Shakespeare is the great wordsmith of the English language, creator of “To be or not to be” and “Kiss me, Kate.”

He’s the most performed playwright in American history. 

We call him “the Bard.”

But, we are told, we shouldn’t use that term. 

“Bard” has racial undertones, Prof. Farah Karim-Cooper explains in her 2022 essay “Shakespeare through Decolonization.” 

To raise Shakespeare so highly, she says, is to make him “an icon of white heritage and excellence: the conception of the man as Bard is, I argue, endemic to coloniality.”

If these allegations of supposed white guilt came from a professor of no distinction, we might ignore it. 

But Karim-Cooper has been made head of the most renowned Shakespeare center in the world, the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. 

Opened in 1932, the Folger contains 200,000 items from the Renaissance period, including the largest collection of Shakespeare materials in existence.  

The Folger’s announcement praises Karim-Cooper as “a field leader in examining Shakespearean plays through the lens of social justice.” 

She leads the Antiracist Shakespeare Webinar, too — a set of videos showing scholars finding race matters in every play in the corpus. 

She has labored to stop the Renaissance field from suppressing racial topics and ghettoizing scholars of color.

It’s a bizarre situation, but one we see often across academia. 

Individuals take the reins of cultural institutions with the intent of denigrating their prized mission. 

Karim-Cooper likes Shakespeare, but wants to pull him down a few pegs.

We must “Interrogate the canon and Shakespeare’s primacy within it,” she insists. 

She also insists “the Bard has a race problem,” as a Washington Post profile of her put it. 

Teach Othello, she says, but set it alongside Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Keith Hamilton Cobb’s play American Moor. 

Stop making Shakespeare so special.

The founder of the Folger Library had other intentions. 

Henry Folger idolized Shakespeare and believed America had a marvelous relationship with him. 

His wife Emily stated that Henry saw Shakespeare as “one of the wells from which we Americans draw our national thought, our faith and our hope.” 

That’s why he located the library just behind the U.S. Capitol. 

The Library was not to be an Ivory Tower only.  It was to bring Hamlet and Caesar to Americans of all kinds.

The race obsessions of the new director, however, are an elite matter. 

People who saw Ralph Fiennes in Macbeth in DC this year aren’t interested in anti-racist catechisms.  They want electric acting and eloquence for the ages. 

Kids in DC schools who read Romeo and Juliet in 9^th Grade and Hamlet in 10^th won’t necessarily appreciate those masterpieces more if their teachers apply a “lens of social justice.” 

That the stewards of Henry Folger’s creation believe antiracist Shakespeare will excite the public only shows how clueless they are about common tastes. 

They want a scholar-activist who will propel the Folger into the multicultural 21^st century, but their action illustrates something else: the divorce of elite institutions from the American people.

This withdrawal is especially regrettable at the present time. 

In 1970, 1-in-13 bachelor’s degrees were in English. 

Today, it’s less than 1-in-60. 

The field is marginal, and with good reason. 

Will an undergrad who enjoyed Henry IV in high school want to take a class with a teacher who trades in white guilt? 

A few years ago, a pack of angry students at Penn pulled down a portrait of Shakespeare in the English department and replaced it with one of contemporary poet Audre Lorde. 

Faculty didn’t stop them. 

Why select a field that its own practitioners don’t respect? 

Leisure habits are declining as well.

Twenty years ago the National Endowment for the Arts reported that 43% of 18-24-year-olds had not read a single poem, play, novel, or short story in the preceding 12 months. 

Since then, with every successive iPhone, literary reading has diminished ever more. 

This is a terrible loss. 

We need the Folger and other institutions to maintain Shakespeare, Whitman etc. in the lives of ordinary Americans. 

Make it fun and illuminating, not troubling and culpable. 

The director of the Folger regrets that people consider Shakespeare a unique “source of wisdom and humanity,” but that faith is what keeps the legacy going.

People like Karim-Cooper who traffic in identity politics are righteous scolds. 

They dislike our laughter at Falstaff’s raillery and fascination with Iago’s deviltry. 

These leaders will pass away, just as the Puritans who closed the theaters did in the 17^th century. 

Unfortunately, the damage they do will outlive them.

WASHINGTON — Thursday morning, Washington, D.C. native Raj Sedalia planted himself out front of Capital One Arena armed with a bucket of chalk. The next three hours were dedicated to a Washington Mystics commissioned mural, a short-term commemorative piece for what locals will long remember as the two days that the eyes of the WNBA descended on the nation’s capital.

Pictured on the left is Indiana Fever No. 1 overall draft pick Caitlin Clark. To the right shows Angel Reese, a Randallstown native and first-year Chicago Sky forward. And between the two figureheads, featured most prominently, was the hometown Mystics’ first-round pick Aaliyah Edwards. In bold white script above the names, it aptly reads: Battle of the Rookies.

“I remember when the WNBA started,” Sedalia said. “And it seems like it’s really crossed the threshold of popularity with the general public.”

Part 2 of “The Battle of the Rookies” is loading….. #OwnYourLegacy | @McDonalds pic.twitter.com/2oOpy0jvzt

— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) June 7, 2024

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Friday night was the second of back-to-back Mystics games moved from their normal 4,000-seat Entertainment & Sports Arena 20 minutes north to the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena to meet the demand of the star-studded stretch. Tickets for the Fever’s narrow 85-83 win went on sale April 23. They sold out within roughly 30 minutes.

On nights like this, the growing star power is hard to miss. The three teams featured over two days are all below .500. The Mystics (0-11) and Fever (3-9) have the two worst records in the WNBA. The Sky (4-5) aren’t far ahead, leading the six teams below .500.

Yet so many longing fans filed in to see the “Battle of the Rookies.” Friday night’s attendance was an announced 20,333, with Capital One Arena opening the upper deck seating. It was the highest-attended WNBA game since 2007 and the seventh-highest in league history, according to Across the Timeline. It easily cleared this year’s average attendance for Wizards home games (16,898).

And it was worth the price of admission, with Friday’s game decided in the waning seconds. Karlie Samuelson kept the home team’s hopes alive with a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to one with seven seconds left. Clark, who finished with 30 points on a career-high seven 3s, sank three of four late free throws to stave off a Mystics miracle, pushing the out-of-town rookies to 2-0 after Reese and the Sky won, 79-71, on Thursday.

While Sedalia’s artistic patience was periodically interrupted — both by fans regurgitating some of the same tired narratives that have plagued the last week of national sports discourse and others eager for the on-court action featuring two of the league’s most recognizable stars — he could feel the elevated pulse of the city.

“It’s definitely a big deal for Washington to have this happen,” Sedalia said.

Thursday was Reese’s turn. Sedalia was struck by the overwhelming allegiance for a “visiting” star. An announced sellout crowd of 10,000 packed in for the Randallstown native’s homecoming. She wore Maryland-themed sneakers, part of a line of custom Reeboks with help from Chicago-based sole designer Marvin Baroota. Reese bought tickets for every Baltimore-based person she knows: family, friends and hairstylists, all there to see the rookie post her third double-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five steals.

“I’m just happy to be a part of this, negative or positive,” Reese told reporters Thursday. “People are talking about women’s basketball. That’s really important. This is long overdue.”

To a question about the slew of D.C. youngsters repping Iowa or Fever gear, Clark said, “Even though we’re [3-9], people are still coming. They’re still excited about the young talent we have on our team. You see it across the board in the W. … there’s been really great crowds.”

D.C. residents John B. and Colton M. both compared it with their tickets for Clark’s No. 3 ranked Iowa team visiting Maryland back in February. John called having her in College Park, “the most electric atmosphere.” Colton, who was wearing a Clark T-shirt jersey, studied at Iowa. He proudly shared that he was in the building when Clark broke the NCAA Division I all-time scoring record.

“It’s been a huge moment,” Colton said of the WNBA’s recent notoriety. “Just for the whole sport. Everybody knows about it. Everybody knows the games are happening.”

Both John and Colton bought their first Mystics tickets to see the sharpshooter record her second 30-point outing this season. They’re even playing in a fantasy WNBA league. Colton grabbed Breanna Stewart with the No. 1 overall pick. He has Mystics center Shakira Austin, too. John was able to swipe Clark at No. 4.

They postulated an 80-20 split of fans in attendance to see Clark, who herself wasn’t so sure at times. “I could’ve sworn they were booing when calls didn’t go our way but maybe I was just being delusional,” she joked.

It’s true, not everyone arrived in downtown D.C. just to see the away teams.

Sitting a few rows back behind the home bench was Rehana Mohammed. She beamed with pride flexing her “DC vs. All Y’all” T-shirt, which was given out at a Mystics game earlier this season.

Mohammed, 34, has had season tickets for years and was in the building for both prime-time games this week.

“It’s great to see so many people getting so excited for the game,” she said. “We’ve been watching the WNBA for a long time so it’s great to see more people getting interested in it. … We ride for the Mystics. We love the Mystics. It’s just great to see so many people come out to support what we know.”

There was some consolation for the longtime Mystics fan to see her team lose during Reese’s homecoming. She was excited to see Clark take the floor but had no interest in bearing another loss. Mohammed won’t let anyone forget about their rookie Edwards either.

The sixth overall pick had career highs with 23 points and 14 rebounds against Chicago, making her the second rookie in the team’s history to post a 20-and-10-plus game. She followed that up with a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double Friday.

For these two days, Capital One Arena filled in with fans who will one day look back fondly on shuffling their plans to see some of the league’s brightest stars on consecutive nights. They’ll remember the energy in the building when Reese, the homegrown star, gave the visiting Sky their biggest lead, or Clark bringing fans to their feet with her patented logo 3.

True to Sedalia’s sidewalk chalk mural, the rookies showed up with unprecedented demand and undoubtedly battled.

“I hope this becomes the norm,” Mystics coach Eric Thibault said. “Big crowd Friday night. Two teams going at it. It’s what’s a lot of us in the sport have wanted to see happen and it’s great to see it happen in front of our eyes.”

A year after L. Page “Deacon” Maccubbin opened the gay bookstore, Lambda Rising, in 1974, he was talking to friends about going to a Pride celebration in New York City.

“Somebody said, ‘Why don’t we do something in Washington,’” said Maccubbin. “I thought ‘that’s a wonderful idea, let’s do it.’”

Maccubbin went to work instantly. He decided to hold a Gay Pride block party right in front of Lambda Rising on 1724 20th Street NW in D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood.

One of the first things Maccubbin was required to do by the city was to check with his neighbors.

“We had the support of more than 51% of the people in the neighborhood to sign a petition allowing us to close the block off,” Maccubbin told WTOP.

Knowing he needed help to organize such a big event, Maccubbin hired his friend Bob Carpenter. They got the word out by putting flyers in all of the gay bars in D.C.

Courtesy Rainbow History Project, Inc.

Courtesy Rainbow History Project, Inc.

WTOP/Jimmy Alexander

WTOP/Jimmy Alexander

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So, at 1 p.m., on June 22, 1975, the D.C. Gay Pride Party was set to begin. But, there was a problem.

“At 10 minutes to one, there was no one on the street,” Maccubbin said.

Carpenter was nervous and, according to Maccubbin, was ringing his hands, and said, “No one is going to show up.”

“I said ‘don’t worry Bob, they’ll be here. They are just on ‘gay time.” … Not long after, we had 2,000 people,” Maccubbin said.

Maccubbin shared these memories with WTOP from the steps of where his bookstore was once located, overlooking the location of D.C.’s first annual Pride event.

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“We had bands playing. Politicians stopping by to say hello. All the neighbors came out,” Maccubbin said. “It was an incredible experience.”

Also showing up that day was a local TV news crew.

Maccubbin made a deal with the reporters: They were only allowed to film on one side of the street. Everyone at the block party was told if they didn’t want to be on television, that they should stand on the other side of the street.

“There were some people that were concerned about their jobs or their family seeing them,” said Maccubbin.

Not everyone was pleased with the work Maccubbin was doing for the gay community. Not only did Maccubbin have to deal with a lot of harassment over the phone, the windows of his bookstore were broken and they received bomb threats.

Every time there was an incident, Maccubbin and his staff would head to the bookstore and keep going.

“We had to stand up and be counted. We weren’t going anywhere,” said Maccubbin’s husband, Jim Bennett. “More and more people stood up and said we’re not taking this crap anymore.”

The bad memories have now faded, and Maccubbin thinks more about the role he played in the creating an event that would one day bring hundreds of thousands of people to D.C. to celebrate who they are.

“There is rarely a week that goes by that I don’t hear from somebody that talks about coming out at Pride or coming out in our bookstore, Lambda Rising,” Maccubbin said. “Because it was the first place they felt welcome.”

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