Brandon Williams: “I say to my colleagues, do not kill the NEH. Reflection matters; the Nation's memory matters; publications…”

“I say to my colleagues, do not kill the NEH. Reflection matters; the Nation's memory matters; publications, translations, research, education matters; identity matters; conversation counts; distinctions matter; history matters; the National Endowment for the Humanities matters. It is this Nation's singular effort to expand and foster the development and availability of these things that matter. There are a lot of things in America that matter. You cannot see them, but they matter, and they matter more than bridges and highways and B-1's, as important as those are. The humanities and those things that it expands and protects and preserves and fosters matter. Please do not cut or eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities. The humanities matter.”