My father came back one day and forced my mother to submit to him. He raped her, holding a knife.
I could always open shows, perform through the middle, and close shows.
After years in white theaters I dreaded working in colored houses. The noise, the stomping, whistling, and cheering that hadn't annoyed me when I was young was now something I dreaded.
I never felt I belonged. I was always an outsider.
I was born out of wedlock. Nobody brought me up.
The big compliment came from the beer drinkers who didn't know me. They wouldn't drink or move when I sang. If they had their glasses in mid-air, the glasses wouldn't come down.