The Staff Merry-go-round

[kdaddy]

43 minutes ago, contraguard05 said:

Reading the original post before it was taken down and the three subsequent posts, I don't think you can interpret it as anything other than they have parted ways.

Yes, parted ways. But parted ways as a result of the post - that was my question.

[kdaddy]

Pity party? Haha

Let's be more self-righteous on a drum corps message board.

[Grandpa Joe]

6 hours ago, kdaddy said:

Pity party? Haha

Let's be more self-righteous on a drum corps message board.

They're literally throwing themself a pity party by posting that thhey blocked Blue Knights on social media. There was no need for it. I block people all the time but I don't post about it. They're asking for pity, and the comments prove that they're getting what they want out of the posts. Agree to disagree, I guess.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Grandpa Joe
Fixed pronouns, was unaware.

[BlueStainGlass]

If you people could atleast use they/them since you had to go to their Facebook page to see the post you know that's the preferred wording. 

[Grandpa Joe]

4 minutes ago, BlueStainGlass said:

If you people could atleast use they/them since you had to go to their Facebook page to see the post you know that's the preferred wording. 

I didn't see that, because I didn't go looking for that. I'll fix the pronouns in my posts. 

Done.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Grandpa Joe

[scheherazadesghost]

There is no right way to raise concerns about nonbinary inclusion/belonging in drum corps, not unlike those regarding plenty of other marginalized/vulnerable groups. I simply don't see representation in leadership at all across the board, and would relish being proven wrong. Some of the reports on my list deal with this exact problem.

Sometimes making a stink publicly is the only way, like it or not, and these folks have to be willing to sacrifice job security to make their voices heard if they want to push for change.

It. Really. Sucks.

[fighterkit]

Keith Tye out at Cavaliers

[contraguard05]

7 minutes ago, fighterkit said:

Keith Tye out at Cavaliers

Kuhn is the only instructional/creative staff member I see on the website.

[Grandpa Joe]

14 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

There is no right way to raise concerns about nonbinary inclusion/belonging in drum corps, not unlike those regarding plenty of other marginalized/vulnerable groups. I simply don't see representation in leadership at all across the board, and would relish being proven wrong. Some of the reports on my list deal with this exact problem.

Sometimes making a stink publicly is the only way, like it or not, and these folks have to be willing to sacrifice job security to make their voices heard if they want to push for change.

It. Really. Sucks.

I don't think it was about nonbinary inclusion, because the word "racist" was used. However, that said, the behavior that was on display was/is absolutely toxic no matter how you look at it. It's just not the way to approach the topic/discussion. There were people of color on panels all season long. They're not the majority, but there are reasons behind that. The fact is the activity, while inclusive, is also exclusive. The majority of people of color in this country cannot afford luxuries, which let's face it, the marching arts are a luxury. That is fact. It's not needed to survive. How can we expect to have more diversity on the field, let alone on the panel, when the activity isn't accessible for all walks of life?

I teach at a rural school, where the medium income for a family of 4 is below $20,000. I see kids walk away from the arts because their families can't afford it, which is why we don't do extravagant shows, so we can keep show costs down as much as possible. We charge a fee of $250, which can be fundraised, and more times than not is how the majority of our kids pay for their fees. We have kids of all walks of life, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. The majority of these kids will go on to have careers outside of the marching arts. Why? Because the likelihood of making a livable wage in the arts isn't high. 

My point is, there are so many variables when it comes to the inclusiveness in drum corps and the marching arts as a whole, that we can't narrow it down to just nonbinary or certain ethnicities not being welcome or represented in the activity.

And with that, I will bow out from this topic at hand, because I know someone is going to have something to negative to say.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Grandpa Joe

[Zeke]

1 minute ago, contraguard05 said:

Kuhn is the only instructional/creative staff member I see on the website.

Oh wow I didn't know Kuhn still worked over there. I Remember it was Campbell/Kuhn for many a year.