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.
As much as I try, when I open my mouth, Lena comes out, And I get so mad.
I thought of singing and acting as a living-making. I was able to take care of myself and a few of my friends.
In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I'm black and a woman, singing my own way.
Count Basie isn't just a man, or even just a band. He's a way of life.
I want to sing like Aretha Franklin. Before her I wanted the technical ability of Ella Fitzgerald.
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.
I had my schooling right there in the Cotton Club.
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.
I really do hate to sing.
I'm not a career kind of person. When I saw new music, new trends coming in, I didn't see any place for me. And I didn't think about it as a career loss, because I was married - I have a great- grandchild now. The low points were when I lost people that I really cared about.
I've seen so much. And I've heard so many great performers. There are performers now that couldn't work back in the days when I came along.
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.
