With President Donald Trump waging war on the arts, via his control of the Kennedy Center and his ongoing attacks on museums nationwide, the power of artistic resistance has been on my mind.
And a new documentary from PBS — “We Want the Funk!”— serves as a timely demonstration of how artistic moments and political movements can merge for the greater good — both sonically and socially.
The film, directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London, has an all-star roster, including George Clinton and Questlove of The Roots. It’s an homage to funk music and the unapologetic Blackness that birthed the genre — and also a celebration of the sense of community that the arts can breed when illiberal despots don’t stand in the way.
In the documentary, we learn that some of the greatest funk artists in history, from the Ohio Players to Prince and The Time, were products of public school arts programs — the kinds of programs threatened by Trump’s bigoted assault on diversity — and a Black middle class that is currently being squeezed as well. We learn that funk music gained prominence along with the Black Power movement in the 1970s, as Black people — and artists, in particular — rejected the Jim Crow era’s demands for assimilation into the purported primness of white society. As historian Scot Brown explains, funk at that time captured “the sentiment of a generational change where conformity is not the priority.” And that’s how you get songs like James Brown’s “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud.”
As historian Scot Brown explains, funk at that time captured “the sentiment of a generational change where conformity is not the priority.”
In the documentary, we also learn that funk music — in particular, groups like Parliament-Funkadelic and Labelle — was seminal in promoting the Afrofuturism movement that merged Black creativity and science. And we learn, importantly, of the value of diversity and cultural exchange, when, for example, Clinton explains that he drew influence from Elton John and the British rock group King Crimson — but also when Talking Heads frontman David Byrne discusses the influence he drew from Black artists like Brown and members of Clinton’s band.
If you’re looking for a film that subverts the MAGA ethos in just about every way — from its celebration of free artistic expression to its open affection for diversity — without uttering Trump’s name or referencing his movement a single time, this is it.
“We Want the Funk” premieres Tuesday night and is now streaming on PBS’ website. Check it out here.