9 minute read
Alumni Up Close
Who’s Telling Your Story?
Artist and scholar Danielle Brown ’97 elevates diversity in the arts
BY CHRISTINE YU ’94
When Danielle Brown ’97 resigned from her position as assistant professor of music history and cultures at Syracuse University in 2014, she wasn’t sure of her next step. Would she be a writer? Would she perform music? The one thing she knew for certain was that she wanted to tell stories and help others do the same. That November, she founded My People Tell Stories, a publishing and production company.
But Brown isn’t interested in storytelling for storytelling’s sake. To her, it is critically important that people of color tell and interpret their own stories because, as her company’s tagline plainly states: “If you’re not telling your own stories, someone else is telling them for you.”
During her decade-plus in academia, Brown was troubled by the lack of representation by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in music studies, particularly in her field of ethnomusicology, which she describes as the “anthropology of music.”
DENISE SIMON ’94
During her decade-plus in academia, Brown was troubled by the lack of BIPOC representation in music studies, particularly in her field of ethnomusicology, which she describes as the “anthropology of music.”
“It’s predominantly white people researching people of color. Not only that, but historically there’s been this sense that people of color can’t write about themselves because they’re not objective enough to do so,” she says. In response, she published East of Flatbush, North of Love: An Ethnography of Home in 2015. In it, she describes growing up in East Flatbush, a West Indian community in Brooklyn, N.Y., and threads music throughout, from calypso to hip hop.
“I really wanted to tell my story in a way that was accessible and in line with the storytelling traditions of the culture in which I grew up,” she says.
Growing up in New York City, Brown’s household was filled with music. She sang and at age 7, began playing the piano. After attending a performing arts middle school, Brown entered Andover as a junior, joining older brother David ’95. She continued to explore music, performing at the student coffeehouses during Black Arts Weekend and Latin Arts Weekend. And she appreciated Andover’s diversity in comparison to other boarding schools.
“Being at a school for four years where so few people looked like me was kind of a scary proposition, especially coming from New York,” she says.
One of the reasons Brown left academia was because she believed she could better affect change from outside the university setting. For example, her Caribbean music workshop, taught by people with Caribbean roots who are experts in the music and dance of the region, addresses questions such as: “How are we teaching these musics? Are we just taking [Caribbean] music and putting it into a Western framework, which is what happens a lot of the time? What is the damage when we do that?”
While the COVID-19 pandemic forced Brown to cancel in-person events, her work has taken on more credence as racial justice issues have bubbled to the forefront of the current political and cultural environment. Last June, Brown published an open letter on racism in music studies.
“There’s this assumption that you can go in and study a culture for some years and then become an expert. I think that’s far from the truth,” she says. “There has not been enough thought given to how much it takes to understand another culture that’s very different from your own. I don’t think that we’ve really grappled with that very well in ethnomusicology.”
Brown, who currently lives in Miami, says the response to her letter has been overwhelming. “There are a lot of people thinking about the topic of systemic racism in music, and what [the letter] showed me was that there were many people who wanted to say something but didn’t feel like they had a voice.”
While Brown hopes to see change take root soon, she’s also a realist. “History has shown that we are in a constant struggle. Until history starts showing me something different, I will hope for the best but not expect it.”
“I really wanted to tell my story in a way that was accessible and in line with the storytelling traditions of the culture in which I grew up.” STUDENT STARTUP DEDICATED TO FOOD RESCUE
Prompted in part by observing mealtime waste on campus, Arnav Bhakta ’22 and Emily Huang ’21 decided to do something about it.
A nonprofit dedicated to food rescue and food waste awareness, Stem4Free was created during spring break 2020. The unusual name refers to a plant stem, with
“4Free” describing how the food is donated. The organization is managed and run completely by teens, with seven
PA board members recruiting, training, and overseeing about 175 high school volunteers who act as intermediaries between restaurants and community food banks.
“Because Andover students come from all corners of the world, we were able to have a big impact and an international footprint immediately,” says Bhakta, president and CEO. There are now 31 branches of
Stem4Free in the United States, two in India, and one each in Hong Kong, Italy, and Canada.
Students identify sources of surplus food and then distribute that food—typically baked goods, chicken, pasta dishes, sandwiches, fruit bowls, and vegetables—to local organizations that assist people in need. Most donations are scheduled, but some, like the 20 coconut pies from a downtown Andover bakery, are spur of the moment.
Emma Fu ’21 manages the Michigan branch, which donates twice a week to a local hospital. “We are always welcomed by huge smiles from the health care workers,” she says. “There’s a sense of pride and satisfaction when your actions help brighten someone’s day.”
—JILL CLERKIN
Visit Stem4Free.org to learn more.
MINYAN SHI P’21 Emma Fu ’21 and brother Steven make a delivery in Michigan.
Milestone at Sea
Gordon Baird ’68 completes epic sail
BY JOSEPH P. KAHN ’67
One brisk afternoon in early November, the wind was blowing 12 knots in Gloucester Harbor as Gordon Baird ’68 stepped onto his 37-foot sailboat Crazy Uncle and prepared to cast off. Two visitors hopped aboard to lend a hand—and to record the trip for posterity. For as routine as this 90-minute sail promised to be—Baird undertakes one like it virtually every day, no matter the season or weather conditions—it was, in fact, historic.
Meticulously kept records confirmed this to be his 10,000th sail, a total that began on May 7, 1987, and a milestone number for any activity, never mind one that shares a setting with The Perfect Storm, a cautionary maritime tale if there ever was one.
During much of that period, Baird averaged more than 325 sailing days annually. Three times he’s eclipsed the 350 mark. In February 1996, the Boston Globe celebrated his then–record streak of 365 straight days with a front-page feature, written by David Arnold ’67.
“My motto is, if you can find a reason not to go, you will find a reason not to go,” said Baird, who lives with his wife, JoeAnn, in an antique farmhouse on Gloucester’s picturesque Eastern Point.
An actor-musician by trade—he’s also a cable TV host, newspaper columnist, and gentleman farmer—Baird likens his routine to that of a guitarist aspiring to play like Jimi Hendrix.
“You do that by practicing every day,” he noted. “And I do mean every day. Otherwise, you’ll never get there.”
That attitude has won Baird a boatload of trophies from races up and down the New England seacoast. In Gloucester, he has sailed his smaller boat, a 14-foot Sunfish, in heat waves and snowstorms, on whispery calm days and menacingly blustery ones. He’s even chipped through harbor ice to hoist sail in the dead of winter.
One might guess that Baird, now 70, sailed competitively at Andover. But no. A city kid from Manhattan, he actually hated sailing and instead pursued extracurriculars like choral singing and acting.
After graduating from PA and Marlboro College, Baird moved out west. In 1976, he co-founded Musician magazine in his mother’s Colorado barn, then later moved its headquarters to Gloucester, where he oversaw the operation with his brother, Jonathan “Jock” Baird ’67.
In 1981, Musician was sold to Billboard; it would fold in 1999.
On this overcast November afternoon, though, Baird was not thinking of any of that. Rather, he was chasing a personal goal—his own Mount Everest climb, if you will—that had been on his horizon for a very long time.
As one of his crewmates helped winch the jib, Baird delivered a short seminar on wind physics and sail angles. He was clearly, and happily, in his element.
Later, back on shore, he opened his logbook and entered report number 308 for the year 2020. “Cold, dark, breezy, southeasterly wind,” he wrote. “Round-trip to Eastern Point.” And then, this kicker: “Hitting the big 10,000 in 33 years!”
JAMIE KAHN
A DOGGONE GOOD JOB
LONI EDWARDS ’02
Every day in the office is a surprise for Loni Edwards ’02—she could be working with dogs, ducks, pigs, toads, or even hedgehogs!
Edwards launched The Dog Agency (TDA), a talent management and marketing agency for animal influencers, in 2015. Since then, she has represented hundreds of internet-famous stars, some of whom have amassed millions of followers. For one marketing campaign, Chloe, a miniature French bulldog wearing a crisp white bib at an outdoor dining table, is ready to indulge in a chefprepared meal at a beautiful Ritz-Carlton property to promote its pet-friendly philosophy. In another ad, Kenzie the cavapoo wears pink silk pj’s while on a bed with a tray of breakfast delights modeling for Hotels.com. For a recent Netflix promotion of Space Force, a goldendoodle sports a space cape while proudly staring off into space.
“It’s honestly the best job in the entire world,” says Edwards. “I’m working with pets all day long, which is incredible, and I’m working with brands that I admire.”
Edwards didn’t always know she’d be working with pet influencers. After graduating from Cornell and Harvard Law, she worked for a large law firm in Los Angeles. When Edwards decided to launch her own company, she entered the pet influencer space just as it was emerging.
With media attention from Forbes, Vogue, the New York Times, and Fast Company and appearances on Good Morning America, Edwards is now working on a new book—How to Make Your Dog #Famous—to be published later this year.
—NANCY HITCHCOCK
ENSIGN ANIRUHD “ANI” MURALI ’16, U.S. NAVY
Read more about Gordon Baird ’68, Loni Edwards ’02, and Ani Murali ’16 online at andover.edu/magazine.
