Jump to content

Bluecoats Adopts Anti-Racism Policy


Recommended Posts

At the core of the Bluecoats Experience is the knowledge that performing arts education programming enriches the lives of young people, and that the Arts improves societies and brings joy to those who consume it. As our programming works to create the Bluecoats Experience, and enrich the lives of our participants and fans, we must […]

View the full article

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

An important and exciting step for the Bluecoats.  Now comes the hard part - introspection on questions like why the Bluecoats and drum corps in general doesn't reflect the diversity of the greater community; what would need to happen for the the pathway to the Bluecoats Experience to be truly accessible to students from underserved and less-resourced communities; how do we select students, what are the standards we use, and are we willing to adopt measures that level the playing field even if they require us to redefine organizational success; are we striving for equal or equitable treatment of all members of the Bluecoats family?  When it starts to hurt you personally...when you start to recoil a bit because you see that the changes that are needed will fundamentally change some of the things you love about the Bluecoats...that's when you know you're doing the deep work.  Many organizations that start down this path don't have the intestinal fortitude to stay with it until they get to real shifts in thinking and values that result in real changes that lead to real inclusion.  I'm excited and a bit scared for the Bluecoats.  They've really put themselves out there, and done right, this will be a huge undertaking.  It's clear they intend this work to be much deeper and more meaningful than just a policy and statement.  I'll be cheering them on.  

Edited by LoveKathyG
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, LoveKathyG said:

Now comes the hard part - introspection on questions like why the Bluecoats and drum corps in general doesn't reflect the diversity of the greater community;

It is not that hard.

Drum corps reflect the constituencies from which they recruit.

Once upon a time, drum corps recruited locally, and they reflected the composition of their local communities.  But not anymore.  Not even the pandemic will cause a return to more local membership.

Today, DCI drum corps recruit almost entirely from the membership/alumni of highly competitive USA marching bands.  That focus only narrows among top corps, who increasingly utilize the subset of such young adults who have further experience with other corps.  Since those are the people with the opportunities, talent, and work ethic to excel, you cannot have a top corps without them.

If you want top corps to "reflect the diversity of the greater community", you need the arena of highly competitive marching bands to reflect the diversity of the greater community.  How do you do that when those bands are overwhelmingly from affluent suburbs, and we institutionalize that profile by continually making these activities more and more expensive?

Introspection is not hard.  Action is the hard part.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven’t been over here for a while but lo and behold, I come over and see this.

I was a volunteer for DCM championships for a few years and one of the joys of my volunteer work for them, was seeing the Joliet Kingsmen every year.  A small corps from East Joliet.  A corps that I believe truly saved lives.  It warmed my heart see to see the faces of those kids when they’d perform and then later, watch the “big corps”.    What a wonderful experience for them.

Then, what wasn’t so heartwarming, was watching them crushed under the wheels of the DCI money-making machine when they absorbed DCM and performance opportunities were gone for them and other groups like them.  I ranted about this on RAMD decades ago and it fell upon deaf ears.  No surprise there.

Actions speak louder than press releases.  I’ve distanced myself from the activity since the Covid pandemic.   I’ve had time to think about what’s really important and after reading, yet again, about more abuses of members, I don’t know if I have the stomach for this anymore.

BTW, Roman.  If you’re reading this....I let those Kingsmen parents in for free at my gate.  Bwahaha 

I’m done. Carry on. 

Edited by Terri Schehr
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 2
  • Haha 1
  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

 

BTW, Roman.  If you’re reading this....I let those Kingsmen parents in for free at my gate.  Bwahaha 

 

👍LOVE IT!!

  • Like 2
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...