One of the oldest and largest African American Baptist churches, based in Alexandria, Virginia, ended hosting its annual Christmas performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts due to new leadership by the Trump administration.
“After prayerful consideration, deliberation, and discerning, the Alfred Street Baptist Church, one of the oldest and largest African American Baptist Churches in the nation, has made the difficult decision to cancel hosting its annual Christmas performance at the Kennedy Center,” the church said in a statement posted on its website and social media.
“We believe that the new leadership’s opposition to the Kennedy Center’s long-standing tradition of honoring artistic expression across all backgrounds is misaligned with our unwavering commission to proclaim and practice the transformative and redemptive love of Jesus, to pursue justice, to promote equality, to embrace the gift of diversity, and to care for all of creation,” the church’s statement continued.
“We are actively exploring other venues where we can continue to share our witness of the birth of Jesus Christ in the excellence and prophetic tradition of the Black Church,” the statement concluded.
Actress Issa Rae of HBO’s Insecure also announced last week that she was canceling a sold-out show on March 16 at the Kennedy Center due to the new leadership.
Last week, President Donald Trump was elected to lead the Kennedy Center board. Ambassador Richard Grenell, who serves as Trump’s envoy for special missions, is his interim executive director of the Washington, D.C., cultural center.
The Biden administration’s appointed trustees for the board were dismissed, and showrunner Shonda Rhimes, the organization’s treasurer who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, resigned from the board.
Grenell shared on Wednesday that the previous leadership left the theater in a dire financial situation after looking into the theater’s finances.
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“I was briefed today by the CFO of the Kennedy Center on its financial situation. She told me there is ZERO cash on hand. And ZERO in reserves. And the deferred maintenance is a crisis. For the past months they’ve been digging into the DEBT RESERVES,” Grenell said on X.
“We must fix this great institution. The people working hard at the Nation’s premier performing arts center deserve better – and so do all Americans,” he added.
