Beautiful? It's All A Question Of Luck.

Friends, To Me For Years St. Louis Represented A City Of Fear... Humiliation... Misery And Terror... A City Where In The Eyes Of The White Man A Negro Should Know His Place And Had Better Stay In It.

I Was Learning The Importance Of Names - Having Them, Making Them - But At The Same Time I Sensed The Dangers. Recognition Was Followed By Oblivion, A Yawning Maw Whose Victims Disappeared Without A Trace.

I Have Walked Into The Palaces Of Kings And Queens And Into The Houses Of Presidents. And Much More. But I Could Not Walk Into A Hotel In America And Get A Cup Of Coffee, And That Made Me Mad.

I Remember When Lindbergh Arrived In Paris, I Was One Of The First Persons To Know About His Landing, Because As The French People Know That I Was Born In St. Louis, Thinking I Would Be Very Proud To Announce It To The Public, They Gave Me The News First. I Was Then Starring In The 'folies Bergere.'

I Believe If The White And Colored People Could Get Together And Be Let Alone, They Would Understand Each Other And Consequently Love Each Other.