Lena Horne

“I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.”

“I was lucky, as many of my generation was, in having a man like Dr. King in our lives. He came at a time that we needed to take a long look at each other and see how similar we were.”

“Malcolm X made me very strong at a time I needed to understand what I was angry about. He had peace in his heart. He exerted a big influence on me.”

“After I got over the terrible pain of having something of mine taken from me, I began to think how bad everybody else must be feeling. It wasn't a nice time.”

“I made a promise to myself to be kinder to other people.”

“My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.”

“I told them I belong to the same organizations and clubs Mrs. Roosevelt belongs to, but with a few brave exceptions, I was still unable to do films or television for the next seven years.”

“I don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I'd become. I'm me, and I'm like nobody else.”

“You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way.”

“I remember the day tDr. King died. I wasn't angry at the beginning. It was like something very personal in my life had been touched and finished.”

“It's so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance.”

“Always be smarter than the people who hire you.”

“I'm not alone, I'm free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody; I don't have to be a first to anybody.”

“Malcolm X raised my consciousness about myself and my people and other people more than any person I know. I knew him before he became Malcolm X.”

“As much as I try, when I open my mouth, Lena comes out, And I get so mad.”

“I want to sing like Aretha Franklin. Before her I wanted the technical ability of Ella Fitzgerald.”

“Every color I can think of and nationality, we were all touched by Dr. King because he made us like each other and respect each other.”

“Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it's just death.”

“I really do hate to sing.”