As crime climbed in NC city, father formed drumline music program to help at-risk youth
Alando Mitchell doesn’t shy away from the details of a fatal drive-by shooting that shook his Goldsboro community in 2006.
“There was a kid who had got shot in one of the projects,” Mitchell said.
“He was sitting in a car,” Mitchell recounts. “They pulled out to one of the homes in the projects. The driver got out of the car and left the passenger in the car.”
While the driver went into an apartment, someone came up behind the passenger and fatally shot him.
Mitchell says the frequency and severity of the crimes he has witnessed served as a catalyst. He had to do something about the violence, he said. That “something” came to him in a dream.
“I literally said, ‘God, I’m tired of this. Give me an idea.’” said Mitchell, a 49-year-old father of two, in an interview.
“That night I laid down, went to sleep, and I dreamed about starting a drumline.”
That year, he launched a youth drumline to keep at-risk kids off the streets. Over 16 years, it has evolved into A Drummers World Performing Arts School, acquiring 501(c)3 non-profit status in the summer of 2016, and performs all over Eastern North Carolina.
From an operational standpoint, it can be a challenge to keep the program running. Mitchell relies on the community’s support and his family’s income to pay for equipment, repairs and uniforms. Mitchell hopes to eventually find a permanent space for the program.
Then there are his drummers’ struggles, from finding transportation to come to practice to occasional brushes with the law.
“My goal is to help youth live past the age of 21 and be a productive citizen in their community,” he said. “If they’ll be a productive citizen, hey, my job is done.”
Inspired by ‘Drumline’
Mitchell seeks to help the children of Goldsboro while they’re young. A Drummers World typically serves children ages 6 to 18. Many come from the local public school system, including Goldsboro High School and Wayne Early College High School.
The drumline is modeled after the show-style marching bands at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Semira Mitchell, Alando’s oldest daughter, laughs when she says her father was inspired by her favorite film “Drumline” that she watched growing up.
“I think I had a little something, something to do with (my dad’s) dream,” said Semira Mitchell, 21. “He got inspiration from my favorite movie.”
The 2002 coming-of-age film stars Nick Cannon as an ambitious street drummer who helps his HBCU’s marching band win a battle of the bands. The band director, played by Leonard Roberts, struggles to keep Cannon’s character in check.
Similarly, Alando Mitchell, his daughter and the other Drummers World coaches work to keep at-risk youth off the streets.
In 2019, Goldsboro had a violent crime rate of approximately 415 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the most recent Uniform Crime Reporting data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI’s definition of violent crime includes four types of offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
By comparison, the Raleigh-Cary metropolitan division had 172.6 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, data shows.
Alando Mitchell says he has been a character witness in court on more than one occasion for some of his drummers.
“I’ll be honest with you, some of my drummers have done some crazy stuff,” he said. “I’ve had to get them out of trouble a few times. And just off my name and my program, the judge honored that.”
Drawing on community support
When Mitchell got his inspiration for the community drumline, it wasn’t long before word spread about his plans, though he only had “one little snare drum” without a stand and didn’t have the money or the space to bring the drumline together.
But he received an outpouring of support from acquaintances and strangers alike.
Three days before he made anything official, he went to his local barbershop for a haircut. There, one of the barbers asked him to stop by his house to talk about his project.
“I walked into his living room,” Mitchell said. “He had a brand new set of drums sitting there in the middle of his living room floor, still with the tags on.”
The man said the set was a Christmas gift for his daughter months earlier and he wanted them out of his living room.
“He asked me, ‘Could you use these?’ I say, ‘Yes, sir!’... Three days before I started,” Mitchell said.
He took apart the set and packed the drums into his SUV. He reassembled them to work as marching band drums, but without stands or harnesses, and relied on tables and school desks.
“And went from there,” he said.
‘Bring the Heat’
During its 16-year run, A Drummers World has expanded. There are currently about 100 members, but only a fraction of them make it to practice consistently because of transportation barriers or lack of support at home.
The drumline has performed at smaller community events, like at the Goldsboro Boys and Girls Club, to larger ones, like the 2019 Raleigh Christmas Parade and football halftime shows at local HBCUs.
It has since expanded to include a majorettes team called Golden Xplosion Dancers, or GXD. Semira Mitchell, a lifelong dancer, is their coach.
Last summer, they prepared for a major performance in nearby Smithfield.
It was a hot August afternoon when the drumline gathered at the Goldsboro Boys and Girls Club and Mitchell gave the group a rousing pep talk.
“Are y’all gonna bring the heat?” Mitchell asked his drummers in the parking lot.
“Sir, yes, sir!” the drummers replied in unison, drums, sticks and cymbals at the ready.
“Bring your heart,” Mitchell said. “That’s all I ask.”
Completely synchronized, the drummers start playing a song reminiscent of military marching music, thanks to the snares at the front, but with the extra flare of a hip-hop track infused with an African beat in the background.
The quad and bass drummers and cymbal players follow a choreography to the beat of their own drums, while the snares provide the tune’s structure.
Some members, like Michael Coley, remained involved in A Drummers World in their mid-20s, long after they have aged out of the program. Coley has been part of the drumline since he was a sophomore at Goldsboro High School.
He calls Alando Mitchell his uncle and says he is grateful for A Drummers World.
“I go through a lot,” he said. “I just don’t tell nobody, you know?”
Without music, and without A Drummers World, Coley’s life could have taken a turn for the worse, he said. He lost his mother from illness when he was just 6 years old. His grandparents, who took him in after his mother’s death, died shortly after.
Losing his support system triggered depressive episodes and feelings of loneliness he still experiences to this day.
“When you see me, I’m always dancing, I’m always singing,” he said. “I always got sticks in my hand and want to drum, because that... that releases me and that sets me free. That’s why I do it. And I’m gonna keep doing it until.”
A Drummers World is more than just a band, Coley said. It’s a place to find community.
“We extend our arms to you, you know? If you need support, if you need help,” Coley said. “And, I mean, that would never change from A Drummers World, even if the old (members) are gone.”
Finding a home
Even though the organization has grown, Mitchell has struggled to find a permanent location for A Drummers World, which he says is crucial to the program’s success.
When it first formed, it was headquartered at the Goldsboro YMCA. Once they outgrew the space, Mitchell rented a building where he could set his own schedules for practices and events.
But he lost the lease because of inconsistent revenue from unpaid dues and decrease in sponsors.
For the past few years, Mitchell has had an agreement with the Goldsboro Boys and Girls Club, where A Drummers World can practice in the gym, empty classrooms and outside. The building has limited resources and availability.
Mitchell says he has let drummers and dancers remain in the program, even when they don’t pay their $25 monthly dues. That’s important to him.
Mitchell said he is proud of the drummers who have turned their lives around after dabbling in crime.
Some have even gone on to college to play in marching bands, he said.
But that’s not the ultimate goal, said Semira Mitchell, his daughter.
“It means the world to me that I can be able to brighten up someone’s day and help grow them in each and every area of their life,” she said. “Being able to push them towards maybe their dreams, their goals and visions that they have.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
