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take3: Stop and Enjoy the Music

Posted in Sounds

I know it seems cliché to start off with a cliché but I couldn’t help myself.

Music is everywhere.

And it’s beautiful enough to make me be late.

It was another hot day, I was wearing all black and my crankiness was rising with the humidity level. I was supposed to pick my little brother up to take him to a friend’s house so I was rushing to get to Five Points Marta station after my all my classes had ended.  I was only a couple hundred feet away from the entrance when I heard piano keys being played. It was like twinkling, the kind you can hear when a light-hearted melody. I wanted to hear more, so in a matter of seconds, I threw caution to the wind (not really, but I decided that being late would be worth it).

I crossed the street and sat in the blazing sun for a good three minute just enjoying the music these two strangers were sharing with the pedestrians of downtown Atlanta. And then I thought of how wonderful it would be to share what I heard on the street with everyone else via the internet. I was worried that the background noise would take away from the experience, but listening to it again, the sound of the streets really added to the whole experience. So I sat in the blazing heat and humidity to record a snippet of my experience.

I was sticky, sweaty and cranky, but I did it for the blog.


I will now describe these two men. Albeit it’s been a whole day since this encounter but I will try to procure the most prominent details.

The first man who performed was a tall, thin light-skinned Black male, with a couple upper front teeth missing, and visible smile wrinkles. He wore a white shirt with printed green and black patterns, white Nikes that were starting to turn grey (Kaishi, possibly?) and a grey backpack.

The second man was a dark-skinned Black male, with similar height but a bigger build. He wore a snapback, black T-shirt and boat shoes. He also had a red cloth hanging out from his jeans pocket.

Had there not been a piano, had there not been a impromptu performance, had there not been pure smiles on these two men’s faces, what would we have thought if we’d passed them on the street?

It wouldn’t be likely for me to just quietly sit and listen to a stranger or even make eye contact (because I’m very anti-social and I don’t like putting myself out there), but I did. It’s kind of amazing how something simple like a piano could bring together three people.

Did it ever occur to anyone that all some people need are the right tools and they can succeed? I wonder if people are aware and because they know this, they’ll purposely make it harder to gain access to those tools/resource. People end up trying to survive with what little they have and when things turn for the worst, we turn to our vices. So when we don’t give people a chance, become quick to judge and force others to live by any means necessary, it’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy

Now where have you heard that before?

Here: search “the school-to-prison pipeline”

And here’s a list of similar things you can search/read:

  1. chicago public school conditions
  2. http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/architectural-exclusion
  3. http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/where-school-dollars-go-to-waste/384949/

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