I wanted to wrap up my final entry for this class with a tribute to Lena Horne, who died this week at the age of 92. A mixture of African American, European American, and Native American descent, Lena Horne was a jazz singer and actress who denounced the bigotry that allowed her to entertain white audiences but not socialize with them, inhibiting her rise to superstardom.
In the ‘40s, Horne was one of the first black performers hired to sing with a major white band, the first to play the Copacabana nightclub, and among a handful with a Hollywood contract—with MGM, where she starred in the all-black musicals Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.
Here she is singing in Stormy Weather in 1943.
Horne was long involved with the Civil Rights movement. In 1941, she sang at Cafe Society, an all black nightclub, and worked with Paul Robeson, a fellow singer and actor as well as a social justice activist. She was at an NAACP rally with Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, the weekend before Evers was assassinated. She was at the March on Washington and spoke and performed on behalf of the NAACP, SNCC, and the National Council of Negro Women. She also worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lynching laws.
Lena Horne died in New York City on May 9, 2010, but her legacy and participation in the Civil Rights movement will continue to live on in her honor.
I love Lena Horn! I wrote a paper on her a few semesters ago. While her life was incredibly interesting, she faced some sad circumstances. She is quotes saying ""I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept," she once said. "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."
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting and unfortunate that it takes our culture time to gradually warm up to different races. It's ok to be light skinned black before a darker shade. Although often it seems for minorities with mixed backgrounds they fare worse than other minorities, since they don't have one particular racial group that they can fit into and identify with, leading them to be discriminated against by everyone.
I hope Mrs. Horne knows that her contributions as a social activist did make a difference, and that contrary to her quote, her talents are recognized even today- not just her looks.