It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity, there is beauty, and there is strength.
––– Maya Angelou

The whole path of American music has been so much about the recognition of stylistic diversity, and the recognition of the importance of music which was from one of the vernacular traditions.
––– Michael Tilson Thomas

My mom and her sister, my aunt, were the two women who took care of me. They were like; “Play the trumpet and make good grades.” Whatever you do, you have to do the best that you can. You are not going to be accepted on the same level as a White person.” I never understood that. But she said, “The way they view us is different than the reality is.”
––– Billy Ray Hunter Jr., principal trumpet, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra