David France, Sistema Fellow '12, has launched Revolution of Hope in Roxbury, MA.
The community being built in the Roxbury Youth Orchestra will of course be built around the smiles, laughter, and joy, but it will be sustained by how we weather the harder days... like today. While I was downstairs getting more instruments, the community was challenged and ridiculed by one of the members. He said
1. he was better than everyone else
2. the program sucked
3. he had found a better program
4. and that he was quitting and no longer coming
When I returned, he had already left and they wanted to discuss it openly with me. They thought he spoke out of what they called vanity and said he was a traitor. One girl could only express herself in Spanish. I told them I thought he spoke out of fear and maybe insecurity. Fortified in their JOY of being together we moved on and worked very hard today. The music today was hard and some were quite frustrated with their slow progress. I told them... the music would get harder but I would be there to help. Overcoming hardships and moving forward in the face of ridicule... this is our Revolution of Hope.
Read more on Revolution of Hope's facebook page.
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