June 4, 2025

Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Annette’s Roundup for Democracy.

Joe is always busy.

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Watch Americans respond to ICE and those who empower it.

Amy Goodman, Democracy now.

In Milford, Massachusetts, this weekend, students walked out of school Monday to show support for Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 18-year-old high school honor student detained Saturday by ICE agents in three unmarked vehicles as he drove his volleyball teammates to practice at 7:45 in the morning. Marcelo was born in Brazil, had lived in the Milford area since he was 5 years old. He was also a member of the school band and was scheduled to perform the next day at the school’s graduation ceremony. So, on Sunday, many students marched in their gowns from their graduation to join hundreds of others at a protest outside Milford’s town hall. That’s Massachusetts.

Amy Goodman, Democracy Now.

Let’s go across the country now to San Diego, where outrage is growing after 20 armed and masked ICE agents in full tactical gear raided a popular Italian restaurant Friday. The agents handcuffed the staff, demanded IDs, arrested four workers. Local residents reacted angrily to the raid, attempted to block ICE vehicles from leaving the scene. ICE agents responded by throwing flash-bang smoke grenades at the crowd.

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The Trump-Musk War has truly begun.

The first shot was fired at 1:35 PM yesterday.

Then.

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Trump celebrates Pride.

Write to Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury Secretary about this. Ask him if he is proud to be part of the Administration. He and his husband were married in 2011.

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Pope Leo himself won’t be at his rally on June 14.

Although the pope himself will not be in attendance, the Archdiocese of Chicago said Pope Leo XIV will give a video message to attendees.

"The celebration will feature a video message from Pope Leo XIV to the young people of the world, which will be broadcast first from our event, there will also be celebration prayer music," according to the Archdiocese of Chicago's website.

How to get tickets to the Chicago Pope Leo XIV event

The Archdiocese of Chicago's website said that tickets for the event, which cost $5, were released May 30.

The Archdiocese of Chicago said 10,000 tickets were sold in the first 15 minutes, WGN reported.

The Archdiocese of Chicago said on its website that the event will be held at Rate Field in Chicago, home of the Chicago White Sox, on June 14.

Gates are scheduled to open at 12:30 p.m. local time, with a program beginning at 2:30 p.m. and Mass at 4 p.m. (source. Detroit Free Press).

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Sad to see theatre, music and dance flounder anywhere, but every time Trump loses, the world wins.

After Trump Takeover, Kennedy Center Ticket Sales Fall Sharply.

The Kennedy Center disputed the relevance of the data, part of an analysis by employees, saying that it had started its annual subscription campaign later than usual.

Ticket sales at the Kennedy Center were down roughly 50 percent in April and May, compared with the same period in 2024, according to an analysis by Kennedy Center employees.

Ticket sales and subscription revenue at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have fallen sharply since President Trump made himself chairman in February, according to data compiled by employees that was obtained by The New York Times.

Single-ticket sales were down roughly 50 percent in April and May, compared with the same period in 2024, according to the data. Subscriptions, traditionally an important source of revenue, have also declined significantly this season: Revenue was down 82 percent for theater and 57 percent for dance.

At the National Symphony Orchestra, one of the Kennedy Center’s flagship ensembles, subscriptions declined by 28 percent, the data showed. At Washington National Opera, subscriptions were down 25 percent. In total, subscription revenue was projected at $2.7 million in the coming fiscal year, compared with $4.4 million this year.

The numbers were confirmed by a Kennedy Center employee, who was granted anonymity because the information was considered confidential.

The Kennedy Center disputed the relevance of the data on Tuesday, saying the center had changed some aspects of how it marketed and structured subscriptions recently, including by starting its campaign later than usual.

“Our renewal campaign is just kicking off and our hard-copy season brochures have not yet hit homes,” Kim Cooper, the Kennedy Center’s senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “Our patrons wait for our new season brochures and renewal campaigns to take action.”

Ms. Cooper said the center also had yet to announce some programming, including some Broadway shows, that she said “we know will have strong appeal across all audiences.”

The Washington Post earlier reported on the Kennedy Center data.

Mr. Trump stunned the cultural and political worlds when he made himself chairman of the Kennedy Center, vowing to make the institution “hot” again and purging its previously bipartisan board of appointees by President Biden. He ousted the longtime chairman — the financier David M. Rubenstein, who was the center’s largest donor — and stacked the board with his own aides and allies. Deborah F. Rutter, the center’s president for more than a decade, was fired and replaced with a Trump loyalist, Richard Grenell.

Mr. Grenell has spoken frequently about the center’s budget woes, and he has accused its previous leaders of mismanaging its finances.

Last month, at a White House dinner hosted by Mr. Trump for the Kennedy Center board, Mr. Grenell claimed that the center’s deferred maintenance and its deficit — two things commonly found at nonprofit arts organizations — were “criminal.” He said that the new administration had uncovered “$26 million in phantom revenue” and that he would refer the matter to federal prosecutors, though it remains unclear what Kennedy Center officials thought might be criminal.

Mr. Rubenstein and Ms. Rutter have defended their management, saying they left the center in robust financial condition.

The Kennedy Center operates under the Smithsonian Institution as a public-private partnership, and only a portion of its $268 million budget — about $43 million, or 16 percent — comes from the federal government. The rest of the income either has to be earned — through ticket sales, space rentals, parking fees, food vendors and licensing fees — or donated by individuals, corporations or foundations.

The bulk of the Kennedy Center’s revenues, roughly $121 million in 2023, the most recent year for which tax records are available, are derived from ticket sales and other forms of earned income. Subscriptions have been in gradual decline at arts institutions around the United States for more than a decade, but the decline at the Kennedy Center this spring was especially pronounced.

Mr. Trump’s actions at the Kennedy Center have prompted an outcry, leading some artists to cancel engagements there in protest. The musical “Hamilton” scrapped a planned series of performances there next year.

Mr. Trump continues to play a big role in trying to reshape the center. He attended a board meeting in March, recently requested $257 million from Congress to help with capital repairs and plans to attend a gala fund-raiser performance of “Les Misérables” next week. (New York Times)

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