AN OPEN LETTER: To Our Talented, Soulful, Progressive Celebrities

In an age where bullshit and braggadocio too often triumph over competence, you are our meritocracy.

We are mesmerized, enthralled, by your achievements in sports, music, film, art, writing etc.

We pay dearly and stand in line to see you perform, to buy your books, to see your movies, to ponder your messages, to escape, but then re-enter the real world, with hope, with determination to love each other and build new realities.

At a time of nightmares, you help us dream.

Even as you practice and hone your individual crafts, you cultivate empathy and respect for those less talented, less privileged, less powerful, less protected by rights too many take for granted, all those who are more vulnerable and at immediate risk.

We Are the World, The Concert for Bangladesh. Farm Aid, “Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City,” the creative community supporting victims of Hurricane Katrina etc. etc….. So many artists have come together in the far and recent past to alleviate suffering and speak out at times of crisis and pain.

Your empathy has moved millions to act. It has also enhanced and undergirded your market power.

Fighters for social justice often cite Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a struggle.”

Even as our nation faces an existential threat to our democracy, too many of your agents, handlers and sponsors demand that you concede none of your power.

They ask you to preserve and grow your market share by “steering clear of controversy.”

They advise you that speaking the truth about the existential threat to our democracy could narrow your fan base and take a slice out of your wealth.

Fuck these profiteers who pimp off your skill, talent and empathy!

Now is the time to listen to those who love you. Now is the time to listen to your own individual consciences.

You know the difference you can make. The interviews, the letters and e-mails, the invitations, the big endorsement deals…You know.

And we know that we need you!

We need you to begin planning an unprecedented, exciting, inspirational coalescence of artists and creative influencers. We need you to marshal your skills, your talents and, yes, your market power, to say NO to Trump and Project 2025 and YES to democracy and the freedoms for which millions have sacrificed and died.

We know you will not let us down.

With Love,

Your Fans

Len Shindel

Len Shindel began working at Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point Plant in 1973, where he was a union activist and elected representative in local unions of the United Steelworkers, frequently publishing newsletters about issues confronting his co-workers. His nonfiction and poetry have been published in the “Other Voices” section of the Baltimore Evening Sun, The Pearl, The Mill Hunk Herald, Pig Iron, Labor Notes and other publications. After leaving Sparrows Point in 2002, Shindel, a father of three and grandfather of seven, began working as a communication specialist for an international union based in Washington, D.C. The International Labor Communications Association frequently rewarded his writing. He retired in 2016. Today he enjoys writing, cross-country skiing, kayaking, hiking, fly-fishing, and fighting for a more peaceful, sustainable and safe world for his grandchildren and their generation. Shindel is currently working on a book about the Garrett County Roads Workers Strike of 1970 www.garrettroadstrike.com.