My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a strong sense of self-awareness and pride in one's identity as a black woman.
Lena Horne's statement reflects her journey towards embracing her identity as a black woman, highlighting the importance of self-acceptance and recognition in a broader societal context. It underscores the significance of acknowledging and celebrating oneβs heritage and the strength that comes from embracing one's true self.
In practice
In a speech about diversity and inclusion, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of embracing one's identity.
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's positive and that it is not worse, rather than the uncomfortable edges of bitterness for the negatives and that it is not better.
I'm not alone, 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 was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. 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.
I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.
In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I'm black and a woman, singing my own way.
I live half the year in Nigeria, the other half in the U.S. But home is Nigeria - it always will be. I consider myself a Nigerian who is comfortable in the world. I look at it through Nigerian eyes.
I'm not British. I'm not American. I'm not French. Whatever thing they practise, that is their business. I am an African. I am Rwandese.
I'm dark-skinned. When I'm around black people, I'm made to feel 'other' because I'm dark-skinned. I've had to wrestle with that, with people going, 'You're too black.' Then I come to America, and they say, 'You're not black enough.'
I'd much rather people knew me as a good tennis player than as an aboriginal who happens to play good tennis. Of course I'm proud of my race, but I don't want to be thinking about it all the time.
I now realize that I am a gay man before anything else. Other gays may think they're a Jew first, or black, or a banker, but I'm gay.
I never learned how to be adequately black. I never learned how to be black at all.
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