Always Be Smarter Than The People Who

I Found Out Along The Way That They Like You A Little Imperfect.

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 Was Unique In That I Was A Kind Of Black That White People Could Accept. I Was Their Daydream. I Had The Worst Kind Of Acceptance Because It Was Never For How Great I Was Or What I Contributed. It Was Because Of The Way I Looked.

Music Became My Refuge And Then My Salvation.

I Learned From Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, The Nicholas Brothers, The Whole Thing, The Whole Schmear. [the Cotton Club] Was A Great Place Because It Hired Us, For One Thing, At A Time When It Was Really Rough [for Black Performers].