Ms. Lena Horne , Brooklyn born, Harlem Cotton Club bloomed, New York original -paved the way for so many African-American actresses of today. On May 10, 2010 we honor Ms. Horne at 92, as she receives her angel’s wings to her cabin in the sky, while watching over us all to see how we continue the legacy she helped build!

“My identity is very clear to me now. I am a black woman. I’m free. I no longer have to be a ‘credit.’ I don’t have to be a symbol to anybody; I don’t have to be a first to anybody. I don’t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like nobody else.”

“I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept,” she once said. “I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.” Source

When Halle Berry became the first black woman to win the best actress Oscar in 2002, she sobbed: “This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. … It’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color who now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.” Source

“A Lady Must Live”- words of wisdom from the beautifully fantastic Ms. Lena Horne!