The fate of art and soul in Florida

By Fedrick C. IngramWord In BlackFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t interested in being a leader.Leaders listen to the people, even those they don’t agree with, in order to foster democracy and empathy for the communities they’ve been elected to serve.& That is what leaders do.Fedrick C. Ingram is the secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers,. Ingram is the immediate past president of the 140,000-member Florida Education Association. He also has served as an elected vice president of the AFT’s executive council. Photo: Photo courtesy of the South Florida Educators CoalitionLast year, at the start of Black History Month, DeSantis blocked the country’s first AP Black Studies course for being “too woke.” This year, just in time for Black Music Month in June, DeSantis vetoed $32 million in cultural and museum grants from his state budget. He clearly wasn’t listening to the voices of his constituents, none of whom asked for such an unprecedented attack on art and culture. A principled leader wouldn’t even imagine eliminating the entire arts budget for the third largest state in the country, depriving countless communities of a vital human endeavor.That is what autocrats do.& While slashing the entire arts budget for the state is...