001to hear from what I ask is you do just like you did as soon as I said good morning and you notice the social cues everybody started looking at me and everybody settled down and was quiet Nick will you Circle back around with that student when what I'm going to ask you to do is take your cell phones put them on silent put them on vibrate put them away you've only got 40 minutes till the end of the day today that puts our speaker in a rough position to be the only person standing between the end of a long of a a half day and a soon to be long weekend I expect the same things that you would do for any other presentation or teacher or adult that's speaking to you in terms of
002not talking giving your full attention staying off your phone there will certainly be an opportunity for questions and answers that's going to come later on the presentation but I will turn it over to is it who's starting Ava yes all right to Ava to introduce Ava all you [Applause] the BHS student government is excited to welcome musician author and teacher Brendan slokom to Brookfield High School Mr slokom is raised in fville North Carolina and holds a degree in music education with concentrations in violin and Viola from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for more than 20 years he has been a public and private school music educator and has performed with orchestras throughout Northern Virginia Maryland and Washington DC his first novel The Violent conspiracy was published in 2022 by anchor books his second
003novel Symphony Of Secrets was published in 2023 also by anchor books he is currently working on his third novel on behalf of the entire BHS Community we would like to welcome Mr slum we also would like to thank the berkfield Education Foundation for the generous grant that has allowed Mr slum to visit with us today we would also like to thank the berkfield public library for partnering with us to provide BHS students with this unique opportunity please welcome Mr Brandon slom morning everybody morning today is your diversity day as I'm looking around don't see a great deal of diversity but that is not necessarily a bad thing it's just what it is it's just very different um when I was growing up I started playing violin at the age of nine I was in fifth
004grade I started playing and uh um there were not a whole lot of people who looked like me playing the violin so as you can imagine it was a bit rough you get called every name in the book people look at you like you're constantly walking around with something stolen they're wondering why you have that how can you afford that that's not for you you should do something that you're going to be good at I would hear that all the time music was actually my way of succeeding when I say my way of succeeding it took me to college I got to fly for the first time because of my violin and music I got to go overseas for the first time because of my violin and music I got to meet and play with
005Stevie Wonder because of my violin in music when I was um in college people would look at me and just automatically assume the only reason I got into the school is because I was black not because I was a good player not because I worked my butt off to be able to play as well as everybody else how did that make me feel how do you imagine it made me feel yeah it's a bad feel feeling for someone to automatically assume that you were this or that just based on your appearance so as I'm going through life people would constantly say to me yeah why do you do that you're not good at this you can't do that that's not for you all the time I've played at weddings where I was not wanted at
006the church because of the way that I looked this is not for you this is not what I paid for you can't play this kind of music I have sat in churches to play and the director takes one look at me he automatically assumes that I'm not going to be good and he finds someone to help me with the part but I played handles Messiah about 200 times since I was in high school and the person that helps me I usually end up helping them because I've played it so many times and I can tell them what they need to do better I have walked into buildings to conduct I'm also a conductor I walked into buildings to conduct students District orchestras Regional orchestras true story I walked into a room one once with a
007group that looked pretty much like this one I walk in the garbage is over there you can take it out that's what I was told okay well all right I've been walking down the hall at schools that I've taught in and one little girl said to me are you one of the cleaning people said no sweethart I'm going to teach your class go away I have been in stores people look at me like you know they I I need help hey can you help me find something and they will just look at me like he's not going to buy anything he's probably going to steal something let's watch him very carefully it happens and it sucks when it happens but I have a choice I can be a victim I can be a victim or
008I can make lemonade out of lemons that I've been handed and I choose not to be a victim and music has actually helped me tremendously with all of this if I did not have my music I probably would not have graduated from high school I would probably be in prison a lot of the kids that I ran around with with when I was younger a lot of them are in jail right now and some of them are unfortunately dead but I had music to sustain me to give me purpose give me something to do even if it was the violin and people are constantly telling me you can't do that that's not for you you're not a violinist that's for white people but I actually made it work for myself now when we talk about
009diversity is is it a bad thing that you have a lack of diversity yes or no who says yes that's a bad thing raise your hand if you have a lack of diversity is it a bad thing how many of you think it's not necessarily bad it's just what it is all right I'm going to tend to agree with that it's not NE it's not you know it's not your fault that you live where you live or you go to school where you go to school it's not necessarily a bad thing it's just what it is but I can tell you one of the best ways to learn about other people other cultures well first culture if you are a certain color does that mean that you have a certain culture culture is learned you
010learn culture so it always drives me nuts when people use the term cultural appropriation y'all know what that means for those of you that don't know what it means cultural appropriation is when people get accused of trying to hijack someone else's culture like one example would be a white person wearing cornrows in their hair you can't do that because you're white if you grew up around around people that wore cornrows all the time why wouldn't that be your culture culture is learned if you guys don't take anything from today's speech know that culture is learned what is culture culture is learned you're not born with a culture you don't inherit it it's totally learned how do we best dispense sell stereotypes what's the best way to do that the best way to do it is
011to ask questions yeah exactly how many of you are afraid or embarrassed or uncomfortable to ask a question about another race or another culture that you don't know how many of you is it uncomfortable so everybody else in here you talk guys are totally cool with asking about do black people do this do Mexican people do this do Asian people do this y'all are comfortable with that I don't know so when you are [Music] experiencing when you're going through your own life's experiences it's not good it's not bad it's just different for me honestly I can tell tell you I've had some very very harrowing experiences I've had some of those stereotypical experiences where you only see stuff like this on TV something tells me that you guys have not had some of the experiences
012that I have I've been driving down the road I live in Washington DC and I made a turn without putting on my signal six cops six pulled me over why did I get pulled over oh well you didn't put on your signal it takes six cops to do that well we didn't know if you were dangerous or not okay well why would I be dangerous well okay I get it in 2000 I was actually driving in Baton Rouge Louisiana I had a brand new black Honda Accord this was preg GPS yes my shoes are dope I know you should check out my sock game it's really [Music] [Applause] strong that's another stereotype why do black people always look good no so I'm driving down the street and uh I'm in Baton Rouge Louisiana and I'm
013driving down the street in a brand new Honda Accord black car it is the year 2000 this is pre- smartphones preg GPS I had to use a road map and I'm in the Deep South you guys know anything about the Deep South okay well some people might consider some people who live in the Deep South they might consider them a a bit racist just because I don't know so I'm driving my hotel is on this side of the road I'm in the far right lane I put on my signal I turn lights and Sirens I have a friend in the car who happens to be white we're taking a road trip I get pulled over the cop is on his bullhorn with his gun drawn get out of the car driver walk backwards put your
014hands up get on your hands and knees with a gun pointed at my head I'm thinking well this is it you know I had a good uh 30 years or whatever so here we go and then he says to me okay you can leave what was that about oh well you made an illegal Lane change you had your gun drawn on me for an illegal Lane change seriously and my white friend in the car didn't have to move what was that about you might just want to go ahead and leave okay it happens it happens to me do I hate cops no cops protect us we need police just happened to be some jerk of a cop who probably like I don't know maybe he was having a bad day I don't know what does
015any of this have to do with diversity it's my experience my experience is going to be completely different than yours it's not better it's not worse it's just different and one of the best ways for you guys to understand is to ask the questions I'm sure there's so many questions that you guys have about people who don't look like you and I'm telling you it is totally okay to ask the questions as long as they are respectful if you honestly want to know you should ask and don't be embarrassed or don't be afraid to ask those questions that's how we learn am I right how many of you actually have a question but you might be a bit embarrassed to ask it any brave souls you got a question come here come here come here
016D come [Applause] here um I was just going to ask what inspired you to be a violinist honestly what are you a musician okay um honestly the inspiration for me to play violin was to get out of class twice a week that's why I did it and I just happen to be because I hated school I hated math I hated everything and any opportunity I could have to get out I did which is funny because I ended up being a teacher but yeah I just wanted to get out of class but I'm I was good at it I was really good at it I was first chair in my College orchestra how old were you when you met Stevie Wonder I was in my 40s yeah I'm significantly older now you don't look that old
017yeah I know okay you can sit down thanks dude okay dude were you afraid to come up and ask that no not really no I just wanted to ask why' you want to ask um I don't know I was just interested I just want to know why keep it real dude keep it real I don't know I just I just wanted to I guess it was like kind of just like your story and then I just wanted to know like how your story started yeah it was really just to get out of class and I I I had a lot of people to help me um you know CU it was tough it was tough being one a violinist CU it's tough two being a Black Violin is because no one takes you seriously you
018know and I had to work three times as hard as everybody else I mean I wrote a book wrote a couple of books but the violin conspiracy it it details a lot of this stuff so if you haven't read it I suggest you read it it'll give you a really interesting perspective um but yeah it was it was it was tough I had to I had a lot of encouragement and I really appreciate those who encouraged me to keep going you know when I would get passed over for a playing job because of the way I looked you know they would take one look at me and say no he's he can't do this so it sucked it sucked a lot and I worked three times as hard as everybody else but you know it
019was their loss and then I would go someplace else and play and it would be oh wow we should have got him you know or sometimes people will see my name it doesn't sound like the typical black person name you know sometimes I don't I don't know that I necessarily sound like a stereotypical black person so when I speak to people on the phone they have an assumption and then when they meet me in person they're like shocked there any black teachers at this school one just curious just curious hey question yes guys I got to congratulate you on being very very quiet and [Applause] respectful I really appreciate your focus and you guys paying attention all right we have a really tall kid who has a question okay so you know so you know
020you talking about them corn rolls cultural appro you know just you know one your opinion on white people say all right okay okay okay okay okay okay okay I think that's a legitimate question but before I give you okay you guys might want to listen to this focus focus focus before I give you my opinion I'm curious to hear what your opinion is because you're half black half white yeah okay what's your opinion I think n you think not what they can't be saying that do you think anyone should be saying oh yeah why I mean we chilling now like I mean can you hold us they they was you know using it against us so now now now it's SS you know what I'm saying them white people what you need you know so
021my personal opinion my my my perspective is going to be slightly different from yours because you're black and white and I'm just black personally I think it is just just me this I'm not speaking for all black people I think it is one of the dumbest things in the world to say you can't say something you can't say something I think it's [Applause] dumb however there is a caveat personally I think it's not very I don't think it's I don't think it's wise to tell anyone they can or cannot say anything however if someone is using that term in order to make me feel bad or to hurt me that's one thing but if someone uses it as a term of endearment who cares where it comes from who cares I have white friends who
022say it all the time I'm not saying I'm not saying that they should I'm not saying that they should and I'm not recommending that they do but you know it is what it is and because they're talking to me are we focused and because they're talking to me I know that they don't mean it in a derogatory fashion but you know I don't recommend anybody saying it I don't recommend anybody saying anything hateful to anyone else ever doesn't matter what the word is but at the same well yeah you can clap for that the bottom line is treat people the way you want to be treated that's that's the moral of the story if you want to be treated with respect then you should treat people with respect regardless of color or you know skin
023tone it doesn't matter haircut accent it doesn't [Applause] matter and that was an uncomfortable question to ask so I had give it to you dude that was that was pretty brave of you to ask so does anyone else have uh any questions they are curious about from my [Music] perspective um my question is how do you stay so positive in all these uh negative situations you're [Applause] in before I answer that how do you do it because I'm sure you've got you've had to deal with some stuff so how do you do it cuz you seem like an intelligent nice young man so how do you do it I mean I yes um some people wouldn't say I'm I'm like nice but like in the negative situations that I face um I think about how
024my parents would want me to react or um um would they be happy with how I react or like um like how would I be looked at as if I reacted negatively or positively so I have to think of like the right situation and react in so I like sometimes I'll like react in like a good way but sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me so I react negatively is it necessarily A Bad Thing to react negatively it's it's a human emotion you know it's it's it's real you know if somebody says something to you that is trying to hurt your feelings of course you're going to react negatively um the way that I stay so positive dude don't get me wrong I have been angry I've been I've been the angry
025black man yes I have had to deal with all kinds of crap all kinds of crap um but I choose it's a choice I know that I represent myself and to a lot of people I represent people who look like us and if they see me reacting a certain way they're going to assume that you would react the exact same way so I do my best to stay positive all the time it's not I I I look at if someone says something that is not you know very nice or whatever it's them it's not me it's them they have the isue not me CU they don't know me if they knew me they know I was a great guy like I don't know you but I'm assuming you're a great guy sometimes okay well does
026that answer your question just stay positive thank [Applause] you any other questions now's your chance [Applause] uh my question is why what do you think makes life worth living for you great question personally I have been through so much bad stuff that I appreciate every little thing I've got thank you tattooed on my forearm because I'm so grateful for every bit of help that I've ever gotten and I believe that we are put on Earth to be happy not miserable and anything that I can do to contribute to anyone else's happiness that makes life worth living [Applause] me that was a good [Applause] question okay um you say you play the violin right that's your uh favorite piece of music to play I like the Four Seasons by Vivaldi my fav is winter from the
027for SE are you an instrumentalist I play the alpha saxophone yeah cool yeah I I'm a Baldi fan and you know it's violin music I actually got to go to Venice a couple of last month I was in Italy and I got to uh see where he was born and it was cool and why were you surprised okay so what's your name Hunter Hunter Hunter is Korean and he comes up and I go um I was really surprised because I didn't expect um somebody other some some somebody from another race like be able to speak a language from wherever I'm from so that really surprised me in a positive way told you yeah I've gotten to travel because of my why I live so yeah I've been to Korea a couple of times it's good
028stuff that's a you bro [Applause] uh I have a question has God helped you what do you think yes why because God is [Applause] everywhere so the question was has has God helped me and uh people actually say to me uh I'm really surprised that you openly talk about your faith um I almost I I consider myself in my seventh bonus year of life because back in 2017 I was 12 hours from dropping dead I was in ICU and the doctor was like if you don't go to the hospital right now you're going to be dead tomorrow and uh yeah my faith got me through my faith my faith absolutely got me through and that's why when I say we're here to be happy anything that I can do to facilitate happiness because I know
029what it's like to be on the other end so I I never want anyone to experience what I had to go through and feel helpless and worthless and all of that stuff so anything I can do dud it all comes from my faith all the success that I've had it all comes from my faith all of it [Applause] I just want to ask uh what like First brought you into your faith I would go to church every Sunday from Elementary School through college my my parents thought that it was really important for me to go to church and I'm so glad they made me go so glad they made me go um and I I you know kids nowadays you guys have it tough you have it really tough it's not the same as it
030was when when I was growing up we didn't have the internet we didn't have the electronics we didn't have the phones we had none of that stuff all we had was each other and we really relied on each other for everything um now it's so easy to hide behind your devices and everything but um it because my parents were so you know they they were very Hands-On and it's like you know we want you to be a good person and this is the best way to do it and I learned so much about people in church and about myself and you know just be nice to each other that's all it just be nice to each other just be nice and the world will be a better place [Applause] um what gave you inspiration to
031write your book covid-19 no uh during CO as a working musician everything stopped for me everything stopped and I needed a creative Outlet um so I wrote the first chapter of the violin conspiracy and my agent who's currently my agent he was like if you write this book I can sell it like all right cool and I went from a roach infested ghetto drug dealing nasty apartment to actually a really nice place to live and you know I'm so grateful for every single thing that I have as a result of it so I got thank you tattoo on my heart gratitude gratitude gratitude probably one more yeah why not I would like to ask what's the most important thing in your life yes a banger um most important thing in my life the opp unity
032and the ability to reach people I'm so happy to be able to reach an entire group of people who would honestly never talk to someone like me or read a book by someone like me and the fact that people are reading it and and reaching out and have questions and asking stuff like this that that really makes this message is not the Bell please remain in your classroom until you hear the Bell after this message will ride home on bus three today again if you normally take bus five you will be riding home on bus three today thank you have a great long weekend all right I think that's going to pretty much conclude because you guys have a long weekend coming up uh I will leave you all with this focus focus I'll leave
033you with this random acts of kindness some of the most powerful things that you could ever experience or share with someone just the smallest thing smile at somebody hold the door for someone tell someone they look nice today just be nice to each other try it you'd be amazed at the results all it takes is one random act of kindness to really have an impact on someone and I thank you guys for your attention today