This is Tommie - Ya’ll Hear that Nolia Clap? (Remix)

The second part to being in New Orleans that I have to mention is that there was a subtle change. When I moved to New Orleans all my teachers went from being white to Black. The change also brought a change in the attitudes from my teachers. I was no longer a smart mouthed troublemaker but a dream come true. My teachers loved me. They loved the fact that I could read. Many kids in my classes couldn’t or they couldn’t on any real level that one would consider on the level for a 14 year old. In English class I never really spent time doing English my teacher would task me out to teach other kids to read. Same thing happened with Math and history. I don’t think I learned much in the 9th grade because I was always teaching someone else.

The other reason I couldn’t quit the band was that the band teacher Mr. Dupree thought I was some sort of untapped Saxophone prodigy he wanted me to work with him. He wanted me to be the front man on this high school band he was planning. These were small but subtle things that began a change in my mentality. Even if it was slight I saw that there were Black people that did find education important and did see me as being worthwhile. I had never seen that before in school, but I was fighting so many other battles that it almost flew over my head.