Why American Classical Music Has Stayed White (Pangyrus)

Dvorak’s Prophecy: And the Vexing Fate of Black Classical Music by Joseph Horowitz (W.W. Norton & Company, 2022) is a clarion call to action for classical musicians in America. Horowitz calls us to take hold of our true musical history — including jazz, blues, ragtime, and the spirituals rooted in the sorrow songs of slavery — all essentially Black music that originated in America. This is not only the truest origin of American classical music; it’s what Antonin Dvorak, the world-renowned Czech composer who came to the U.S. in 1892, prophesied. He said that “a great and noble school” of American classical music would be founded on Black music.

“Video Games Offered My Son a Haven From Bullying” (Wired)

My husband and I weren’t sure what started the bullying. Our son’s ADHD? Being adopted? Was it because he’d stood up to the bully who called his Black friend a “slave” and demanded he carry his cello? Our son had faced racism early—when a drunk white guy demanded his tiny 6-year-old sister return to China, where we’d adopted her. Luke stood up for her too. Whatever caused the bullying, what matters most was how he finally conquered it.

“Mach One” (Silver Birch Press)

My brother was teaching me to drive a stick. There were plenty of dirt roads in Cheyenne, and it wasn’t hard to find one that went uphill. I just couldn’t move my left foot from the brake to the clutch fast enough to get it in gear before rolling back down the hill.

“Okay, let’s try her again.”

Content © Linda K. Cutting 2020 | Background photo: Unsplash | Site design: Minh-Anh Day

“Give and Take” (The New York Times)

My parents’ most recent gift to me was underwear. High-cut lace bikinis in hot pink, ivory, black and blue. An unusual gift in normal families. Not so unusual where incest occurs.

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