In a column published in Images Magazine, Ted Ellis calls on the younger generations of black artists to recognize the hardship faced by and the effort put in by the previous generation of black artists in order to pave the way for the newer generation to be able to succeed, and to do so with far less difficulty.
He says African-American are still not within the mainstream, and despite being the most financially minded black artists yet, that the current generation still earns less than it should. Ellis further assigns partial responsibility on an academic world that he sees as not paying sufficient attention to the genre.
He believes strongly that African-Americans should value their art on their terms, looking past aesthetics, and that only thus will the genre grow and be better appreciated.