Artists made a stunning and under-appreciated difference in the history of education. Research, such as that from Illinois and New Jersey, is now telling us the "will of the leadership" determines whether or not arts education happens.

I take this moment to appreciate leadership by the arts for education:

THE DAY LOUIS ARMSTRONG MADE NOISE ABOUT SCHOOL SEGREGATION

Fifty years ago, and two weeks after the Little Rock Nine were first barred from Central High School, Louis Armstrong was on tour in Grand Forks, N.D., writes David Margolick in the New York Times. Larry Lubenow, then a 21-year-old journalism student at the University of North Dakota, was sent to Armstrong's hotel to interview him, with his editor's caveat of "no politics." This would have aligned with Armstrong's wishes, as up to that point he had been quoted as saying "I don't get involved in politics...I just blow my horn." With the help of a bell captain and a room service lobster dinner, Lubenow snuck into Armstrong's suite, and Armstrong agreed to speak with Lubenow. Lubenow initially stuck to his editor's script, but soon brought up t he happenings of Little Rock. The response was shocking--Armstrong said President Eisenhower was "two-faced," and had "no guts." He called then Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus "an uneducated plow boy," and sang the opening bar of "The Star-Spangled Banner" with obscenities substituted for the lyrics. Lubenow knew he had a story, but couldn't get anyone to run it, as the Associated Press editor in Minneapolis wouldn't believe Armstrong had said those things. So the next morning, Lubenow went to Armstrong's suite with a photographer and showed him the story. After reading it, Armstrong, who was once called "Uncle Tom" by Jet Magazine, said "don't take nothing out of that story," wrote "solid" below the last line and signed it. There was typical backlash, but Jackie Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Lena Horne, and others quickly backed Armstrong. One week later, President Eisenhower sent 1,200 paratroopers into Little Rock, and the next day those soldiers escorted nine students into Central High School.