Liberated Muse Member Maceo Thomas Runs for DNC Delegate

Maceo Thomas

In 2008, Liberated Muse Productions was started after the LiberatedMuse.com network was created. Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman and Maceo Thomas partnered to form Liberated Muse Productions to produce the Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest that ran for three successful years before Khadijah and Maceo parted ways in 2010 to produce arts projects and events in the visual and performance arts arena on their own.

Since moving to the District in the mid-2000's, Maceo has been an active member of Ward 7, organizing events to promote community awareness and fellowship, including the monthly Capital Canvases for a Cause which raises monies for area nonprofits while promoting an independent visual artist show. His work as an arts advocate is often coupled with his work as a community organizer.
Maceo is ardent supporter of the democratic process and was very active in the 2008 presidential election. During the Potomac primary, he served as a precinct captain and on election day, he worked the polls in Virginia Beach.  Finally, in protest of the congressional threat to DC autonomy, Maceo chose to be arrested with DC Mayor Vincent Gray and other political figures and advocates in April 2011 in front of the US Capitol.

Maceo Thomas arrested in April 2011 for protesting on behalf of DC

 
Given his prolific work in the community and as an active Democrat, Maceo is running for delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He says,

Maceo Thomas (right) is an active Democrat running for DC delegate

"Also, I am running with a group of committed neighbors from across the city on a slate.  The slate is called 51st State for Obama.  We are a group of committed citizens who hope to represent DC well in Charlotte.  Local DC politics has made the news in some not so great ways lately due to ethical issues,  Members of our slate have proven records of working toward transparent DC government.  Also, we have members of the slate who are committed to getting DC a real vote in Congress and DC Statehood.  Along with me, my slatemate Jeffery Richardson, was arrested last April in a show of civil disobedience in front of the Capitol in support of governing autonmony for DC.  The other thing, we're all just regular people committed to our communites. So, I ask that you vote the entire slate.  I will be able to get enough votes to win by receiving votes from my slate mates' supporters.  I ask that you do the same, so that we can send a powerful group to Charlotte to represent the citizens of the District."

Registered Democrats in the District of Columbia will be participating in a pre-primary caucus to select delegates for the national convention. The members of "51st State for Obama" are candidates dedicated to Obama, statehood, and DC ethics reform:

District 1 (Wards 1, 2, 6 & 8)
* Courtney Anderson (Ward 8)
* Markus Batchelor (Ward 8)
* Adam Bink (Ward 2)
* Phoebe Farris (Ward 1)
* Susan Meehan (Ward 2)
* Hector Rodriguez (Ward 1)
* Laura Shin (Ward 6)
* Jeff Richardson (Ward 6)

District 2 (Wards 3, 4, 5 & 7)
* Alexandra Beninda (Ward 3)
* Sylvia Brown (Ward 7)
* Franklin Garcia (Ward 5)
* Jaime Fearer (Ward 5)
* Julia Lara (Ward 4)
* Jon Mandel (Ward 3)
* Maceo Thomas (Ward 7)

See https://www.facebook.com/51stState4Obama for more info.

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While Liberated Muse is not affiliated with the Democratic nor Republican party, we commend Liberated Muse member Maceo Thomas for his community work and wish him the best with his efforts to become a delegate.

WAMMIE Nominations Announced, Favorites Nominated

Gods'illa

 

While we were dismayed to see that the cabaret and musical theater categories were absent without any prior word they would be removed from the running, waking up this morn to see the listing of nominees for the WAMMIES was inspiring. Kudos to some of our Liberated Muse favorites who recently were nominated this week for Washington Area Music (WAMMIE) awards, including the hip-hop trio Gods'illa who we first witnessed at our 2008 Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest, hip-hop producer and MC Kokayi who inspired the director of the Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest, Maceo Thomas to conceive of the idea of the festival, highlighting local talent, soul singer/MC Maimouna Youssef who is managed by Liberated Muse member Diallo Sumbry and local staple Carolyn Malachi who is founder of the organization Smart Chicks. Congrats to you all!

See all nominees HERE.

Liberated Muse Advocates for DC Artists

(In photo: Moon brought her daughter along to council member Yvette Alexander's office to make the point of how arts impacts postive youth development.)

(In photo: DC Advocates for the Arts met today at the John A. Wilson Building in DC to meet with DC Council members about the importance of arts funding that has already been cut more than half than the previous year.)

The share of foundation and corporate funding being directed to the arts in DC is in an unmistakable decline. Between 1998 and 2007, the percentage of foundation funding directed to the arts decreased from 14.8 to 10.6 percent. The corporate giving share to the arts decreased from 10.3 to 4.6 percent during the same period. With our changing economic landscape, how can we make a change for the better regarding arts funding in the District?

The best advocate for the arts is YOU. All members of the arts community- staff, volunteer leaders, artists and audiences- have the expertise needed to make the case for
good arts policy. Your first-hand knowledge of the arts and their impact on your life is one of the most important components of any advocacy campaign seeking the support of legislators. Maceo Thomas and Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman, co-founders of Liberated Muse, joined the DC Advocates for the Arts today, March 3, to speak with Ward 7 council member Yvette Alexander to talk about how the arts transforms communities.

( In photo: Maceo Thomas, co-founder of Liberated Muse Productions, looks over his fact sheet before meeting with council member Yvette Alexander's chief of staff)

In Washington DC, the arts creates 11,205 Full Time Jobs and $355 million in income paid to
residents. $62 million in direct local government revenue is also generated because of the arts. In 2005, 4 billion dollars in government funding for the arts -including national, state,
and local - resulted in 29.6 billion dollars in government revenue. What it's important to know is that the arts are not in competition with other kinds of non-profit govt spending.
Spending in the arts = tax revenue and jobs, not just red carpets and services for residents. As long as governmenet leaders look at investment in the arts as a luxury expense and not an asset to the community, everyone loses out. The arts lose when we try to compete with simple, non-investment spending.

As an artist or art lover (whether that art be visual, literary or performance art), it is up to you advocate for continued funding for the arts. Visit www.dcadvocatesforthearts.org for more information on how you can get involved.