Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution

At home, Lotus takes a long bath and thinks about Paris. She hasn’t talked to her father in over a week or updated him on what is happening. She wonders what that means and why she even wants to study music there—other than her father.

Her bath is interrupted by Granny. Lotus asks why she’s there, and Granny tells her that Lotus’s mother is dieting again, then laughs. Lotus confronts her—for the first time ever—about why she always insults and picks on Lotus’s mother about things in her life. Lotus is surprised by what she says but realizes that it gives her “peace” to finally speak her mind.

Granny replies that she doesn’t mean to insult her daughter. She tells her about how her own mother had to fight to even buy a home, and Granny faced constant criticism at school for her hair and her looks. Her mother always told her to fight back against the other kids, and after years of doing it she was exhausted. As a result, she always told Lotus and her mother not to create problems because it was always easier to just get along. She tells Lotus that all she wants is for Lotus to be “proud” of the life she lives and to live “an intentional life” (215).

The next morning, Lotus wakes up feeling both happy and angry. She is happy that Granny told her the things she did and that they connected through their talk. However, she is also angry at herself for not having the conversation a long time ago.

Lotus gets ready for school. She puts her hair up in a pineapple using a scarf printed repeatedly with the outline of Africa. She chooses retro clothing, then decides she needs shoes that will match. She goes into her mother’s closet and finds a letter from the music school in Paris she secretly requested information from. She is confused why her mother has the letter but, more importantly, why she kept it. She decides to ask her mother about it.

When Lotus goes downstairs, she finds her mom at the door talking to people. A woman enters their home and identifies herself as Sally Bird, a local newswoman. She is accompanied by other reporters and cameramen. Scared but determined, Lotus invites them into their living room. She sits with them and tells them the entire story from start to finish. They tell her that they are going to air the segment about her that night, along with covering the MacArthur board meeting.

When Lotus gets to school, she talks to Maestro in orchestra. She tells him that she is likely not coming back to school after the board meeting. Maestro seems shocked, knowing nothing about Mrs. Cortez or Lotus’s meeting. He angrily leaves the orchestra room, insisting that no one else is allowed to make decisions about his orchestra.

Throughout the day, Lotus hears everyone talking about her situation. After the news segment airs, her situation only gets worse, and Lotus is overwhelmed by the different stories, opinions, and comments floating around among her classmates. However, at lunch, she gathers her friends to tell them that she needs their help. She wants them to go with her to the board meeting to play. Her goal is to show that both Atlantis and MacArthur are vital to the community—but that the community needs to do a better job of accepting and utilizing both. She suggests some sort of outreach from Atlantis and sharing of funds, and adding funding for MacArthur. Tati, Benz, and Fabiola are supportive.

That night, Lotus is shocked by the number of people outside the board meeting. Rebel and Connor introduce her to different people, including a reverend and an attorney. Lotus immediately dislikes both, feeling as though much of what they do is fake and for show. She also realizes that Rebel seems to be using her as a piece in her bigger plans. The entire situation overwhelms Lotus, who only wants two things: to keep her afro and to stop being bullied. Through it all, she is overwhelmed by uncertainty and fear.

Lotus waits through the entire board meeting. At the end, they open it up for comments from the audience. Rebel makes Lotus stand. Lotus takes the microphone and introduces herself, realizing how nervous and afraid she is.

Lotus begins to speak, telling the room about her hair and how it drew the attention of bullies. However, she is immediately interrupted by Mrs. Cortez, who yells that Lotus is the problem—not her son. She then demands that the board go into a closed meeting to discuss the situation. Several people in the audience yell in response, saying that the public deserves to have a say. From there, the entire board meeting dissolves into chanting, yelling, and fighting.

Lotus sneaks backstage. She is annoyed and angry at the group. She decides to play her violin but stops short when she hears Mrs. Cortez talking backstage. She is yelling at Adolpho for causing the entire problem by not being good enough to be concertmaster. When Adolpho tries to say that he isn’t even that interested in the violin, Mrs. Cortez slaps him. Lotus is shocked. However, she is brought back by the sounds of the fighting public.

Lotus stands on the table at the front of the room. She plays Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” She drowns out the sounds of the room by giving her “whole soul” (246) to the music. When she stops, she realizes that everyone is looking at her. Several people ask her to play more, while one man stands up and yells that he doesn’t care how well she plays if her hair is a distraction. There is only one Black board member, a woman, who responds to the man that the bullying is the issue—not her hair. From there, the meeting breaks into chaos again.

Maestro comes up to Lotus from the back of the room. He tries to talk with her, but she is overwhelmed by anger. Into the microphone, she plays the theme from the movie Psycho, with its sharp notes bringing everyone in the room to silence again. She tells the group that she is disappointed with both sides. Instead of bringing the two schools and the community together, they are tearing it apart. Maestro again tries to talk with Lotus, but she ignores him. She scolds the school board for abandoning MacArthur, and for allowing Mrs. Cortez to “dictate [their] policy” (249). She tells them that she has no interest in Atlantis if Mrs. Cortez is involved, then angrily leaves the room.

Lotus goes home with her parents, refusing to speak to anyone. She goes to bed, still fully dressed.

The next morning, Lotus stays in bed. She is surprised when Granny comes into her room, insisting that she get up and get ready for the day. Lotus spends a long time in the shower, then dresses in casual clothes without even fixing her hair.

When Lotus goes downstairs, she finds her mother, Granny, and Unk. Her father is also there, surprising Lotus. He tells her that he was worried about her and came back to help with things. Their reunion is interrupted by two other people Lotus didn’t realize were there. They introduce themselves as Superintendent Charlton Burr and the district attorney, Jessica Aguirre. She also sees that Maestro is in the room.

Mr. Burr apologizes to Lotus for letting Mrs. Cortez get out of hand. He assures her that he was unaware of what was happening until recently. He has immediately taken action to fix things. Despite Mrs. Cortez’s being a valuable donor to the school, she has no authority to dictate school policy.

Lotus is shocked when Granny interrupts them. She thanks them for what they said, but says they still have two problems: Lotus’s position at the school and the treatment of MacArthur.

Maestro then apologizes to Lotus. He tells her that he had no idea what was happening with Adolpho, and he didn’t mean to pressure Lotus into handling it herself. He assures her that she will be his concertmaster because she is the best—as long as that’s what she wants.

Feeling emboldened by the support, Lotus tells the group that she wants to continue to go to Atlantis because it shows the community that everyone—even people like her—deserve the opportunity if they have the talent. However, she also wants more resources and support for MacArthur. Mr. Burr adamantly agrees, explaining that they are already putting together a committee to decide how to help MacArthur—and he wants Lotus to be a part of it.

Mr. Burr then shows Lotus the newspaper. On the front page is a photo of her playing in front of the school board, with the headline “Afro Revolution” (257). Lotus then takes a photo of all of them together, posting it on social media with the tag “#woollywins—referring to her afro.

At lunch, Lotus’s father asks her about her plans to attend school in Paris. She apologizes for not telling her parents sooner, but then tells them that she has decided it is not something she wants anymore. She realizes that her “home” is in Miami, with her mother, and that her music career will be fine. Her parents start to argue, but she interrupts them, insisting that they are all going to talk things out and not get angry.

Lotus meets up with Rebel and tries to talk with her. However, Rebel is angry, insisting that Lotus is giving in to Atlantis and hurting MacArthur. Despite Lotus’s efforts to explain to her that she is helping both, Rebel dismisses her and angrily walks away.

Once Rebel is gone, Tati shows up. She tells Lotus that she wanted to check on her. She assures Lotus that Rebel will calm down—especially when Lotus proves that she is right and things improve.

Both girls are shocked when Adolpho approaches them. He sincerely apologizes for how his mother has been acting—and Lotus believes him. He says that his mother refuses to listen to him and blew things out of proportion. However, both he and his father spoke with her and made her realize that she is wrong. He assures Lotus that his mother is going to support both Atlantis and MacArthur.

The three sit in silence for a few minutes, then Lotus asks what comes next. Adolpho tells her that they will get back to practicing together and help Lotus get ready for the International Youth Orchestra.