Education Through Music-Los Angeles was formed in 2006 with the mission to combat the inequalities of quality music education being provided across our most vulnerable communities – predominantly students of color from low-income areas.
Once again, we grieve those who are grieving in Los Angeles and around the nation and join the voices in mourning the tragic loss of countless Black lives due to racial injustice. We continue to stand and grieve with our Black communities. Because Black Lives Matter. We can only hope and pray that the memory of George Floyd will bring a new day to America where we all work together to finally bring an end to this ongoing nightmare that has haunted our country since its beginnings. The whole world is waiting for our response in showing how to solve what is really a worldwide problem.
Education Through Music-LA invites you to help further our life-changing work towards providing equity and access for traditionally marginalized communities – Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color – students, families, principals, music educators, staff, organizational leadership, and stakeholders. And to the pursuit of social justice in our collective work to end systemic racism and inequities in access to education. ETM-LA will deepen our work in:
- Ensuring that children who would otherwise not have the opportunity be given the right to dignity and hope through quality music education.
- Cultivating resources on undoing racism and systemic barriers.
- Bringing heightened intentionality in our programmatic approach and curriculum towards equity and inclusivity.
- Embracing the full range of teaching methodologies and learning styles to deliver the most effective instruction to each of our school communities.
We invite you to collectively take next steps with us.
Music is important in the lives of all children – making, learning, and listening to music are things people can do when experiencing strong emotions, including grief and anger. We have seen firsthand what role music has in the lives of our students and communities. When they are hurting. When they need a voice. When there are no words. We see you and we are listening.
Just as our mission stands on the belief that all children deserve equal access and is predicated on social justice, our next steps include furthering our ongoing work around ETM-LA’s Cultural Equity and Inclusion Policy, to continue offering safe spaces, to stand up for others, and to participate in active dialogue, discourse, and listening with partners through music education.
Through the spirit of unity and love, we continue to walk hand-in-hand with our communities and are grateful to everyone who has and continues to come alongside our mission.
