Jazz pianist Marcus Roberts has led a remarkable life. At the age of 5 he suffered major vision loss, resulting in him living with blindness. He recently agreed to an interview and spoke about his experience in becoming a musician despite his condition. At 12 or 13, he had a band while he was in a school for the blind. He taught each member how to play music. Today, he still helps young people hone their ear for music, especially those who live with vision loss.

“I have a soft spot for young people in that situation. The disability may kick into it too. Because I know there are a lot of disabled people who just don’t get a lot of choices. In the blind community, even now, the rate of literacy among blind children is only 10 percent. These are very disturbing facts for me, and I don’t think they get enough attention.”

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“Navigating Blindness with Marcus Roberts”