Today I blame only certain agents for my long eclipse as a public entertainer.

The greatest acts in colored show business had long made Harlem their home and favorite stamping ground.

Asking what I considered an impossible salary when I didn't want to work for someone has boosted my pay again and again.

What broke Mom's heart was realizing that her children knew nothing and cared nothing about the better side of life.

All my life I've been prejudiced against wealthy people.

I never posed as a saint. I would have slept with a man for nothing if I liked him well enough.

I dressed plain, but my partners were always spending more money on clothes than I could afford.