Increased T.V. coverage, movie deals, and overall great press has been a blessing that all HBCU band programs have had the good fortune in reveling in over the past year and a half. This is the type of exposure that folks have been yearning to see for years. We’ve even had our time to shine on the silver screen, which will no doubt open younger minds to the possibilities of band and the excellence associated with Historically Black Colleges & Universities. Isn’t this what we’ve wanted from the start?
Absolutely….
The great majority of our programs and institutions of higher learning are thriving because of the publicity our bandsmen have been enjoying. However, the general media has not been the primary vein of sustenance for our trade for the past decade or so. The Information “Super Highway” (i.e. the World Wide Web, a.k.a. The Internet) is a step forward in technology that everybody in our global society has grown to view as an essential part of our daily lives. There are no corporations that don’t have an element out there on the web for growth. Students obtain readily available information on everything from throwback jerseys to cliff notes with startling quickness and accuracy. Billions and Billions of dollars travel world wide via the “web”. Frankly, the internet has saturated every crevice of our working and recreational lives.
The world of Black College Marching Band is no exception…
The internet has triggered a renaissance among our programs, as well as providing a medium for us to showcase our wares to the rest of the public. When the conference big wigs and networks like Black Entertainment Television weren’t there for our craft. The folks that had vision enough to utilize this medium were. These weren’t just folks that are out to make a buck, either. In most cases, they were former bandsmen that decided that they wouldn’t sit back and let the tradition and pageantry of what we do go by the wayside. Folks like Christy Walker and Mike Lee; folks like the moderators and patrons that frequent this site, as well as others out there in cyberspace. In filling the void left when the “mainstream” media outlets didn’t give us the time of day, folks that explored this realm completely revolutionized the way we view Black Colleges and music programs in general. All the information that high school students had to do and incredulous amount of footwork for was now available at the click of a mouse button.
The recruiting and scouting process for staffs and directors also evolved with the times. Instead of having to expend funds traveling to a region to effectively recruit (i.e. via exhibitions, BOTB’s , etc.) , kids could now effectively cut that footwork in half for both the program, and the student interested in attending. Many programs that had regional reputations now had national ones, and the talent pool has expanded to entire United States because of it. In a way, this medium has leveled the playing field for many programs and has given our rivalries back that spark that may have been dimmed or extinguished. Ultimately, parity has been a direct by-product of our spread to the Web, and all HBCU band and university programs have benefited from this evolution.
It’s funny, but there are some directors, some school administrations, some conference officials that think our presence on the web is a joke. There are even some folks in authority that think that our coverage of “The Craft” is somehow taking away from the “shine”, or profit that HBCU programs are benefiting from these days. There are directors out there that would be happy to see folks that film in the stands gone. There are people in authority out there that think that our presence here in cyberspace is more of a detriment than an asset.
If you’re a director and this is your frame of thinking, you’re putting your anger in the wrong place.
Take a look inside your band room; Take a look at your upperclassmen; Take a look at the incoming freshmen and their talent level. Odds are your program has reaped the benefits of our exposure on the web and you don’t even realize it.
We aren’t the enemy, and we’ll continue to do the jobs that we’ve pledged to the band community to do. Many programs have realized that Marching Band and Black College football are a package deal. We all benefit from the exposure.
The sooner we all realize that, the better off our craft, and our institutions, will be.
I’m Crazylegs, and I’ve said my piece.