“Love is love is love is love,” said a passionate, teary-eyed Lin-Manuel Miranda after receiving his Best Score Tony Award for cultural phenomenon “Hamilton.” President Obama proved that he agrees with such powerful sentiment many a time over the course of his two terms.
This belief in the natural right to love is not all musical maestro Miranda and Obama have in common. Both men have inspired a generation of diverse and outspoken artists.
Obama has demonstrated that he’s as big a “Hamilfan” as the rest of us: he attended the show twice, hosted the cast at the White House, delivered a speech on behalf of the musical at the 2016 Tony Awards, and even free-style rapped with Miranda on national television. Because of Hamilton’s societal impact, especially among high schoolers, it was particularly incredible sharing an obsession of sorts with the leader of our nation. However, First Lady Michelle Obama and his larger advocacy for arts in education was one of the generally over-looked impacts of the Obama administration, but one that will remain ingrained in the minds of those young writers, performers, and musicians for whom the Obama’s paved the way.
As a young person with equal interest in politics and theatre, it was nothing short of magical to see a president find time to support the arts in our school systems and daily life. He wasn’t too shabby at supporting Mr. Miranda’s free-styling, either: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V1DuouwbZA
It’s nice to have President Obama on our side.
