Many high school students go out and accomplish many things after they graduate. They’re on the next leg of their journey through life; yet, even after they’ve walked off the auditorium stage, worn their wedding rings, shopped for diapers late at night, or have said goodbye to those who have moved on too soon, these students don’t come back to reconnect with the teachers and staff who have set them on the course that had made their lives change forever. It’s within these bricks and concrete that a student builds their character and identity. Dartanyan Brown is an alumni of North who graduated from the class of 1967, and in his academic years at the school, he found his passion for music and journalistic writing.

Being born and growing up in the mid 1900s, times weren’t what you could say,  “civilized.” Despite this however, Brown managed to find peace and fun as he grew up. Through all the racial tension, he stilled remained as the young and innocent child just like what we see in children today.

“We had Jewish people who lived directly across the street from us, and we had Hispanic people two doors down, seriously!… Russian Jews, Hispanic people, black people, Polish, there was a lot of German and Polish people here always. So the neighborhood I grew up in was actually pretty diverse, it wasn’t a rich neighborhood, but it was very well-represented with almost every kind of person… and they all respected each other,” Brown said.

Transitioning to high school, it was all a surprise for Brown. In 1963, the city came and took over his family’s home and property. There was a plan for a new highway to be built, interstate I-235. The family ended up moving close to Harding Middle School where Brown then entered into North High School instead of East High School.

“I mean it was my own kid neighborhood and then they came through in 1963 and said, ‘you gotta move.’ They made us move y’know and it was like ‘what?’… it was a traumatic thing for me cause I had all my friends and then we ended up having to move over here,” he said.

However, what Brown also stated about this transition was, “the thing I thought was gonna be bad actually turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me.” During his time at North, Brown was involved in many activities. He was on North’s swim team where he went all the way and placed 12th in state, but most notably, he favored newspaper and band.

The Oracle, back in his time, was looking for more reporters and Brown sought the opportunity to join. He became a reporter for sports, then by his senior year, he became an associate editor.

Printing newspaper articles was a very difficult task. Unlike today where we see digital printers and copy machines, in order to print a newspaper, one would have to go through a time consuming task of cutting and pasting stories for print. Yet, Brown enjoyed every moment of this process. From writing stories, to page designs and the late night sessions. By second semester of his senior year, he had already became a reporter and photographer for the Des Moines Register.

Being a good reporter who delivers honest news can be very hard to find. Brown believes the journalist and writers who provide good media coverage to be very noble. Especially when protected by the First Amendment, he thinks reporters should be doing their best in delivering the news so that it may cover both sides of the story  and inform the audience to the full extent, without bias. This was one of the motivating drives that aspired Brown to become a reporter himself. Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, the only way society was properly informed was through the reporters. But where were the honest reporters at? As a kid, he aspired to one of those. “When I was a kid for the first week of school, I didn’t want to be superman, I wanted to be Clark Kent” he said.

In addition to writing stories, Brown also played for the North High band. He played the clarinet and although he might not have been very good at it, he enjoyed it very much.

“In ninth grade I got in the band room for the first time. I’m in the band playing clarinet, my little clarinet that I learned how to play not very well over at Hiatt, then I come here and we go to football games and we march and we wear uniforms and it’s loud and everyone’s going crazy. It was pretty cool,” he said.

Being the fourth person in his family’s generation to have a passion for music, Brown had to choose between someone who wrote about musicians, or becoming one himself. He joined the band Chase, a Grammy-nominated jazz-rock band led by the trumpet star Bill Chase, after working for the Register from 1967 to 1970. Together, the band traveled all over the nation offering the world their music. Chase came to an abrupt end in 1974 due to a tragic incident costing the lives of a few core band members.

Despite this, Brown continued his passion and moved to San Francisco to further his musical experience. From there he met many famous and inspirational people, including a chance to work close with George Lucas, creator of Star War’s. While in California, Brown had is own family and children who also pursued music.

It wasn’t until late 2000’s when Brown came back to Iowa. Fifty years later, Brown had come back after touring the nation and working with amazing people. He says his decision to pursue music has “changed my life.” If he had turned down all his opportunities, Brown might have ended up working for an insurance company.

Currently, Brown is involved with after-school music programs at Harding Middle School and North High School for kids who love to play music. Just like him, he realized there are kids who graduated and missed being in the classroom, and so, Brown offered to be the person to play along side them after school. Every Tuesday he and the kids meet so they can jam together, and just like where he started his passion for music, Brown encourages that the kids of today will learn from him and pursue their music careers as well. It was within these walls and hallways that built the person he is today. It was the place where it all began.