Chi Ossé Says

When I was a college-dropout-club-promoter stumbling through the electric thrill of New York City nightlife, I never expected to spend my mid-20s negotiating local housing policy in the shadow of a fascist federal government. I cut my teeth in the dim glow of warehouse parties and neon‑lit dive bars—spaces where marginalized voices found sanctuary, where joy and resistance intertwined on sweaty dance floors. Those rooms taught me that culture is a living, breathing force: it organizes us, it emboldens us, and it defines who we are. The cultural sector is under attack. It’s also more equipped than most to fight back.

Creative communities face twin threats. A hostile federal administration is bent on eroding civil liberties and defunding the arts slashes through all we took for granted. Meanwhile, local power brokers block new housing, driving up rents until city‑makers are priced out of their own city. It’s time for artists, creatives, and cultural laborers to treat politics as part of our toolkit for survival, and our most powerful canvas for change.

In the first few months of Donald Trump’s second term, we have seen an escalation of policies aimed at immigrants, at independent expression, and at the very institutions that fuel our creativity. While federal policies set the tone, local politics determine many of the immediate conditions of our daily lives. In New York City, the soaring housing costs have become a major strain on artists and the broader working class. Without sufficient housing, the city risks losing its creative soul. We are compelled to act.

Local power is largely held by community boards, Democratic clubs, and the City Council, which are dominated by older, more conservative stakeholders who often oppose new development. The result is a status quo in which campaigns against new housing drive up costs for everyone. When artists, LGBTQ+ migrants, and working‑class immigrant families cannot afford to stay or to arrive, New York’s promise of refuge and creative possibility erodes. High costs of living also fuel reactionary politics like Trump’s on the national level, meaning bad local housing policy is particularly responsible for his return to the White House. Changing that balance of power on the local level is not a sidebar to our work; it is our frontline.

I was 22 when I helped lead the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests here in New York. On those streets, I saw the passion of my peers—and also the complacency of an entrenched political class that dismissed us because we didn’t turn out at the ballot box. That realization pushed me to run for office. This path of public service was a risk, including intense scrutiny, attacks on my character, and the daily grind of bureaucracy. The choice wasn’t comfortable, but neither was watching our voices and communities go unheard and underserved. Today, the demand to lean into that discomfort is stronger than ever before in our lifetimes.

Engagement doesn’t require a career shift into politics (although more young people and creatives should run!). Artists can wield their creativity as a tool for activism, producing works that challenge injustices and inspire change. Organizing events, collaborating with community organizations, and using platforms to amplify critical issues are all vital contributions. Anyone can—and everyone should—show up to community board meetings and town halls to voice support for inclusive housing policies.

You will be told to sit down and shut up. You will be told that you do not know enough to speak up. But the people and institutions saying this have been running the show for a century. Look where that got us.

Political involvement carries risk, especially in this era. But the more people who step forward, the less risk each individual takes on.

On the federal level, where we are playing defense, we must resist the administration’s assaults on immigrants, free speech, and the arts. Locally, where we can shape our own world tomorrow, let’s demand that our city build and allow sufficient housing we need to survive and thrive; and claim our seats at the tables where local decisions are made. Of course, we must vote in every single election.

We carry history in our hands—and the power to shape its next chapter. It’s time to step into the arena and take the risks. It’s up to us to ensure that New Yorkers are safe, and that New York remains the cultural capital of the world.

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Get involved with your community board here, and register to vote here.