{ "article": { "title" : "Make No Mistake: White Supremacy at The Noguchi Museum", "author" : "Noguchi Rights", "category" : "essays", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/make-no-mistake-white-supremacy-at-the-noguchi-museum", "date" : "2025-07-20 17:35:46 -0400", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/protest-from-members-of-the-public-during-the-noguchi-gala-2.jpg", "excerpt" : "", "content" : "“Make no mistake, white supremacy exists at The Noguchi Museum!” declared Noguchi Museum Board Co-Chair Spencer Bailey in Spring of 2023 to a room full of staff. In the weeks leading up to this grand statement, the CFO resigned in protest, citing the racist environment of the museum as the main factor in their decision (the CFO’s replacement would also resign in protest a year and a half later). Director Brett Littman was subsequently let go due to the racist environment he created. Deputy Director Jennifer Lorch was installed as the Interim Director despite complaints pointing to her culpability in the racist system. Not only was Lorch given more power by the board, but 990 tax forms show that Lorch received an increase of over $100,000 that year, despite her terrible performance. The hostile, racist environment she created was a significant factor in multiple hospitalizations of staff that year.Cognitive dissonance, performative allyship, abstract liberalism, ignorance, fear, liberal guilt mischaracterized as a form of anosognosia (according to Wikipedia, a neuropsychiatric disorder that causes a deficit of self-awareness), being fake-as-fuck or simply being liars… What’s the right way to understand the board of The Noguchi Museum?Senior leadership and the board have tried to avoid controversy largely by ignoring public scrutiny. They never had any interest in addressing systemic racism. In fact, Spencer Bailey was excited to tell the staff that he was aware of the fact that the community was left with leadership hellbent on protecting white supremacy in profound, surprising, and in some cases, unlawful ways. The board’s actions and values were and are not vague.We have already written exhaustively about the conditions at The Noguchi Museum and why the community is boycotting the institution, which you can learn more about from links in our @noguchirights IG account. Rather than rehashing those details, we want to discuss the motivations of the board and why they are steamrolling past unresolved issues.The museum is financially secure because as a non-profit, it benefits from a loophole that allows it to have a luxury goods wing that grants it the exclusive rights to sell Noguchi’s Akari lamps to the North American market. The museum and foundation make millions of dollars a year from these sales, and sales have grown 8-fold since pre-lockdown. It’s a revenue source many non-profits could only dream of, not to mention that the museum also owns its property, and the permanent collection is technically all it needs to showcase in its exhibitions. Without any financial repercussions, the museum and the foundation simply have no incentive to care. It is worth taking a moment to reflect on how disgusting and sad this is.As an exercise, you can address outstanding issues by emailing ahau@noguchi.org, jlorch@nogcuhi.org, and info@nogcuhi.org. For example, you could ask any of these still unanswered questions regarding the keffiyeh ban for staff, implemented last year:Why has the ban, which was meant to apply to all political attire, only ever been enforced against the keffiyeh?Why has the museum failed to train staff on how to implement this ban, or clarify what constitutes political attire outside of keffiyehs alone?In light of this policy, how does the museum justify its director’s statements when she openly discusses her political views to staff regarding President Trump?Given that the keffiyeh is a cultural garment, meaning it is protected under city and state laws, and is the only thing ever explicitly targeted by this policy, how does the selective enforcement of this policy not discriminate against individuals who would wear a keffiyeh as a cultural item? What is the distinction between cultural and political in this context, and how is that dealt with by museum leadership?Why were board Co-Chairs Spencer Bailey and Susan Kessler so involved in enforcing the keffiyeh ban, and in what ways does enforcing the ban relate to their responsibilities?The leadership is not for the community, despite running a community museum founded by an activist artist who would be appalled by the current conditions. While people and organizations have stopped partnering with the museum, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints have been filed, the staff has unionized, and the museum has received terrible press, those in leadership positions have simply crossed their fingers in the hope that the public will forget about it all. The Noguchi Museum is a community non-profit, and as a member of the community, you deserve answers.For more than a decade, the board has been chasing its own white whale: a capital project that remains unrealized. Disgraced Mayor Eric Adams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, both of whom are also anti-Palestinian, dedicated $4.5 million to this project back in 2022. This project will destroy the three houses behind Noguchi’s studio to construct a new building in a residential area of Queens that needs a grocery store more than an expanded museum building. In a city that already has serious issues with housing and affordability, this tone-deaf real estate project is taking priority over everything else. Shortly before one of the to-be-demolished properties was purchased in 2024, Director Amy Hau requested that staff keep the potential acquisition a secret to avoid having to deal with neighbors who might try to prevent the sale from happening. Members of leadership driving this decision are hyper-aware of the upset they are about to cause the community.Since the staff unanimously unionized in January 2025, senior leadership has only turned the heat up. They continue to attempt to cripple any dissent against an unjust system while they gaslight the staff. Controversy, a boycott, losing programmatic partners, Amy Hau being dropped from boards directly related to her failures at The Noguchi Museum, and complaints from the public haven’t swayed the leaders at all. The truth needs to be disseminated far and wide through our networks and by word-of-mouth. We ask you to spread the message about our boycott, if not for the staff, if not for Noguchi’s legacy, if not for the neighborhood, then for the principled message that we do not stand for white supremacy as it morphs to absorb anything we could (have) call(ed) our own." } , "relatedposts": [ { "title" : "Black Liberation Views on Palestine", "author" : "EIP Editors", "category" : "essays", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/black-liberation-on-palestine", "date" : "2025-10-17 09:01:00 -0400", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/mandela-keffiyeh.jpg", "excerpt" : "", "content" : "In understanding global politics, it is important to look at Black liberation struggles as one important source of moral perspective. So, when looking at Palestine, we look to Black leaders to see how they perceived the Palestinian struggle in relation to theirs, from the 1960’s to today.Why must we understand where the injustice lies? Because, as Desmond Tutu famously said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”{% for person in site.data.quotes-black-liberation-palestine %}{{ person.name }}{% for quote in person.quotes %}“{{ quote.text }}”{% if quote.source %}— {{ quote.source }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}{% endfor %}" } , { "title" : "First Anniversary Celebration of EIP", "author" : "EIP Editors", "category" : "events", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/1st-anniversary-of-eip", "date" : "2025-10-14 18:01:00 -0400", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/WSA_EIP_Launch_Cover.jpg", "excerpt" : "Celebrating One Year of Independent Publishing", "content" : "Celebrating One Year of Independent PublishingJoin Everything is Political on November 21st for the launch of our End-of-Year Special Edition Magazine.This members-only evening will feature a benefit dinner, cocktails, and live performances in celebration of a year of independent media, critical voices, and collective resistance.The EventNovember 21, 2025, 7-11pmLower Manhattan, New YorkLaunching our End-of-Year Special Edition MagazineSpecial appearances and performancesFood & Drink includedTickets are extremely limited, reserve yours now!Become an annual print member: get x back issues of EIP, receive the End-of-Year Special Edition Magazine, and come to the Anniversary Celebration.$470Already a member? Sign in to get your special offer. Buy Ticket $150 Just $50 ! and get the End-of-Year Special Edition Magazine Buy ticket $150 and get the End-of-Year Special Edition Magazine " } , { "title" : "Miu Miu Transforms the Apron From Trad Wife to Boss Lady: The sexiest thing in Paris was a work garment", "author" : "Khaoula Ghanem", "category" : "", "url" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/readings/miu-miu-transforms-the-apron-from-trad-wife-to-boss-lady", "date" : "2025-10-14 13:05:00 -0400", "img" : "https://everythingispolitical.com/uploads/Cover_EIP_MiuMiu_Apron.jpg", "excerpt" : "Miuccia Prada has a habit of taking the least “fashion” thing in the room and making it the argument. For Spring 2026 at Miu Miu, the argument is the apron; staged not as a coy retro flourish but as a total system. The show’s mise-en-scène read like a canteen or factory floor with melamine-like tables, rationalist severity, a whiff of cleaning fluid. In other words, a runway designed to force a conversation about labor before any sparkle could distract us.", "content" : "Miuccia Prada has a habit of taking the least “fashion” thing in the room and making it the argument. For Spring 2026 at Miu Miu, the argument is the apron; staged not as a coy retro flourish but as a total system. The show’s mise-en-scène read like a canteen or factory floor with melamine-like tables, rationalist severity, a whiff of cleaning fluid. In other words, a runway designed to force a conversation about labor before any sparkle could distract us.From the opening look—German actress Sandra Hüller in a utilitarian deep-blue apron layered over a barn jacket and neat blue shirting—the thesis was loud: the “cover” becomes the thing itself. As silhouettes marched on, aprons multiplied and mutated—industrial drill cotton with front pockets, raw canvas, taffeta and cloqué silk, lace-edged versions that flirted with lingerie, even black leather and crystal-studded incarnations that reframed function as ornament. What the apron traditionally shields (clothes, bodies, “the good dress”) was inverted; the protection became the prized surface. Prada herself spelled it out: “The apron is my favorite piece of clothing… it symbolizes women, from factories through to serving to the home.”Miu Miu Spring 2026 Ready-to-Wear. SuppliedThis inversion matters historically. The apron’s earliest fashion-adjacent life was industrial. It served as a barrier against grease, heat, stain. It was a token of paid and unpaid care. Miu Miu tapped that lineage directly (canvas, work belts, D-ring hardware), then sliced it against domestic codes (florals, ruffles, crochet), and finally pushed into nightlife with bejeweled and leather bibs. The garment’s migration across materials made its social migrations visible. It is a kitchen apron, yes, but also one for labs, hospitals, and factories; the set and styling insisted on that plurality.What makes the apron such a loaded emblem is not just what it covers, but what it reveals about who has always been working. Before industrialization formalized labor into factory shifts and wages, women were already performing invisible labour, the kind that doesn’t exist on payrolls but sits at the foundation of every functioning society. They were cooking, cleaning, raising children, nursing the ill. These tasks were foundational to every economy and yet absent from every ledger. Even when women entered the industrial workforce, from textile plants to wartime assembly lines, their domestic responsibilities did not disappear, they doubled. In that context, the apron here is a quiet manifesto for the strength that goes unrecorded, unthanked, and yet keeps civilization running.The algorithmic rise of the “tradwife,” the influencer economy that packages domesticity as soft power, is the contemporary cultural shadow here. Miu Miu’s apron refuses that rehearsal. In fact, it’s intentionally awkward—oversized, undone, worn over bikinis or with sturdy shoes—so the viewer can’t flatten it into Pinterest-ready nostalgia. Critics noted the collection as a reclamation, a rebuttal to the flattening forces of the feed: the apron as a uniform for endurance rather than submission. The show notes framed it simply as “a consideration of the work of women,” a reminder that the invisible economies of effort—paid, unpaid, emotional—still structure daily life.If that sounds unusually explicit for a luxury runway, consider the designer. Prada trained as a mime at Milan’s Piccolo Teatro, earned a PhD in political science, joined the Italian Communist Party, and was active in the women’s rights movement in 1970s Milan. Those facts are not trivia; they are the grammar of her clothes. Decades of “ugly chic” were, essentially, a slow campaign against easy consumption and default beauty. In 2026, the apron becomes the newest dialect. An emblem drawn from leftist feminist history, recoded into a product that still has to sell. That tension—belief versus business—is the Miuccia paradox, and it’s precisely why these aprons read as statements, not trends.The runway narrative traced a journey from function to fetish. Early looks were squarely utilitarian—thick cottons, pocketed bibs—before migrating toward fragility and sparkle. Lace aprons laid transparently over swimmers; crystal-studded aprons slipped across cocktail territory; leather apron-dresses stiffened posture into armor. The sequencing proposed the same silhouette can encode labor, intimacy, and spectacle depending on fabrication. If most brands smuggle “workwear” in as set dressing, Miu Miu forced it onto the body as the central garment and an unmissable reminder that the feminine is often asked to be both shield and display at once.It’s instructive to read this collection against the house’s last mega-viral object: the micro-mini of Spring 2022, a pleated, raw-hem wafer that colonized timelines and magazine covers. That skirt’s thesis was exposure—hip bones and hemlines as post-lockdown spectacle, Y2K nostalgia framed as liberation-lite. The apron, ironically, covers. Where the micro-mini trafficked in the optics of freedom (and the speed of virality), the apron asks about the conditions that make freedom possible: who launders, who cooks, who cares? To move from “look at me” to “who is working here?” is a pivot from optics to ethics, without abandoning desire. (The aprons are, after all, deeply covetable.) In a platform economy that still rewards the shortest hemline with the biggest click-through, this is a sophisticated counter-program.Yet the designer is not romanticizing toil. There’s wit in the ruffles and perversity in the crystals; neither negate labor, they metabolize it. The most striking image is the apron treated as couture-adjacent. Traditionally, an apron protects the precious thing beneath; here, the apron is the precious thing. You could call that hypocrisy—luxurizing the uniform of workers. Or, strategy, insisting that the symbols of care and effort deserve visibility and investment.Of course, none of this exists in a vacuum. The “tradwife” script thrives because it is aesthetically legible and commercially scalable. It packages gender ideology as moodboard. Miu Miu counters with garments whose legibility flickers. The collection’s best looks ask viewers to reconcile tenderness with toughness, convenience with care, which is exactly the mental choreography demanded of women in every context from office to home to online.If you wanted a season-defining “It” item, you’ll still find it. The apron is poised to proliferate across fast-fashion and luxury alike. But the deeper success is structural: Miu Miu re-centered labor as an aesthetic category. That’s rarer than a viral skirt. It’s a reminder that clothes don’t merely decorate life, they describe and negotiate it. In making the apron the subject rather than the prop, Prada turned a garment of service into a platform for agency. It’s precisely the kind of cultural recursion you’d expect from a designer shaped by feminist politics, who never stopped treating fashion as an instrument of thought as much as style.The last image to hold onto is deceptively simple: a woman in an apron, neither fetishized nor infantilized, striding, hands free. Not a costume for nostalgia, not a meme for the feed, but a working uniform reframed, respected, and suddenly, undeniably beautiful. That is Miu Miu’s provocation for Spring 2026: the work behind the work, made visible at last." } ] }