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.

You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way. But the slanting process is so subtle that you frequently don't realize how you're being slanted until very late in the game.

music became my refuge and then my salvation.

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.

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

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

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.