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.

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.

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.

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.

It’s so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

I really do hate to sing.

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

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.

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.