It takes a long time to really be married. One marries many times at many levels within that marriage. If you have more marriages than you have divorces within the marriage, youโre lucky and you stick it out.
Ruby DeeWe both grew up in the atmosphere of struggle, both Ossie and me, ... I come out of Harlem and Harlem comes out of me - wailing police sirens and street parties, rumors and landlords, that cultural, spiritual scene. And Ossie came up from the South, where struggle and dying were part of everyday life. That is who we are.
Ruby DeeSee, I donโt expect to win a prize for stoic control and dignity at mourning time. Death deserve tantrums. Beating back shocked indignation, kicks in the groin, stones, classified unacceptable, not to be tolerated, not to be wooed, not to be conspired with. Only then can music, dance, movies, plays, rap be about life. Only then can life be cherished and adored.
Ruby DeeMy dream was I was going to be an actor. Racism occurred to me. It dawned on me that I would not be an actor. It occurred to me that I was not white. It occurred to me that being what they call colored, being a Negro, was some kind of a disadvantage.
Ruby DeeYou just try to do everything that comes up. Get up an hour earlier, stay up an hour later, make the time. Then you look back and say, โWell, that was a neat piece of juggling there -- school, marriage, babies, career.โ The enthusiasms took me through the action, not the measuring of it or the reasonableness.
Ruby Dee