Something is chilling about learning that a Wisconsin school board is debating whether a piece of music, without lyrics, should be publicly performed. Students have spent months practicing the piece, which was composed as a dedication to a transgender activist and a prime mover of the Stonewall uprising. I read about this latest bizarre culture war story on my iPad and got up to turn my computer on. This story begs to be addressed. Watertown High School band students have spent months preparing for their May 18 spring concert. But a piece of music will likely be struck from their set list over its history. The Watertown Wind Symphony will learn on May 12 during a special school board meeting if they will be allowed to perform “A Mother of A Revolution.” The piece was composed in 2019 by Omar Thomas for contemporary wind ensembles and does not have lyrics. But Thomas dedicated the work to transgender activist Marsha Johnson, a key figure in the 1969 Stonewall uprising against police raids in New York. It sure looks like the school board does not understand that the music was composed to honor courage. That characteristic is one of the traits that the high school should work to foster in its students. But it appears that this music is too controversial. History tells us such moments. After General Secretary Joesph Stalin walked out of Dmitri Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, the composer withdrew his already-rehearsed Fourth Symphony to avoid persecution, as it was considered chaotic.The Watertown High School Wind Symphony has spent months rehearsing for this month’s concert, and it is a shame that an utterly contemptible effort is being made to disrupt a musical performance. How many hurdles do ordinary hard-working people need to cross so to not be caught up in the asinine twaddle that these students now face?In October, LaDew sent a note home to parents letting them know the class would begin studying and preparing “A Mother of A Revolution.” “The purpose behind studying Mother of a Revolution is not to provoke controversy, but to deepen students’ understanding of how music reflects the diverse experiences of humanity,” LaDew wrote. “Engaging with this piece helps foster empathy, cultural awareness, and respect for the stories and struggles that shape our shared history.”LaDew said he also chose the piece because it is musically complex and would challenge students who have been in band for many years.When the letter was sent to parents, three families initially opted out of performing the piece. But eventually, only one student decided not to perform “A Mother of A Revolution.” When questioned by the Educational Services Committee this week, LaDew repeated what he told parents — that his job as a teacher is to connect the music to the students’ other subjects. “That’s why we find that students that participate in music score higher on their standardized tests,” LaDew said. “Because they are using all of that information they’ve learned from all of their other studies in one spot at one time.” As I sit here tonight, I want to make it clear that what is happening at this high school has NOTHING to do with music. But it does have everything to do with fear. There is nothing wrong with having lessons in our schools that prove in our nation justice is loud, messy, and oh, so very human. I should not need to write that Johnson took a stand at Stonewall, not because she was bored or simply seeking attention, but because she refused to have her civil rights stomped on. So, to now strike this music and her name from a spring 2026 concert due to prejudices that were being fought against in 1969 places this story in its proper context. Let me be very clear where I stand. To strike Marsha Johnson’s name from this concert program is to bureaucratically achieve an outcome that has always enabled prejudice to thrive. It must be stopped. At least the home of the gosling, their mascot, is learning first-hand the meaning of irony. A piece written to celebrate courage may be banned by those too timid to face the discomfort of history. What lesson does that teach these young musicians? Must art flatter power? Must empathy be edited for public consumption to meet the lowest common denominator? Should making Stalin proud be the goal of the Watertown School Board? History shows that bigotry does not always ride on a horse in the dark with a curse and a lit torch. It can just as easily be presented as “community standards” by a school board. My view from a historical perspective is that the supposed standards are being used to further injustice. I am trusting that the majority of the school board will not become complicit in this outrage. When a school board trembles before music, it’s not protecting children; it’s teaching them cowardice. Watertown’s students deserve better. They deserve intelligent adults who understand that courage isn’t hiding from bigotry, but standing up to it.
