seconds, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
Well, Supreme Court Justice Brandeis had a response to that
one Waite and I think it was in the thirties.
I'm not exactly sure. The answer to hate speech or
seditious speech is more speech. So you don't want to
keep somebody from lying. We agree that's a lie, and
we know it's wrong. But the right of free speech,
(29:23):
Ben gives someone that that that space. But how you
respond with more speech so we can say that's a lie.
Somebody can lie, but we can call it out. That's
a lie, and here's my proof and that's important to remember.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Thank you so much on that, and we're going to
end on that note.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
I want to thank the first member Culture Team founder,
George Emilio Sanchez, for sharing with us find out more
information at Suprina.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
What's the website.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
Www dot fact dash usa dot com.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Okay, gully, Suprina, thank you for being here to our listeners.
Thank you so much for tuning in once again to
finding out with Pete and the poet go.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
We truly appree Hu
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