Brookline Man's Life Takes Unexpected Turn Amid Pandemic

BROOKLINE, MA — Both of Jonathan Mande's parents are fighting for their lives after testing positive for the coronavirus. He's their medical proxy and has been on the phone nearly every day with the hospital and nurses. It's meant that his business — Drums and Wellness in Washington Square — has had to take a back seat.

"Life has been difficult with COVID, but it's been intensified with everything that's happening with the lack of racial justice in America," Mande, 29, who lives in Washington Square, said.

On May 5, his mother tested positive for the coronavirus and went into the hospital, a week later his father followed. His mom was able to come out of the hospital this week and, although, recovery is slow, it looks promising. His father, who served as a captain in the Congolese Army, came off a ventilator on Memorial Day, however is not yet able to walk or talk and is set to have a surgery to replace a feeding tube.

"It's been pretty rough," Mande said.

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Mande has had to stop work completely to act as a medical proxy and coordinator between hospitals and the rest of his family. Even during a recent weekend lunch he was interrupted at least three times with phone calls related to his parents' care.

Mande came to the United States with his family when he was 11 from the Democratic Republic Of Congo. They landed in Brookline and Mande and his siblings attended the Devotion School (more recently called the Coolidge Corner School, and last year Town Meeting approved it to be renamed the Florida Ruffin Ridley School) and he went on to Brookline High.

The then impulsive and rambunctious teen ran into some problems there that landed him in trouble with the law. He told Patch he shouldn't have done what he did, and paid for it, as he should have. But, he said, he couldn't help notice that his white and wealthy classmates got away with similar and more violent things without so much as a suspension. That stuck with him.

After high school, Mande, who had a difficult time adjusting to the U.S. and began experiencing PTSD from his time in the DRC made it his mission to find ways that would supplement traditional education with a way to help develop critical skills in a therapeutic setting.

While he was at Lesley University studying education and psychology he specialized in expressive arts therapy, a self-designed major. That lead to a drums-based education program that he started in 2014.

"It's more than just a drum class," he said. "It's designed to help participants develop critical skills. And it's been a really great source of reaching people."

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From the beginning, he wanted to make it clear to people that his work isn't therapy, but it is intentionally therapeutic.

The idea sort of just showed up, he said. Back in the DRC, he had always played drums, and when he moved to America when he was younger, he had a hard time with learning and his traumatic past experiences manifested themselves in ways that made it difficult for him to learn, he said.

Drumming helped him, so maybe there was something there that could help others.

He was convinced there are different ways to build people up and give them the skills they need. So he committed himself to finding a solution that doesn't replace school, but supplements what school isn't able to provide.

As he researched ways to make it work, his drumming class and events helped pay for college, and he started a program at the Devotion School that he worked on until 2019.

He had plans to expand, and was about to finalize a contract with a Boston public school last year where he would work with K-8th graders and design his own curriculum, reporting to the principal.

"Everything sounded perfect," he said. A week before he was to sign the contract, it fell through.

His short run-in with the law more than a decade ago when he was in high school came back and cost him his dream job, he said. He was able to hire a lawyer and get the event removed from his record, but, it hit him hard. He'd already let his clientele know he'd be moving on and now he was left with only one or two clients.

He couldn't help feel that this was just a reminder of his status as a Black man in America.

"It was very traumatic," he said.

Yet, he chose to push on. He took a job at a software company to help ends meet, and was still teaching a few students on the side up until the pandemic.

He is hopeful that once his parents are back on their feet he will be able to fully return to his Wellness in Drums program. And he's thinking about ways to hold class on Zoom.

"Drums is something that most people can do, and if it's facilitated well, it can really be transformative for people," he said. "I do this to help meet people where they are and empower them. Even if you think you can't drum ... my goal is to help people bring out what's already inside of them and help them see what they're already capable of."

His long term goal? Go back to Congo and build a school that incorporates this, he said.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, opinion piece.

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