--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We talk too much of black art when we…" description: "\"We talk too much of black art when we should be talking about art, just art. Black composers must be free to write rondos and fugues, not only protest ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/alvin-ailey-18729_art_we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-sh_475923.png" --- # We talk too much of black art when we should be talking… ![“We talk too much of black art when we should be talking about art, just art. Black composers must be free to write rondos and fugues, not only protest songs.” quote by Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/alvin-ailey-18729_art_we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-sh_475923.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/alvin-ailey-18729_art_we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-sh_475923.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/alvin-ailey-18729_art_we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-sh_475923.png) > “We talk too much of black art when we should be talking about art, just art. Black composers must be free to write rondos and fugues, not only protest songs.” [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates focusing on artistic merit rather than solely on racial identity, urging freedom for Black composers to explore all forms. **In simple terms:** Art should be judged on its own merits, not limited by race. Key Takeaway Support artistic freedom across genres. Themes artistic freedom racial identity music diversity Mood thoughtful determined Type critical inspirational When to use this quote - concert programming - music education - composer commissions - public discourse Key Concepts classical forms cultural expression creative autonomy Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions promote diverse repertoire? - What role does audience expectation play? A Different Perspective May overlook systemic barriers that limit opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Black art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-art/) [Black Composers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-composers-4103023/) [Free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free/) [Fugues Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fugues-protest-4103025/) [Only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/only/) [Protest songs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest-songs/) [Talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talk/) [Talking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talking/) [Write Rondos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-rondos-4103024/) ## Related quotes > [I understand why people get desensitized and roll their eyes when they hear a protest song, or even a politician making some flowery speech.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/i-understand-why-people-get-desensitized-and-roll-their-eyes-when/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [So many famous iconic American songs are protest songs, and I think that the vast majority of artists will only continue to add to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-bruce/so-many-famous-iconic-american-songs-are-protest-songs-and-i-think/) [Liv Bruce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-bruce/) > [I try to make all my songs good. I don't ever write one to finish one. A lot of protest songs end up that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/i-try-to-make-all-my-songs-good-i-don-t-ever-write-one-to-finish-one/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [It wasn't my natural inclination to get into writing protest songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sylvian/it-wasn-t-my-natural-inclination-to-get-into-writing-protest-songs/) [David Sylvian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sylvian/) > [Because of my song 'Sam Stone,' a lot of people thought I was interested in writing protest songs. Writing protest songs always struck me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-prine/because-of-my-song-sam-stone-a-lot-of-people-thought-i-was-interested/) [John Prine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-prine/) > [The nice thing about a protest song is that it takes the complaint, the fussing, the finger-pointing, and gives it an added component of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-nice-thing-about-a-protest-song-is-that-it-takes-the-complaint/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [A protest song is a song that's so specific that you cannot mistake it for bullshit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/a-protest-song-is-a-song-that-s-so-specific-that-you-cannot-mistake/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [Playing on the streets of Iraq, or in Israel or the Gaza strip, I'd sing angry protest songs against war. People would say, 'Make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-franti/playing-on-the-streets-of-iraq-or-in-israel-or-the-gaza-strip-i-d/) [Michael Franti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-franti/) > [The protest songs of the 1960s and 70s managed to blend political and societal views with music from the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-porter/the-protest-songs-of-the-1960s-and-70s-managed-to-blend-political-and/) [Gregory Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-porter/) > [In the '60s, when I was growing up, one of the great elements of American culture was the protest song. There were songs about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/in-the-60s-when-i-was-growing-up-one-of-the-great-elements-of/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [I won't be indulging in anger anymore, vehemently and self-righteously singing protest songs, and expecting them to bring peace to me or anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-schneider/i-won-t-be-indulging-in-anger-anymore-vehemently-and-self-righteously/) [Susan Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-schneider/) > [The hardest song to write is a protest song, a topical song with meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-baez/the-hardest-song-to-write-is-a-protest-song-a-topical-song-with/) [Joan Baez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-baez/) > [Long live protest songs, in whatever form they take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/long-live-protest-songs-in-whatever-form-they-take/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [ I suspect many readers might associate \[Bob Dylan\] with one of the shortest phases of his career, the time from 1963 to '65 when… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/i-suspect-many-readers-might-associate-bob-dylan-with-one-of-the/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [Where have all the flowers gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlene-dietrich/where-have-all-the-flowers-gone/) [Marlene Dietrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlene-dietrich/) ## More by Alvin Ailey > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [One of the worst things about racism is what it does to young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/one-of-the-worst-things-about-racism-is-what-it-does-to-young-people/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [If you live in the elite world of dance, you find yourself in a world rife with racism. Let's face it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/if-you-live-in-the-elite-world-of-dance-you-find-yourself-in-a-world/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [I am trying to show the world that we are all human beings and that color is not important. What is important is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/i-am-trying-to-show-the-world-that-we-are-all-human-beings-and-that/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [I always want to have more dancers in my company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/i-always-want-to-have-more-dancers-in-my-company/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [One of the processes of your life is to constantly break down that inferiority, to constantly reaffirm that I Am Somebody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/one-of-the-processes-of-your-life-is-to-constantly-break-down-that/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [My dancers must be able to do anything, and I don't care if they are black or white or purple or green. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/my-dancers-must-be-able-to-do-anything-and-i-don-t-care-if-they-are/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [Its roots are in American Negro culture, which is part of the whole country's heritage, but the dance speaks to everyone... Otherwise, it wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/its-roots-are-in-american-negro-culture-which-is-part-of-the-whole/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [I wanted to explore black culture, and I wanted that culture to be a revelation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/i-wanted-to-explore-black-culture-and-i-wanted-that-culture-to-be-a/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [No matter what you write or choreograph, you feel it is not enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/no-matter-what-you-write-or-choreograph-you-feel-it-is-not-enough/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The creative process is not controlled by a switch you can simply turn on or off; it's with you all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/the-creative-process-is-not-controlled-by-a-switch-you-can-simply/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [Money is a never-ending problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/money-is-a-never-ending-problem/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [It will take very sophisticated marketing to achieve our aim of bringing more black people into the theater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/it-will-take-very-sophisticated-marketing-to-achieve-our-aim-of/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [We still spend more time chasing funds than we do in the studio in creative work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/we-still-spend-more-time-chasing-funds-than-we-do-in-the-studio-in/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [I'm attracted to long-legged girls with long arms and a little head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/i-m-attracted-to-long-legged-girls-with-long-arms-and-a-little-head/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) [Explore all 34 Alvin Ailey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We talk too much of black art when we should be talking about art, just art. Black composers must be free to write rondos and fugues, not only protest songs.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alvin Ailey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-should-be-talking-about-art/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-should-be-talking-about-art/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/alvin-ailey-18729_art_we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-sh_475923.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/alvin-ailey-18729_art_we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-sh_475923.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d35/alvin-ailey-18729_art_we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-sh_475923.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We talk too much of black art when we should be talking about art, just art. Black composers must be free to…” — Alvin Ailey", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alvin Ailey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We talk too much of black...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-should-be-talking-about-art/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/we-talk-too-much-of-black-art-when-we-should-be-talking-about-art/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```