05/11/2026
MAY 12 | REPRESSION & RESISTANCE: CULTURE, CENSORSHIP & THE FIGHT BACK W/ MANOLO DE LOS SANTOS
This class examines how the US ruling class has produced, policed, and controlled art and culture to maintain power. We will look at State Department–sponsored cultural diplomacy, the persecution of artists like Paul Robeson, the Hollywood blacklist, McCarthyism, and the Pentagon’s ongoing relationship with the film industry, tracing how cultural production has been shaped, constrained, and disciplined in the service of empire. Along the way, we will raise key questions: What does it mean for an artist to choose a side? What are the consequences of that choice? And how does the US ruling class respond when culture steps outside the limits set for it, and how have artists fought back? We will ground these questions in both historical and contemporary examples, examining culture not only as a tool of repression but also as evidence of the courage and boldness of artists who have dared to resist. (I remember if you can’t come to the gathering, we’re watching it together. You can always sign out and watch the recordings and pay what you can even if it’s nothing they just like you to register.)
