MFE’s Songs For Justice: Observations, Reflections and Lessons Learned

Introduction

Music For Everyone is a non-profit organization I founded in 2006 with a mission to “cultivate the power of music” in Lancaster County, PA. Such a broad mission, coupled with the fact that music is the universal language has allowed us a lot of flexibility in finding ways to leverage the power and potential of music for community benefit. We began by raising money to purchase instruments for schools. Since then, the organization has evolved to where we now provide instruction, offer after school and summer camp programs and engage in various music centered community building programs. Our mission has also expanded to underwriting initiatives to leverage music as an individual therapeutic and public health tool. In short, MFE’s evolution and journey has been long and interesting. It is a journey that has led to our Songs For Justice project. 

Songs For Justice was born out of the time-honored tradition related to the responsibility of artists and musicians to “bear witness” to events transpiring around them. The spark that led MFE to undertake this project was the social unrest following the murder of George Floyd at the hands, or more accurately, under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020. The first thing that businesses and organizations did in response to the widespread civil unrest that followed was to write a social Justice statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and place a BLM sign in their front window. While we published a very thoughtful statement, it felt hollow to us. We felt we needed to do more to act upon our convictions in a concrete way.

Our responsibility to do something beyond a justice statement was greater given the subject matter (music) we employ to make a community impact. Music's power and potential as a change agent has been a part of every social justice movement throughout history. We felt a responsibility to leverage that history and power. Most important however, was that the majority of the children and families we serve are children and families of color.  Finally, the proceeds that we generate through sponsorships and donations is being invested back into our programs to provide increased access to music education opportunities for underserved populations.

Songs For Justice is a limited-edition series of vinyl records (45s) we’ve been periodically releasing and will continue to release over the course of the next several years. Each record features a specific racial, ethnic or interest group and the issues and challenges those groups face in today’s world. Additionally, some of the records will highlight and explore issues such as criminal justice reform and voting rights. We called upon Lancaster musicians of all backgrounds to record songs “bearing witness” to what is going on in our society around issues of race, justice and equity. Those songs were placed on Side A of the record. Side B of the record includes either a historical speech on civil and human rights read by a local Lancaster personality or an original spoken word recording by a local artist. 

The project leverages the synergies between music, visual arts, poetry, photography and graphic design. Additionally, accounts and narratives regarding how the historical speeches shed a light on the issues of today, discussion questions and inspirational quotes are included as part of a 12 page insert booklet. We have attempted to be very strategic and directed in our efforts to identify and enlist contributors of all colors, all of whom are compensated. The result has been a virtual rainbow collection of diverse contributors to the project. We are also working to develop a teaching curriculum around the records. Ultimately, our goal is to spur debate with the hopes of educating and inspiring people to take action around issues of civil rights, justice and equity. 

Finally, each record highlights a Lancaster based nonprofit community benefit organization (CBO) doing affective work in the areas of justice and equity. Our aim is to provide these organizations with a platform to tell their story to the public. This is a way to build synergies among community benefit organizations for wider community impact.

It’s a big project with many moving parts. And given the sensitive and fraught subject matter, SFJ has presented many challenges. In response to those challenges and the charged atmosphere around issues of race, we needed to be strategic and intentional about doing the necessary research and groundwork in learning about the nuances of various issues and in identifying participating musicians and artists. It required a lot of honest, critical self-reflection as an organization regarding our diversity efforts.

Doing the research and reading for SFJ has also challenged me to examine my own viewpoints and commitment to social justice issues. I have always been attuned to these issues as a result of my basketball career in which I spent a lot of time in environments where I was the distinct minority. Additionally, my work at the NCAA, Southeastern Conference and my writing has centered on the issue of the exploitation of the Black athlete. Finally, the core mission of Music For Everyone is about providing access to music education opportunity for low income, underserved populations. That said, the research I've had to do as a result of the SFJ project has had a profound impact on me as I've learned an enormous amount.

The second "journey" has been MFE's. In executing this project, we have had to take a long, hard look at our organization from a diversity and inclusion standpoint. The result has been transformational as we have become much more diverse, top to bottom and, as a result, much more effective in meeting our mission. But there have been bumps and challenges along the way and, as a result, many hard lessons learned about diversity that other organizations and businesses might find of interest. 

In the end, the purpose of SFJ is to stimulate thought and discussion and to encourage and inspire all of us to reexamine our attitudes around these issues. But most important, to inspire consideration of what each of us might do to be a positive force for social justice and human dignity. 

In short, SFJ has been an enormously impactful learning experience. While I’ve learned an enormous amount about racism, I’ve also learned a lot about myself. I’ve learned just how enormous the role and influence of white privilege has played in my life. As a white man, it is so easy to take that for granted because it has been a constant, touching every part of my life for my entire life. 

I’ve also come to better understand the extent to which Black Americans have had to deal with and fight the effects and impacts of systemic racism, both big and small. It has literally been a 24/7/365/400+ battle (24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for over 400 years). I simply cannot imagine how utterly exhausting it must be to be Black in America. 

The process of researching and writing this book involved a lot of self-reflection. The more I learned the more I needed to learn and understand. As I’ve come to find, I haven’t been as “anti-racist” or as much as a racial “ally” as I thought. I discovered many ways in which I was, with no ill intent, engaging in racist behaviors and patterns. I was forced to confront my own biases. That’s not easy. It’s been a humbling experience. This is difficult work. The challenges are enormous. And it is work that lasts for a lifetime. But it’s work that has to be done. 

It’s also been exhilarating. If you approach these issues with profound humility, an open mind and a commitment to do the necessary work, you can learn. You can grow. You can improve. In that sense the journey has been exciting and hopeful.  

With that as background and introduction, my intention is to periodically publish through this website, essays regarding the various reflections and lessons learned, both personally and for MFE as an organization, through the Songs For Justice project. I will also draw on experiences from my basketball career, work as a college athletics administrator, musician and non-profit executive. I hope you find them thoughtful, provocative and interesting.  

The Campaign for “Bandwork”: It’s Now Personal

Last year, I wrote that the word “bandwork” should be recognized as an “official” word and thus included in Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. The purpose behind my proposal relates to the issue of music advocacy as it applies to school funding of music programs. It’s important that we recognize and use bandwork as an “official” word because words and terms are vitally important in effective advocacy. 

While effective music advocacy is critical, due to a recent occurrence, this issue has now become personal. 

Why should we care whether bandwork becomes an “official” word? 

For too long, it has been the athletic community, particularly the football community, that has driven and shaped the dialogue regarding which activities are most effective in instilling in participants, the ability to collaborate and work together as a group. The fact is, football in particular, and sports in general, are no more effective at instilling such characteristics as is participation in music activities. 

I have been on five person basketball teams working together to achieve a common goal of winning a game. I have also been in a five person band working together to achieve an agreed upon sound. And in both cases, the lessons learned – discipline, communication, personal and shared responsibility, persistence and sacrifice – are identical. Yet, the music community has remained silent regarding the notion that sports are unique in its’ ability to teach such skills. By remaining silent, the music community has ceded that narrative to the sports “lobby”.  Thus, it’s not surprising that when discussions regarding an activity’s potential to teach valuable communication and collaboration skills occur, all of the attention is focused on team sports’ potential to do so, while music’s potential to do the very same things is largely ignored. 

It’s time to tell the other side of the story. And that starts with terminology. Words and terms matter. It is time that music advocates begin to recognize, and, for lack of a better term, “brand” music in a way that more effectively describes its value as an educational tool. A good starting point would be to recognize, promote and actually begin using the term bandwork, which should be defined as “the cooperative effort by musicians to achieve an agreed upon sound.”

In short, at a time when competition for educational funding is becoming more intense, it is imperative for music education advocates to be more focused and strategic in promoting music’s ability to teach the types of skills necessary to succeed in the more collaborative workplace and culture of the future.

To date, my motivation to recognize and include “bandwork” in the dictionary has been exclusively about music advocacy. 

That has changed. It’s now personal.  

I was recently engaged in a heated game of Scrabble. The score was close and the game was nearing its end with only a handful of letters in the common pile remaining. I needed a good word. Looking at the letters in my hand and then at the board, it appeared, plain as day. I had the letters to spell it – Bandwork. And, it was worth 18 points! Add ‘em up: B for 3, A for 1, N for 1, D for 2, W for 4, O for 1, R for 1 and K for 5. Not only that, but it would have qualified for a triple word value. That’s a whopping 54 points! I would have easily won that game. 

But as anyone who has played Scrabble knows, if your word does not appear in the dictionary, you cannot use it. Go ahead and look it up. It’s not there. This, despite the fact that millions of people intrinsically understand what it means and have benefitted from exposure to it. 

So now the “Campaign for Bandwork” is no longer simply about music advocacy. 

It’s also about Scrabble. And now it’s personal.

If We Build It, They Will Come

March is “Music in the Schools Month”.

While it is wonderful to promote the importance of music in our schools in this way, it is merely a first step in the effort to focus the public’s attention on how critical music is to our schools’ curriculums and in the lives of students.

Despite nice declarations like this, the question remains: Why do we continue to underfund or cut music programs when the research is so clear regarding their positive educational, community building and economic impact?

The broad-brush answer is,

“Because we haven’t chosen to build it.”

To fully leverage music’s power and potential to educate and change lives, schools and communities, it is not enough to simply talk about it. We must follow our words and platitudes with deeds and funding.

The fact is, if education and community leaders identified music and arts programs as being critically important to schools and communities and funded them accordingly, the public would follow. 

In short, if we build it, they will come.

The research regarding music and the arts’ positive educational and community building impact is clear. Yet, despite that research, too often education and community leaders have yet to fully embrace it. If you don’t accept, embrace and apply the “tools” (research, data and narratives) regarding music and the arts’ positive impacts, you can’t build anything.

That said, the arts community must become more organized and aggressive in holding education and community leaders accountable for their priorities and funding decisions. Building music and arts interest groups is tedious organizational work. And once developed, these groups must no longer shy away from challenging the status quo to drive real change.

The good news, however, is that that work has been made easier through the power of social media with its’ capacity to forge connections and bring people together for a common cause. That,, coupled with the fact that the data, research and narratives supporting the value of the music as an educational, community building and economic tool offers potent fodder for powerful advocacy efforts.

The first step is to move beyond the traditional “arts for art’s sake” narrative. Yes, the arts are uplifting. Yes, the arts are a window into a society’s soul. But in an environment of increasing educational expectations and declining resources, the “arts for art’s sake” argument is no longer good enough.

Further, arts advocacy is no longer simply about education and community building benefits. There is also a very significant economic impact associated with investment in music and the arts. While the common perception of “artsy types” is that they are not comfortable talking about the economics of school and community funding, the fact is, decision makers must be held accountable for not only considering the educational and community building research, but also the emerging data pointing to music and the arts’ economic impact. As arts advocates, we must all become “Creative Capitalists”, unafraid to engage in the down and dirty justifications of economic impact.

Such a shift in approach is necessary because in many cases, those who are in decision making positions do not fully understand and appreciate the importance of “arts for art’s” sake but understand very well matters relating to business, economics and the concept of return on investment.

The educational return on investment in music and arts programs is significant and growing. This is particularly relevant given that the currency of the future in this rapidly changing, global community and world economy will be creativity. The issues and challenges we face as a society are becoming more complex. To effectively address those increasingly complex issues and challenges, we must develop on our populace, a corresponding increase in creativity. Further, many of the jobs of the future don’t even exist yet. That is why the number one skill business leaders are looking for in their employees is out of the box, creative thinking and problem solving. The research confirms that the most effective tool in our educational and community arsenal to nurture creativity is music and the arts. The arts instill that characteristic as they not only allow but encourage students to “color outside the lines” without penalty.

The priorities education and community leaders establish and the funding decisions they make have great influence. If those leaders clearly articulate and then follow through with funding decisions that support those priorities, the public will follow. If music and the arts are viewed as critical and funded accordingly, the public will begin to consider them important as well and, as a result, will support their funding. We expect our leaders to lead. But they must have the courage, vision and conviction to go where the data and research regarding music and the arts’ educational, community building and economic impact takes them.

At the end of the day, if we decide to build it, they will come. 

Giving Youth Sports Back to the Kids

It’s no secret there are significant problems in organized youth sports programs. Incidences of parents screaming at nine-year-old children over a missed basket or misplayed fly ball are commonplace. Youth league umpires and referees are regularly abused and even physically attacked. Brawls have erupted after youth league soccer matches. Obviously, something is wrong.

It’s the adults.

Youth sports programs are no longer about meeting the educational, developmental, health and recreational needs of children. They have become more about satisfying ego needs of adults. Adults have imposed their values and priorities regarding sports upon children’s games, from the organization of player drafts to the imposition of structure, organization and rules to a disproportionate emphasis on winning. Meanwhile children, more than anything, want to play sports, not to win, but to simply have fun and spend time with their friends. It is the adults who are destroying youth sports and it is time to give youth sports back to the kids.

But how will our children manage without adults supervising every aspect of their sports activities and experience?

Quite well, thank you.

Studies contrasting spontaneous youth play versus youth sport organized and run by adults indicate that children, if left to their own devices, will successfully organize, administer and manage their own games. They will choose sides and mediate disputes. They will set their own rules. In some cases, those rules may change from game to game. But they will be rules that work for them. Children will handicap their games to ensure that they are evenly matched, which makes them interesting and fun. Such organizational, mediation and interpersonal skills are valuable characteristics that children don’t truly get the opportunity to develop when adults dictate the rules and that they play the “adult”, supposedly “right” way.

A perfect example of the stark difference between “pick-up” kids’ games and adult run youth games is the common situation where there is one very superior athlete in a baseball game. In the adult organized game, the coach will have that child pitch.  The child proceeds to dominate the game, striking out most of the batters he or she faces, while the children playing in the field stand like statues, or, just as likely, pick dandelions in the outfield, waiting to field a ball that most likely won’t ever be hit, let alone hit to them.

By the end of the game, many players have never touched the ball. If left to their own devices, the children in the “pick-up” game will agree amongst themselves that the dominant player either not pitch or pitch with his or her opposite arm. In basketball, the dominant player may be allowed only a limited number of shots or may be required to shoot with his or her “off” hand.  

Children make adjustments in their games to ensure that the game will be interesting and fun, and thus, continue. Their purpose in getting together to play is to have fun. If the game is not fun, children will quit playing. And if enough quit, the game will end. That being the case, they must work to make the game interesting and fun so everyone will want to continue to play. Without adult enforced structure, dictates, rules and expectations, there is nothing holding the game together other than the kids wanting to play it.  In short, the game would cease to exist if it were not fun. You can’t blame them as “play” is supposed to be fun. In youth leagues organized by adults, the adult imposed goal of winning and dictating that the game be played the “right” way (as defined by adults) overshadows the goal of maximizing fun and participation.

Another significant difference between these two types of games is the way in which the outcome is treated. In adult organized games, the result of the contest is recorded as a win or a loss, regardless of the closeness of the game or the performances of the individuals involved. Further, standing are kept and trophies are awarded. In the pick-up game, while the result may be discussed on the walk home, it is usually considered insignificant and quickly forgotten as children focus more on the most exciting plays and the fun they had. Clearly, children have their priorities straight regarding sports as it is the process (participation, learning and having fun) rather than the end result (winning) that is most important.

How do we restructure youth sports programs to give the games back to the kids?

“De-organize” them.

In such a system, only a relatively small portion of the activities (say 25 – 30 percent) would be devoted to fundamental skill instruction. The remaining time should be turned over to the kids for them to play pick-up games…with no parental or adult involvement! Other than a safety official, adults should not be permitted to coach or instruct. And, if you want to take this concept to the next level, adults and parents wouldn’t even be allowed to watch. Get them out of the gym, field or facility. Let the kids play on their terms for themselves. The real joy of youth sports comes from playing with friends, far from the critiquing of adults.  The adults should just leave the kids alone. Let them pick their own teams, make their own rules and mediate their own disputes. The only rule they should abide by is that everyone plays.

In other words, to make the games “about the kids”, activities should resemble pick-up games. Provide a safe playing environment but let them manage their own games. As a result, they will have the space and opportunity to actually develop the personal skills – organizational, conflict resolution, leadership, personal responsibility, mediation and management – that we claim that sports participation teaches. While adults may cringe at denying their children their “expert” coaching talents, the fact is, children’s interpersonal, leadership and decision-making skills will develop more if they are left to manage their own games. Without adult supervision, the games will be closer, more interesting and most important, more fun for the kids. And don’t we adults always claim that youth sports are “about the kids”? Maybe it’s time to stop paying lip service to that concept and get the adults out of youth sports. Maybe it’s time to let the kids have their games back.

A Stage Name? Why Not Dance A Bit More?

I gently kicked the vintage, boxy suitcase that was on the floor between me and a group of 15 second graders. The suitcase literally vibrated with all types of rattling, clanging and ringing sounds.

“You want to see what’s in there?”, I asked.

They erupted, “Yes!”

I opened the suitcase to reveal more than 20 percussion instruments of various sizes, makes, functions and models. In a frenzy, they began to reach for them.

“Woah! Wait a second”, I instructed. “If you want to play one of those, you have to do something first.”

“What?”, they asked in unison.

“You need to think up a stage name. This is a music class and one of the best things about playing music is that you can make up a new name for yourself. You can have your regular name and you can have your music name. I have one”, I revealed. “My real name is John. But when I play music, I’m Willie Marble. It’s cool to have a stage name. It’s lots of fun.”

One of the best things about teaching second graders is that they believe just about anything you tell them. And they are game to try just about anything.

Some may consider it a bit silly or foolish for a 60 year-old man to have a make believe name and persona. But there is a long history of musicians with stage names. Muddy Waters’ real name was McKinley Morganfield. Howlin’ Wolf’s was Chester Burnett. And that’s simply a start. Jay Z’s real name is Shawn Carter, Stephanie Germanotta is Lady Gaga and Dana Owens’s stage name is Queen Latifah.

Not to be outdone, the names these kids came up with were priceless: Lion Slayer, Crazy Bone, Lightning Bolt, Jeffrey McMoe, Funky Nose, Princess Cotton Candy, Howlin’ Hound Dog and Ruby Jewels to name only a few. And stage names are for adults as well. The three background singers in my current band each has a stage name, Queen Victoria, Honey Bee and Jackie Thunder. Together they comprise the “World Famous Marblettes”.

Having a second name and identity allows a certain amount of freedom to step outside yourself. For performers, that can be an advantage. One of the most important characteristics of music and art is that it allows for the individual to “color outside the lines” without being unduly penalized or chastised. It allows you the extra space to stretch your imagination, vision and sense of self. A stage name and alternative persona allows you to be a bit silly, act a bit foolish and stretch and test the boundaries of creativity. That’s one of the reasons why music is the most effective tool in our educational arsenal to teach out-of-the-box, creative thinking.

And while that is all great and valuable, the fact is, it’s also just plain fun. And if you can’t have fun playing music, what’s the point? As Margaret Renkl recently wrote in the NY Times, “A person who is not afraid of looking like a fool gets to do a lot more dancing.”

Having a stage name and alternative identity can be lots of fun. Although, as a general rule, if you begin to assume four or five alter egos or identities, you might want to seek some professional help.

But one or two? Why not take the opportunity to dance a bit more?