LIN MANUEL MIRANDA | publicintellectuals

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Man is Non-Stop

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical In the Heights put him on the map, but the worldwide smash hit Hamilton ensured that everyone would know his name.

Hamilton is centered on the founding father Alexander Hamilton, but instead of stuffy old white men portraying the founding fathers like we have seen so many times before, Hamilton includes people of color and from different backgrounds, ya know, like the real America. Hamilton also turns Broadway Musical rhetoric on its head by utilizing raps and even rap battles within the Hamilton storyline.

Lin’s accomplishments are undoubtedly impressive; his list of awards include a Pulitzer Prize, two Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, and three Tony Awards. Lin has performed at The White House several times (example below), hosted Saturday Night Live, and has been involved with large budget films such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Moana, and Mary Poppins Returns.

What a lot of these public intellectuals have in common is their authenticity, and Lin definitely fits this bill. Watch him anywhere, on any platform, and he is always the same: passionate, caring, and kind.

"I grew up in an immigrant neighborhood. We just knew the rule was you're going to have to work twice as hard."

Lin is Puerto Rican and still has family and loved ones there, so obviously the hurricane that devastated the island was extremely upsetting to him (as it should be to everyone). Lin, among others, noticed that the hurricane relief in Texas and Florida was going really well but that when the same thing happened to Puerto Rico, the Americans there were left without much aid or relief funding.

So in true Lin fashion, he wrote a song with all the proceeds going to hurricane relief (right) and continues to raise money to help the island through the Hispanic Federation "with so much to be done and such great urgency before us, let's use our own winds of change to help Puerto Rico dig out and rise up."

Naturally, when Donald Trump tweeted about the San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz not doing her job (while she was actively working to aid hurricane relief in her home) Lin was outraged. The usually very positive Lin had some very bold things to say about the president.

"You're going straight to hell, @realDonaldTrump.
No long lines for you.
Someone will say, 'Right this way, sir.'
They'll clear a path."

"She has been working 24/7.
You have been GOLFING.
You're going straight to hell.
Fastest golf cart you ever took."

For Puerto Rico

In a world filled with hateful Trump tweets, Lin is an encouraging light in the darkness.

"Good morning. You are perfectly cast in your life. I can’t imagine anyone but you in the role. Go play."

"Good morning. Imagine how you want to feel at the end of the day. Start working towards that now. Have a good breakfast tho."

"Those who hate us and fear us cannot bring us down. *looks around.* I love you. Good night."

Lin uses his platform to raise funds, awareness, and morale about several charities and causes. Not only For Peurto Rico, but also for the planet, for example he and his wife, lawyer and scientist Vanessa Nadal, are currently partnering with Prizeo to raise money to help the envrionment:

https://www.prizeo.com/campaigns/lin-manuel-miranda/a-trip-to-london-for-the-opening-night-of-hamilton

Lin's mother has long worked for Planned Parenthood and Lin has done campaigns to raise money for that organization as well. Lin is constantly giving back in any way that he can.

To the left is an example of his authenticity and being a light in a sometimes dark world; he touchingly accepts his Tony award with passion while coining a phrase that the Human Rights Campaign now uses.

Sweet Tweets

Immigrants: We Get the Job Done

Do public intellectuals need to be authentic?

Do we hold public intellectuals to a different standard than other people?

Do public intellectuals have to be "good?"

Questions for Discussion:

"It feels more important than ever to celebrate new music. If art is what fights tragedy, if art is what fights the void, if art is what helps us make sense of violence and random acts of cowardice and killing, then tonight’s important."

"There are 3.4 million stories on this island, all struggling in the aftermath of this storm, and they need your help."

http://hispanicfederation.org/media/press_releases/a_hurricane_relief_fund_for_hurricane_maria_victims_in_puerto_rico/

"To me, 'immigrant,' that word has only positive connotations. It's about someone who made miracles happen, to come to a country where they don't know the culture, maybe don't know the language, and worked twice as hard at the jobs no one else wants to do so that their family and their kids have a better life. That's the narrative I grew up around in my Latino neighborhood at the top of Manhattan and that's what I recognize about Hamilton."

PUBLIC INTELLECTUALS