This year, as a 60-turning-61 white man, I am going to highlight African Americans that have had some kind of influence in my life. Some are famous, some are friends, and others are just people. #blackhistorymonth
February 16th - Lovie Smith
Ms. Smith was a percussion instructor at HSPVA, and a backup conductor for the classical groups, like the Symphony, and the Wind Ensembles. She was an amazing player. As a teacher, she did not take any guff from the students, whether they were percussionists or not. Unfortunately, I was an arrogant, immature clown at times, and I treated her poorly.
One time, we were moving stuff around, I accidentally knocked a snare drum on a stand over, and it fell to the ground. She said, “Watch what you are doing!” I responded, “Well, it’s paid for!”
What an asshole I was.
She came over to me and looked up at me, and said, “You need to respect all the instruments in this building, from the cheapest cowbell, to the most expensive bassoon or string bass or piano. Every instrument deserves care and respect. You don’t seem to have any,” and turned and walked away.
My last semester senior year, I found myself playing bassoon in symphony. I was not a bassoonist. I also was a cutup, and was talking and joking with the people around me while she rehearsed with the violins. At one point, she stopped, and said, “Hey! Shape up! If I were you, I would worry about those passages where you still need to look up what the fingerings are instead of wasting everybody’s time.”
Looking back now at my childhood, I can see my own racism and misogyny. I always had problems dealing with authority, but a lot of my worst behavior was towards black women, Ms. Smith included. Now, I am as careful as I know how to be when interacting with women professionally, especially Black women. I hope I am better now.
And, Lovie Smith, I know you will probably never read this, and you probably did not let a smart-aleck kid in high school get under your skin, but I would like to say: I’m sorry.
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