9781835951675
Distributed for Intellect Ltd
If Colors Could be Heard
Narratives About Racial Identity in Music Education
A deeply personal and scholarly exploration of how race and ethnicity shape the ways we learn, teach, and experience music.
If Colors Could Be Heard: Narratives About Racial Identity in Music Education is a groundbreaking collection of firsthand accounts by music educators, artists, activists, and students from the Global Majority. These deeply personal narratives explore how race and ethnicity shape experiences in music learning, making, and teaching.
From stories of childhood discovery to reflections on navigating racial identity in the classroom, these voices paint a complex and vivid portrait of music education in the United States. Going beyond a collection of research studies, this book embraces self-reflective storytelling as a legitimate and essential method of inquiry, offering a scholarly mosaic of lived experience.
By centering voices often marginalized in academia, If Colors Could Be Heard challenges dominant narratives and reimagines music education through a lens of equity, identity, and belonging. A must-read for students, educators, and researchers committed to fostering an inclusive and just musical future.
If Colors Could Be Heard: Narratives About Racial Identity in Music Education is a groundbreaking collection of firsthand accounts by music educators, artists, activists, and students from the Global Majority. These deeply personal narratives explore how race and ethnicity shape experiences in music learning, making, and teaching.
From stories of childhood discovery to reflections on navigating racial identity in the classroom, these voices paint a complex and vivid portrait of music education in the United States. Going beyond a collection of research studies, this book embraces self-reflective storytelling as a legitimate and essential method of inquiry, offering a scholarly mosaic of lived experience.
By centering voices often marginalized in academia, If Colors Could Be Heard challenges dominant narratives and reimagines music education through a lens of equity, identity, and belonging. A must-read for students, educators, and researchers committed to fostering an inclusive and just musical future.
304 pages | 4 halftones | 6.69 x 9.61 | © 2025
Contemporary Music Making and Learning
Art: Art--General Studies
Sociology: Race, Ethnic, and Minority Relations
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction: Painting Wondrous Tunes with Stories by People of Color Christopher Cayari, Jason D. Thompson, and Rekha S. Rajan Section I: Intersectionality Orientation I: Intersectionality and Music Education: Why Identity Matters, Especially for People of Color Christopher Cayari 1. "From minor to Major feelings, I am more than just Stop Asian Hate” Alice Tsui ??? 2. In Her Voice: (Re)Visioning Race and Gender in the Music Classroom through the Lens of Black Feminist Pedagogy Paula Grissom Broughton 3. Coming Out as Asian: Multiplying Identity and Intersectionality Christopher Cayari 4. Self-Made?: Representation, Tokenism, and Finding Autonomy as an Educator Marcus Moone 5. The Hip-Hop Therapeutic Education of a Single Mother Terriee Pope Section II: Forging New Pathways Orientation II: Forging Cultural Pathways in Music Learning, Making, and Teaching Jason D. Thompson and Rekha S. Rajan 6. Searching Somewhere Over the Rainbow for a Home in Choral Music Education Kiernan M. Steiner 7. Teaching Music in Tkaronto: The Relationship Between Indigeneity and Place of Practice Joyce Jing Yee Yip and Lee Cheng 8. My Journey and My Music: Breaking the Hegemony of the Music Classroom in Hong Kong Chi Ying Lam 9. inVISIBLE: A Journey to (Re)claim, (Re)embrace, and (Re)settle Shuk-Ki Wong 10. Between the Piano and the Gayageum: From Reversal to Empowerment Sangmi Kang (???) Section III: Epiphanies Orientation III: Epiphanies: How Reflection and Realization Influence Our Musical Experiences Christopher Cayari 11. SPOTLIGHT Rekha S. Rajan 12. Giving Myself Permission to be a Musician Tina Huynh 13. “Just look at Anthony!”: Searching for Identity, Teaching Music Anthony Cao 14. Ni de aquí ni de allá: The In-Betweenness of AfroLatinidad Marjoris Regus 15. Silent No More: A Vietnamese American Adoptee Speaks About Music Education and Who I Wronged Kính T. Vu Section IV: Triumph and Excellence Orientation IV: Triumph and Excellence Jason D. Thompson 16. Making Space. Taking Space. Owning Space. Creating Space Eric Williamson 17. Through the Looking Glass: An Asian American Music Educator’s Counter-Story Mindy H. Park 18. Remixing the “Good News”: Using Music to Sustain Faith Latasha Thomas-Durrell 19. Hitting the Music Educational Jackpot: Directing the Marching Band at a Historic Las Vegas School Alfonzo V. Kimbrough Section V: Reimagining Music Education Orientation V: Reimagining Music Education: Challenges, Changes and Triumphs Rekha S. Rajan 20. The Diversity Within: An Intersectional Challenge/Opportunity Darrin Thornton 21. “Vocal Music Education in Queer Asian America Taylor Masamitsu 22. The Gospel of Musical Inclusion Jason D. Thompson 23. Musicking with the Other 80% Alberto Vargas 24. I, Too, Wear the Mask Quinton D. Parker 25. “I Can See Clearly Now:” Confronting Stereotypes and Assumptions about Urban Music Education G. Preston Wilson, Jr. Epilogue: Carrying the Fire!! of a New Music Education—Devoted to Musicians of the Global Majority Christopher Cayari Index