The Band Together For Music Education initiative and the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus made a special visit to Leimert Park.
“It is like a dream come true that I never thought was possible,” said Fernando Pullum about his community center receiving a $10,000 grant from Band Together For Music Education recently in Leimert Park.
“I’m so thrilled for the students in our community and the community at large to see this bus in our hood.
“It gives people the opportunity to wish and desire more things.”
The bus Pullum mentioned is the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, which announced its partnership with AXS TV and Spectrum to sponsor the mobile music and video recording experience as it makes stops at three schools across the country.
“This is a project that I started with Yoko Ono 26 years ago,” said Brian Rothschild, co-founder and executive director at the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. “As technology has evolved, the Lennon buses have evolved but the mission has always remained the same and that is to provide young people with free hands-on opportunities to create original music and videos projects that reflect their ideas and their concerns.”
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Established in 2022, Band Together For Music Education has connected AXS TV with affiliates, local communities, and schools nationwide, in support of vital music education programs. The Band Together initiative helps provide resources to underserved music programs that best exemplify quality instruction, participation, and leadership. AXS TV President Andy Schuon shared that this kind of initiative is a part of his personal mission statement.
“It’s great to see this program enhanced by this bus,” said Schuon. “The beauty of this and education and music and arts in school is so important.
“It’s clearly important to AXS and Spectrum, it’s important to me personally, I’ve been on the board of Teach for America, my wife’s been on the board of PS Arts here, locally, for over 10 years.
“I was part of the founding team for the initiative that we had saved the music at another network earlier so, it’s been a huge part of my life, it fits like a glove to be at AXS working with Spectrum and now the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus.”
“We are so happy to be here today and partnering with AXS TV to provide this grant for this amazing community center that offers so many benefits to the children and giving them the access and the resources and the tools that they need to have these hands-on experiences with music,” said Kara Bush associate vice president at Charter Communications/Spectrum.
“We like to take the opportunity to recognize Fernando Pullum for all of his great work in this community because he’s amazing and if not for him, we wouldn’t have these opportunities and be able to support the efforts that he does and charter spectrum is very proud to support this effort.”
The event was attended by special guests and local leaders and representatives including California State Senators Steven Bradford (35th District) and Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (28th District), Los Angeles Councilwoman Heather Hutt (10th District), Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (2nd District) and legendary bass player Verdine White from Earth, Wind & Fire.
“Thank you everybody, thank you for having me here,” said White. “Thank you so much and all these beautiful young artists, who were conceived on our music.
White continued, “Regardless of what technology is going to be doing nothing really takes the place of talent and nothing takes the place of love and support that we give to them.
“They asked me, ‘what’s the secret?’ The secret is just have fun, you’re only going to be young one time, so have fun with it because the studio is fun.
“It’s fun at my age and they have to drag me out of the studio because I have to go to work and do concerts and things like that, but it’s a pleasure to be here.”
“This is a great example of community partnership with our corporate partners here in the community this would not be possible and I want to thank this amazing bus,” said Bradford. “Music is that connective tissue that keeps young folks in school because it’s more than about music, you got to learn how to write, you got to know math, to do timing in your music—all of those things.”
“Twenty-six years ago, when the bus first opened, I saw them out in Anaheim and I thought, ‘Wow, that bus would never come to my neighborhood,’” said Pullum. “We don’t have access like that but low and behold, they’ve been here, now about, five times and me personally, I gauge people’s sincerity and what they really want to do for kids in our community by them showing up and I look behind me and I see these guys showed up.”
Spectrum’s support and assistance with AXS TV’s Band Together has awarded a combined total of $160,000 in grants to 24 schools across 20 cities. The Lennon Bus programs have served hundreds of thousands of students around the world with events, workshops, and interactive experiences completely free of charge.
“To see what happens here is exactly why we have to support the arts in schools because an idea becomes art, becomes a song and then hopefully becomes part of our lives at a special moment as music always does,” said Schuon.
For information on Band Together For Music Education, visit axs.tv/band-together. For information on John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, visit lennonbus.org. For more on Pullum Community Arts Center, visit www.pullumcenter.org
