September 9, 2011.
Not a moment goes by on the streets of Chicago that you don't see either a panhandler, a StreetWise vendor, or a Greenpeace/Illinois PIRG canvasser on the corner vying for your dollar...and your bleeding heart. Then again, it's another thing altogether to watch a street musician of color try his/her hand at a Handel and/or Haydn classical trumpet solo, disproving the myth that classical music is a white person's domain. Really, you don't see that very often, which is exactly the point of this sketch letter. Being an avid fan of both the opera and old school jazz, it does my heart a world of good to see a musician of color, particulary an African-American man, play anything other than classic R&B, urban contemporary, and reggae because we as a people want to be able to assert our versatility and open-mindedness whenever such opportunities present themselves. For me, nothing's more important than that.
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