I'm me, and I'm like nobody else.

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

You wouldn't be allowed to get on a particular bus, but you'd be asked to sign your autograph.

I thought of singing and acting as a living-making. I was able to take care of myself and a few of my friends.

I learned from Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, the Nicholas Brothers, the whole thing, the whole schmear. [The Cotton Club] was a great place because it hired us, for one thing, at a time when it was really rough [for Black performers].

I'm not a career kind of person. When I saw new music, new trends coming in, I didn't see any place for me. And I didn't think about it as a career loss, because I was married - I have a great- grandchild now. The low points were when I lost people that I really cared about.

Nobody black or white who really believes in democracy can stand aside now; everybody's got to stand up and be counted.