Lin-Manuel Miranda: What Washington Could Learn From ‘Hamilton’

Miranda recieved the 2017 Freedom Award from the U.S. Capitol Historical Society.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Actor Lin-Manuel Miranda speaks onstage during The New Yorker Festival 2015 - Lin-Manuel Miranda Talks With Rebecca Mead at DGA Theater on October 4, 2015 in New York City. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for The New Yorker)

By Rebecca Gibian

The creator of Hamilton is in Washington, D.C., this week.

Lin-Manuel Miranda headed to Washington, D.C., to be honored with the 2017 Freedom Award from the U.S. Capitol Historical Society on Tuesday. He won the award because of his role in “awakening an interest in U.S. history,” writes the Washington Post

The creator of the critically-acclaimed Hamilton also walked the halls of Congress. Why? He is trying to push Congress to retain roughly $150 million a year in annual funds for national endowments of the arts and humanities. These programs, Washington Post writes, are slated for elimination in President Trump’s initial budget proposal.

Miranda, 37, also was honored at the congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 40th annual gala dinner Wednesday. This honor is because of Hamilton, but also because of his advocacy on immigration reform and other issues, reports Washington Post. 

The annual historical society event used to be a “sleepy affair” writes the Post, but it has recently tried to bring in cultural figures. More than 80 people RSVP’d to the event honoring Miranda.

Miranda is a known Clinton supporter who has been quoted saying Trump’s win gave him “moral clarity” about what he is “fighting for,” writes the Post. His work often showcases gay and immigration rights, as well as funding the arts.

For his next project, Mirada told the Post that he will have nothing to do with American history because “a pretty good recipe for disaster is to sort of try to go back to the same well twice.”

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