MMEA Statement RE: Watertown/A Mother of a Revolution

In light of recent events, the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) vehemently supports the fostering of inclusive music-making opportunities, curricula, and professional development experiences that celebrate individual exceptionalities, identities, orientations, and cultural backgrounds of all students, families, directors, and communities. As such, MMEA would like to express our insistent support for the Watertown High School Band Program (Wisconsin) in their efforts to perform the piece, “A Mother of a Revolution!” by Omar Thomas. Electing to program music that reflects an important civil rights event in American history and by an accomplished living, American composer, enables students to see themselves reflected within the curriculum and develops greater compassion for members of our broader society. 

We are disheartened to hear that the Watertown Unified School District Board of Education is in conflict with our colleague, Reid LaDew (band director) for his efforts in championing a variety of voices and lived experiences for his students. We must attest that a well-rounded music education explores the music of diverse composers, communities, and significant historic events as a means of helping our students to gain deeper and broader perspectives. The arts do not live in a vacuum; they carry our collective narrative as a society, which is one of the main goals of this composition. 

Educators work in collaboration with their teams and administrators to make sound curricular decisions that are in the best interest of their students, fall within local and state guidelines, and reflect the communities they serve. While it is reasonable to consider where the lines of activism and personal expression fall within the classroom, Mr. LaDew followed protocols for his district. We want to let it be known that the Massachusetts Music Educators Association supports the Watertown High School Band’s decision to program and perform “A Mother of a Revolution!” in order to foster such empathy and cultural awareness. 

MMEA unequivocally supports educators who work everyday to enrich the lives of their students and cultivate an environment that values compassion for others. We are enormously grateful for the work of Omar Thomas who is highlighting the American experience through his artistic expression and creating a vehicle for understanding through his compositions. 

We encourage the Watertown Unified School District Board of Education to seek out guidance from experts who work in the area of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access and to develop protocols that will authentically support - not restrict - its community’s voices and learning. We know that systemic change is challenging and will not take place overnight and we support efforts that prioritize progress and move our schools and organizations towards more fully representing the communities that we serve.

It is our hope that through this experience, communities will remain reflective, open-minded, collaborative, and ever so compassionate as we aim to provide our students opportunities that will only enable them to become positive agents of change for our society and for many years to come. 

~The Massachusetts Music Educators Association