LeVar Burton chats with THR on the red carpet at The Creative Coalition Inaugural National Arts Advocacy Summit in Las Vegas and shares why he felt it was important for him to be a part of this event. Plus, he reacts to Donald Trump taking over the Kennedy Center and what that could mean for the arts.
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00:00Why was it important for you to be a part of this summit here this week?
00:05Because the arts are at risk and I'm a storyteller. That's what I do
00:14Whether I'm acting or writing directing producing podcasting
00:18public speaking I'm a storyteller and I believe that stories are the life's blood of
00:23humanity and
00:26And that's all at risk right now, I mean it has been for a long time, I mean
00:32I'm old enough to remember when we stopped having music education in schools, and that was like
00:39unfathomable to me and now it's normal and I don't want to
00:44pass on a world where
00:47storytelling is an
00:50archaic art form
00:52Because that's not okay
00:55we don't know who we are absent stories and
00:59It's it's that critically important. I think to the to the human race
01:05That's why I came because this is an organization the creative coalition advocates for the arts in
01:13society and
01:14Brings attention to the how important this endeavor is I think
01:21Our continuing humanity
01:24Depends on it
01:25The arts are especially at risk right now
01:28It seems like the arts have been in the headlines with what Trump has been doing with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
01:33What's your take on that? And how important does it make this summit and the conversations you're gonna have here this week?
01:39We'll see I don't believe that arts should be a part of a political conversation
01:44Arts are above politics
01:47At least they should be but I guess I believe
01:50Sure, there's politics in everything
01:54But arts should be outside of that sphere of rhetoric
02:00Because this is about humanity
02:02How do you think we work to make that happen? Well, we bring awareness to it. We lobby
02:08Those who have the you know, the power of the purse strings
02:12And we continue to do what we do as artists
02:15Which is to do what we can to enhance our journey along the way
02:23You