Dear Distinguished DC Delegation of Maine: allow me to share lesson #7 from Ukrainians

I returned to the US from the #HopeisaHardPower tour and other shenanigans across New Europe last week. The work and the learning in Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and Bulgaria was addictive, confusing, and often inspiring, though I had to return to Maine attend a very important meeting. I am part of a large hiring committee here. A very large (over 730,000), and, if I do say so myself, quite influential committee #notbraggin'justvotin'.

A week ago we had to make some critical hires. Now that a week has passed, it seems time to invite the three people who work for my district in The District to consider the lessons and links across borders and oceans.

Dear Sen. King, Rep. Pingree, and future Sen. Jackson, or, if you prefer, Angus, Chellie, and Troy.

I have had the honor of speaking with each of you this year. I’m the guy who was asking you to consider lessons learned from far away…Bulgaria (where Angus has some experience), Hungary (where you were an Eisenhower scholar, Rep. Pingree), and especially Ukraine (about which Troy, you were honest and enough to share that you have much to learn, when you and I met for the first time in late summer).

While you and your colleagues were hustling through the last month of the midterm election, I spent October on a speaking and listening tour of Ukraine, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary. The point: to share lessons across borders, and to fill up my quiver of curiosity with ideas and models that we can learn from—in Maine and the US at large. I returned in time to do my part as a member of our state’s hiring committee. As a collective, we decided to extend Chellie’s contract and hire Troy to work for us in DC. And while there were moments of tension, false narratives, and a lot of money pushing simplified and false narratives, in the end there was a pretty clear decision from the committee.

Now seems a good time to reach out and invite you all to think about some of what you and we might learn from the work of people in Ukraine. Here is one of the twelve lessons I have collected:

Lesson 7: The arts, and artistic practice, are a NEED to have, not a NICE to have.

I believe you each understand, to varying degrees, that this war on Ukraine is much broader and more cynical than those of us in the media have framed it. Cultural erasure is a central part of the Kremlin playbook, and we need to better appreciate the centuries long efforts to eliminate cultures. While the capture and Russification of Ukrainian children is the most urgent and severe part of Putin's war, it is just one of part of the broader effort. Food, music, literature, dance, education, history, language--everything is (un)fair game, and central to Kremlin efforts.

One can not travel through Ukraine without recognizing this. Not because of the too many signs of Kremlin success. Rather because in many of the big cities, Kyiv and Lviv in particular, creative community is energized and energizing in ways we no longer see in many US cities. When not being pushed to shelters for safety from (increasing) people are showing up for and with one another. And in many cases, artists and public artistic practices are at the center. Don't call this resilience (lesson 5 from Ukrainians, which I will write about in the future). And while it is an act of defiance, it is much more proactive. We are witnessing a nation recognizing the power in artistic practice while under attack on multiple fronts.

Do you know about Razom for Ukraine? Since its founding in 2014, Разом/Razom ("together") has been an essential organization for getting global support for a variety of needs and efforts in Ukraine. Razom also supports and develops creative programming that is solution-centered. After wrapping up my work on Maine's hiring committee (you're welcome), I hopped down to Connecticut, where Wesleyan University hosted Razom's first Arts in Health program. The L'immortal Fellowship supports "Ukrainian and American artists, healers, and institutional partners to develop projects that use creative practice to transform mental health, physical rehabilitation, and community reintegration."

As the Ukrainian psychologist Kateryna Taranova shared, "art is spontaneously found regulation." Kateryna specializes in post-trauma growth, and uses somatic practice as she works with communities in the Carpathian Mountains and other parts of Ukraine. Her work is one example of many for how art is an essential path to healing. For a nation and people in the midst of collective and individual trauma that few of us can fully appreciate, regulation is central to survival. Thanks to Razom, and The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, students and faculty and community members (including robust representation from the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of Connecticut) now better understand how virtuous cycles of art and healing are made up of bold ideas and simple iterative steps. I could not help but feel a sense of hope and want...¿how can we have this for people in Maine and across the US where we seem to forget the importance of artistic practice and performance in bringing people together?

¿What can you do? Remember, respect, and consider. Remember what is at stake--for Ukraine, the US, and communities around the globe. Respect what could and should be active narratives of this war on Ukrainians. In my fields and yours, we need to do a better job of centering multi-national efforts, led by Ukrainians, to defy cynicism and false narratives built on hate and fear, and for power. Consider what we can learn with and from people who are consistently demonstrating that creativity and curiosity are part of how they and we can weather the many storms we all face in a changing world.

If that is too abstract, I'll give you an easy task: come to Portland on December 13 to hear the work of Ukrainian composers performed by a Maine treasure: the Portland Piano Trio of 240 Strings. (Tickets available here). When authoritarians and Muskovites work hard to erase cultures in the name of efficiency, we can show up. We can show up several time zones away and listen. Listen to music few have heard and listen with Ukrainians, some from here, others visiting.

Thank you for your time and your service. I hope to see you soon,

gg