On November 19, 2016, the people-powered U.S. Department of Arts and Culture launched Standing for Cultural Democracy: The USDAC’s Policy and Action Platform.

We offer this platform to amplify ideas that can advance social healing and bring us closer to a future that countless Citizen Artists have told us they wish to inhabit: cultural democracy grounded in equity and engagement; full cultural citizenship, belonging without barrier; and deep respect for the right to culture—expression, participation, recognition—underpinning any just and caring society.

We recognize how profoundly these rights are imperiled in a Trump presidency, making it even more essential to protect the right to culture and resist all attempts to damage it. Some of the platform points will be immediately doable; others are aspirational, pointing us toward the cultural democracy we deserve regardless of who occupies the White House.

We hope this call to action will transcend and unite across lines of difference, uplifting the public interest in culture and culture in the public interest. We stand with all those acting to counter policies that deny belonging and imperil security based on gender, orientation, immigration status, race, ethnicity, religion, ability, and other categories of identity. We offer these ideas as tools, and ourselves as collaborators in guaranteeing the right to culture.

We invite all to endorse, share, discuss, propose, experiment with, and advocate for this platform, which we hope will inspire reflection and action at many levels: national, regional, local, individual. The USDAC is ready and willing to assist and collaborate as needed. Call on us! hello[at]usdac.us.

Add your email to download the full platform report, including many examples, resources, and tools.