When I came to Syracuse, in 2002, I met a young man named Brian Boutwell, and he invited me to perform at a place in Hanover Square. There were a lot of black people I had met, artists, who, when I told them I'd been invited to perform in Hanover Square—their response surprised me. They said, “We don't go to Hanover Square. We're not welcome at Hanover Square.”

Once I performed, and I was the only black person there, I said, Well, it's not like anybody is saying, “Don't come.” And the one thing I did know is that art helped integrate this country—through jazz music and the big band era. I knew the history of that. So, what I did, when I started getting involved, was to incorporate as many people as I could—Asian, black. And Hanover Square embraced those people.