Bring It On Home Education Fund
Donation protected
I'm Sean Tillmann, and I tour under the name Har Mar Superstar. Earlier this year I was asked to play at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, and I took it as a perfect opportunity to do a tribute set to my one of my favorite singer/ songwriters, Sam Cooke. I was careful to pick only the pop and love songs from his catalog out of respect for the cultural implications I may raise if I had performed his protest and/ or gospel material. The show was a runaway hit and became a national tour due to demand from fans and venues across the US.
As the tour progressed I started receiving some criticism back home from a fellow musician who believed my show to be an act of appropriation of black culture. The nature of the tweets/ posts were hostile toward me from the beginning, and we both, regrettably behaved childishly online. The whole situation spun out in a way neither of us would have imagined, and eventually we met face to face to have a difficult but necessary discussion. We realized that we may never see eye to eye on the issue, but in the light of day, through listening to each other and attempting to understand where each other was coming from, we are very similar people. Our discussion was incredibly enlightening.
You can do your own digging if you choose to. This clip is focused on the positive outcome of our conversation:
http://www.citypages.com/music/afrokeys-and-har-mar-superstar-squash-sam-cooke-appropriation-beef/486808731
As we discussed race, privilege, and systemic injustice within our own music community and beyond here in Minneapolis I felt my eyes being opened. Every day is a learning opportunity, and I decided to donate a large portion of my tour proceeds, $4000 in total to be exact, to 4 different organizations in the Twin Cities that will foster education and music opportunities within the African American community. Through this process it dawned on me that maybe the hundreds of people who got involved in the discussion could help too, so I set up this GoFundMe as an opportunity to chip in and hopefully match (triple? quadruple?) my donation for maximum impact.
Donations will be evenly distributed to the following:
1. Philando Castile Memorial Scholarship
https://www.centralhonorsphilando.org
2. High School for Recording Arts
http://hsra.org
40% of the student body are homeless and in need of washer/ dryers on site to help focus on learning through their individual struggles.
3. Minneapolis Public Schools
This portion of the donation will be split evenly between Edison High School's expanding drumline program and Olson Middle School's band program to help buy sheet music, method books, maintain existing instruments, and/or buy new ones.
4. Walker West Music Academy
https://www.walkerwest.org
I am hoping that we can all keep learning together, and if this has struck a chord with you please donate what you can and/ or share this link. Even $10 can make a big difference. Thanks for your time and consideration.
I will deactivate donations here on Monday, August 6 and deliver the money to our 4 school agencies later that week. Thanks again!
As the tour progressed I started receiving some criticism back home from a fellow musician who believed my show to be an act of appropriation of black culture. The nature of the tweets/ posts were hostile toward me from the beginning, and we both, regrettably behaved childishly online. The whole situation spun out in a way neither of us would have imagined, and eventually we met face to face to have a difficult but necessary discussion. We realized that we may never see eye to eye on the issue, but in the light of day, through listening to each other and attempting to understand where each other was coming from, we are very similar people. Our discussion was incredibly enlightening.
You can do your own digging if you choose to. This clip is focused on the positive outcome of our conversation:
http://www.citypages.com/music/afrokeys-and-har-mar-superstar-squash-sam-cooke-appropriation-beef/486808731
As we discussed race, privilege, and systemic injustice within our own music community and beyond here in Minneapolis I felt my eyes being opened. Every day is a learning opportunity, and I decided to donate a large portion of my tour proceeds, $4000 in total to be exact, to 4 different organizations in the Twin Cities that will foster education and music opportunities within the African American community. Through this process it dawned on me that maybe the hundreds of people who got involved in the discussion could help too, so I set up this GoFundMe as an opportunity to chip in and hopefully match (triple? quadruple?) my donation for maximum impact.
Donations will be evenly distributed to the following:
1. Philando Castile Memorial Scholarship
https://www.centralhonorsphilando.org
2. High School for Recording Arts
http://hsra.org
40% of the student body are homeless and in need of washer/ dryers on site to help focus on learning through their individual struggles.
3. Minneapolis Public Schools
This portion of the donation will be split evenly between Edison High School's expanding drumline program and Olson Middle School's band program to help buy sheet music, method books, maintain existing instruments, and/or buy new ones.
4. Walker West Music Academy
https://www.walkerwest.org
I am hoping that we can all keep learning together, and if this has struck a chord with you please donate what you can and/ or share this link. Even $10 can make a big difference. Thanks for your time and consideration.
I will deactivate donations here on Monday, August 6 and deliver the money to our 4 school agencies later that week. Thanks again!
Organizer
Sean Tillmann
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN