The Morgan State University Marching Band playing the Stars and Stripes Forever by John Phillip Sousa at the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France. Morgan State is the first HBCU band to be invited to perform at this annual ceremony and parade. The band performed in the 2019 Macy's parade and I saw them live at the collegiate marching band festival in Allentown in 2018.
Stars and Stripes is the official national march of the United States of America. Included below is another chart from the performance, Talkin Out the Side of Your Neck by Cameo, which is a popular HBCU staple.
This one is being resurrected BECAUSE it is marching band season and I am a simple gal. So my goal is to have this stay a long one shot and FINALLY get it fleshed out enough to post! So here's nine sentences! 🥁🎺
The thing is… The thing is Mr. Luna doesn’t know that Henry hates him right back, for no apparent reason.
He remembers the euphoria a few short months ago when he’d been selected as a drum major against all odds – as much of a surprise as when he’d been announced as section leader when he was a measly sophomore thanks to the upperclassmen’s tendencies to get into literal fistfights over who would get which solo. He’d beamed and received congratulations from a majority of the band, but after school, he’d overheard Henry Fox and Pez Okonjo (AKA the English delegation) in one of the practice rooms. Henry bemoaned the fact that this was ‘the worst possible outcome’ and ‘he’d have to look at Alex all the time’ and Pez had snorted and told him to get over himself before getting back to practicing.
Not to mention Henry's mysterious absence from last year’s mandatory leadership camp without consequence. That pissed a metric shit ton of people off, not just Alex.
“If that’s too difficult for you to muster, I’ll add to Ms. Bankston’s long list of responsibilities and have her be your own personal leadership mentor. To avoid any confusion, I’ll make it explicitly clear that it was due to your decision to not play nice.”
Alex’s eyes fly wide open and he squeaks, “Y’know, Henry’s great!"
Tagging @sherryvalli @orchidscript and @myheartalivewrites!
Experience the transformative journey of music-infused education. Beyond its own realm, music bridges subjects, infusing math, science, and literature with its magic and providing a holistic educational tapestry. Embrace the symphony of learning as we at TSMAC interweave music education, creating an environment where engagement and creativity thrive hand in hand. Let’s empower our students with the symphony of knowledge and inspiration they truly deserve.
Hi. Your tags on the performing arts as a kid survey made me chuckle. Color guard is definitely on the American pep squad nonsense spectrum. Color guard marches on the field with the rest of the band, spinning colored flags to the music. Some of them also spin these big, hard wooden rifles. Majorettes are baton twirlers who are also part of the color guard. If you ever do a YouTube search for HBCU matching bands, you will get a good example of the whole spectrum of color guards marching and performing on the field during football game halftimes. Well-funded high schools with a decent budget for marching band will have a color guard, but many smaller high schools do not. So, there is some unnecessary information today! Have a good day.
Every time I find out a new thing about US high schools I think that it can't possibly get any more alien to me. Then I learn they teach people how to twirl wooden rifles and I am reminded that my imagination is a limited, paltry thing.
Flags I kinda get, although I still think it's bizarre (are kids in US schools allowed to not be in a team? Are they allowed to just do the school bit of school? Are they allowed to simply exist and then go home at home time?). Flags are pretty. Wooden rifles is so...
I'm not saying that training children in some weird facsimile of militaristic pride might come across as a bit brainwashy. But... you have children march around a field with fake guns? I can't help but find that a little disturbing.
Is that just me?
It probably looks really impressive and involves a lot of skill. I'll have a look for some videos when I get a moment. The concept itself is fucking wild to me though.
I never understood why ppl associate mcr with marching bands bc I grew up in the south and when I heard the black parade I was like. okay but why does this give absolutely nothing. an hbcu during rehearsal sounds better than that