I would find myself backing away from all of the 'isms,' all of the communities. I have always been able to be misused by every community But that is OK. I would rather be misused than neglected.

Most African Americans, especially the men and women from my generation, would accept the nationalist gambit that says only European Americans can be racists, which is an interesting gambit.

I am viewed as the Negro who has gone outside of the categories assigned to me.

So, yes, I am in the underground, but actually, it feels like home.

I know I’m an African-American, and I know I play the saxophone, but I’m not a jazz musician. I’m not a classical musician, either. My music is like my life: It’s in between these areas.

Everybody in America is angry about something.

...I have great hopes for the possibility of a dynamic universalism that respects all our people.