Among the
highlights will be the social practice artist Theaster Gates singing his own rendition of «God Bless America,» «The
Battle Hymn of the Republic» and other
traditional patriotic tunes; the filmmaker Arthur Jafa presenting his lauded short movie about racism, «Love Is the Message, the Message Is Death»; the artist Shirin Neshat showing films about violence against women; the composer David Lang performing and also speaking about «danger and honesty in both pop and classical music»; the poet Elizabeth Alexander reading her own work; and the artist Hank Willis Thomas presenting and discussing his film «A Person Is More Important Than Anything Else» (2014) on James Baldwin.