Seattle is like a global gumbo, a melting pot with all kinds of people - the rich, the poor, white people, some Chinese, Filipino, Jewish and black people - they're all here.
Interpretation
Seattle is a diverse city with a mix of different cultures and backgrounds.
In this quote, Quincy Jones highlights the rich cultural diversity of Seattle, comparing it to a 'global gumbo' to illustrate how people from various backgrounds coexist in the city. This melting pot of cultures contributes to a unique social fabric, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity and appreciation for different heritages in urban life.
In practice
During a discussion on urban diversity, this quote can illustrate the importance of cultural coexistence.
Just blow in it and sound bad for about a year and then make it sound a little bit better, and you get a little band together, and then you get a few jobs. You take four guys that sound half bad, but if they're 25 percent each, they can give 100 percent, you know?
Music in movies is all about dissonance and consonance, tension and release.
When you produce an album, you're dealing with it theatrically. It has to have a structure, and the inner response to that is that the ear loves it.
You can study orchestration, you can study harmony and theory and everything else, but melodies come straight from God.
I got a scholarship to Seattle University and I was writing arrangements for singers and everybody. But the music course was too dry and I really wanted to get away from home.
I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because it's not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.
Our country is not perfect but our country embraces its diversity. You can be different in this country. I have traveled around the world. I've been in countries where people are not allowed to be different.
And what do we love about New York City? We love that everyone's here. We are one of the most diverse cities in the world. And that diversity is racial. It's ethnic, it's linguistic, it's class.
Here in the United States our Muslim citizens are making many contributions in business, science and law, medicine and education, and in other fields...[they are]upholding our nation's ideals of liberty and justice in a world at peace.
Our workforce and our entire economy are strongest when we embrace diversity to its fullest, and that means opening doors of opportunity to everyone and recognizing that the American Dream excludes no one.
We're all complaining about diversity in Hollywood, but we've got to address the colorism within the black community of Hollywood first.
I looked out into the audience, saw dozens of faces I knew well - LGBTQ folks, mostly - all avid comics readers and superhero fans and DC supporters, and it just hit me: Why was this so impossible? Why in the world can we not do a better job of representation of not just humanity, but also our own loyal audience?
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