Inspirational Quotes
Words to motivate, inspire, and guide you.
Cultural Heritage Quotes
CreativityCultural HeritageFreedomHumorSelf-Expression There's a glorious sense of freedom in comedy, just allowing myself to tell jokes, allowing myself to interrupt myself and tell old African folk stories that I made up - or didn't - and Jamaican stories.
CelebrationCultural HeritageFamily InfluenceIdentityTradition I was raised with a huge Armenian influence, always hearing stories of Armenia, celebrating Armenian holidays.
ArtCultural HeritageIdentityMusicPassion My audience went, 'Wait, why is she singing jazz? What's going on?' And then they went, 'Oh, because she can. Because she loves it.' And jazz, a music invented by the African-American community, is the greatest art form, I believe, to have ever come out of this country.
Cultural HeritageDiversity in MusicEconomic ImpactMusic IndustryPreservation of Art Forms The consolidation of the music business has made it difficult to encourage styles like the blues, all of which deserve to be celebrated as part of our most treasured national resources.
CommunityCultural HeritageDiversityFamilyIdentity My immediate family are from the West Indies - from Trinidad and Grenada - and I have relatives all over the Caribbean.
Cultural HeritageHistoryIdentityRacial Injustice All black Americans have slave names. They have white names; names that the slave master has given to them.
Childhood MemoriesCultural HeritageCultural PreservationFamily BondsLearning and Education As a kid, I was running around the conservatory, playing with my grandparents' students who were like babysitters, taking cello and piano lessons, eating good food, and making sure I didn't completely forget my Chinese every summer.
ContinuityCultural HeritageLearningRespectTradition The colored folks been singing it and playing it just like I'm doin' now, man, for more years than I know. I got it from them.
Cultural HeritageIdentityRace and PerceptionSelf-Identity I knew I was half Chinese, but Iceland is so homogenous that I wasn't able to identify with the Asian part of myself. Even though I speak Chinese and was raised by Chinese women, I would say I'm quite white-passing when it comes to being Asian.
Artistic HomageClassical MusicCultural HeritageJazz MusicMusic Preservation I'm constantly thinking about classical and jazz, how to properly preserve them and pay homage.
CosmologyCultural HeritageHealthcareLiteraturePhilosophy Religion is part of the human make-up. It's also part of our cultural and intellectual history. Religion was our first attempt at literature, the texts, our first attempt at cosmology, making sense of where we are in the universe, our first attempt at health care, believing in faith healing, our first attempt at philosophy.
CommunityCultural HeritageIdentityMusicPride Hip-hop originated from the Bronx specifically; that means everything. I'm down the block from where hip-hop was born and raised, so I'm glad I am here and I'm able to represent New York the way I am.