Norton Remembers Lena Horne (5/10/2010)

Norton Remembers Lena Horne

WASHINGTON, DC- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) issued the following statement on the passing of Lena Horne:

"Lena Horne has the distinction of being a pioneer in two great American spheres that dominated during her prime, show business and civil rights. At a time when Black performers often were presented as racial caricatures, Lena Horne insisted on being her talented, gorgeous, one-of-a-kind self. She was a civil rights activist and leader, before there was a thriving movement, both for women and men in show business and for equality of Black Americans. Always defiant of second-class citizenship, Lena Horne accepted inequality in neither show business nor everyday life.

As a child growing up in segregated D.C., when blacks routinely saw insulting images of themselves from Hollywood, many, like me, learned from Lena Horne's open resistance, and she taught us that talent and hard work could transcend racism and hatred in our country. She was such a universally loved singer and actor that she performed well past the prime of most great talents. However, she never exhausted her unflagging determination to fight for equal rights for all people."