How ironic that the Negro, who more than any other people can claim America's culture as his own, is being persecuted and repressed; that the Negro, who has exemplified the humanities in his very existence, is being rewarded with inhumanity.

I think music should be judged on what it is. It should be very high and above everything else. It is a beautiful way of bringing people together, a little bit of an oasis in this messed-up world.

America is deeply rooted in Negro culture: its colloquialisms; its humor; its music.

I simply want to reach a level where I will never cease to make progress. . . . So that, even the bad evenings, I may never be bad enough to despair.

I am interested in my music lasting only while I'm alive. I'm not writing for the future.