Farewell, Lena Horne
If you witnessed a tiny crystal bubble floating through Manhattan last night, it was Lena Horne gliding off to the Emerald City in the sky. Lena passed away on Sunday at the age of 92. Lena's rep wouldn't give anymore details.
Lena kicked down racial barriers when she became one of the first black performs to sing with an all-white orchestra in the 1940s. She was also the first black actress to land a long-term contract at a major movie studio. Lena starred in Panama Hattie, Stormy Weather, Cabin in the Sky and of course as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz. In the early 1960s, Lena became a prominent civil rights activist. If you haven't yet, you should read her obit at The New York Times.
Rest in peace, Lena...and thank you for teaching some of us our ABCs. Here's a refresher:
• 
input this URL:
( http://www.shoes2.us/ )
you can find many cheap and fashion stuff
(jor dan shoes)
(NBA NFL NHL MLB jersey)
( lv handbag)
(cha nel wallet)
(D&G sunglasses)
(ed har dy jacket)
(UGG boot)
WE ACCEPT PYAPAL PAYMENT AND CREDIT CARD
YOU MUST NOT MISS IT!!!
If you witnessed a tiny crystal bubble floating through Manhattan last night, it was Lena Horne gliding off to the Emerald City in the sky.
________________________________________________
i love this MK.
___________________
"she is lucky to be alive, because that ugly stick almost beat her to death".
hotmess119's dad.
The world was a better place because you were a part of it, Ms. Lena.
CandyPerfumeGirl -
My you sound naive, but I do appreciate your passion, young'n. Did no one teach you about the "One Drop Rule" child? With the passing of each generation, so do the lessons of history. Sad day..
In the epicly sad tradition of RaceFail '09, RaceFail 2010 rolls on....
-------------------------------------------------
Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you you gonna bite?
Lena Horne was classy and courageous and had a lovely voice. She reminds me of old-timey Manhattan.
Oh, and thank you dcgirl.
Some of the comments here are so stupid and reveal so much about the poster. Lena was black and identified as so, and Obama, while his mother was white, identifies as black. AND, you know fucking well that if you saw him, you wouldn't be thinking, "Oh, I can spot a mulatto" (and you'd probably be using that antiquated, racist term) or think that a multi-ethnic young man was finally president.
Lena Horne was not "multi-ethnic," you fucking moron. Most African Americans are "mixed" in some way. Please. As if Tracy Morgan came out saying, "I'm white," folks would buy it.
Lena was the first in a few things, and she was damn proud of it. It's inspiring. She lived through Jim Crow (it seems most of you never heard of it), and had every right to be a proud black woman.
I go to this site to be entertained and instead, anytime there's someone black, I have to read some ill-informed, stupid ass post about race. As if I can't read Eric Foner or others about history and race.
Oh, and R fucking I fucking P, Lena, you beautiful, proud black woman.
Jesus fucking Christ.
so funny i can always tell when someone from Jezebel is commenting about race. the stench of ignorance follows. http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2010/05/insist-on-racially-catego...
@CandyPerfumeGirl
uh god i worship you and your comments!
___________________
"she is lucky to be alive, because that ugly stick almost beat her to death".
hotmess119's dad.
Submitted by CandyPerfumeGirl on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 6:51pm.
****************
I wish you good luck, and may peace be with you.
TBS right now is running her "Little Lame Lamont" episode of Sanford and Son. Funny stuff. I remember her in The Wiz which was so painfuly bad a movie.
@ dcgirl, wow, seriously? You just dont get it, do ya? No one is belittling Lena Horn and her accomplishments. She sees herself as a black singer, black activist, black woman ONLY which is bullshit because she is all those other things too - whether she likes or not ,and frankly, whether you like it or not. She has a mixed heritage and as much as she might loathe that, this is who she is. She is not _just_ black.
Also, what the fuck does how OTHERS treat her have anything to do with who she is? So yes, the club owners and MGM execs only saw the black or mixed heritage in her and dismissed her (cause they are ignorant fucks), but she knew better and she is in fact not just black. It doesnt and shouldnt matter how ignorant racist folks saw her, she knew who she was, which is a woman with a mixed heritage. How is this belittling anyone? If anything, she had the experiences she had because she was multi ethnic. Had she just looked plain african without a hint of anything else, she would have faced other issues (for example, as a child she was hazed a lot for her light skin by other black kids who "accused" her of having a white father).
Her experiences are unique because she is multi ethnic. Now denying _that_ is foolish and ignorant. I look at the woman and I read about her past and history and ancestry and it puzzles me that she (or others obviously) just saw her as a black woman in america ONLY. Nothing else. So because the club owners were racists, ipso facto, the only race that is ever relevant to Ms. Horn and which she identifies with is her african american heritage? Period. That is such bullshit and I am so tired of this kind of "my race versus your race" bullshit.
Had she, for some reason, said she only identified with her white heritage and didnt really hang out that much with black people or identified with her african heritage, (completely hypothetical), everyone woulda screamed racism and told her she is denying her black heritage and roots. But if you shit on your non-black past, it is perfectly ok. Way to not be a hypocrite and in self denial.
...
.
------------
"Charlie you fucking bitch, let's work it out" - High Fidelity
Terrible, terrible news. She was class personified.
What a wonderful and talented woman! Another talent gone from us. RIP Miss Lena! <3
@dcgirl: This is one of those times I wish I had a big flashing .gif that said "It's not about YOU!" in big red letters. Some people, like you said, don't want to get it no matter how many times it's explained to them. Ever notice how they get the most worked up about famous people?
I'm sure Ms. Horne chose and lots of other PoC (like the President) totally choose to be oppressed because teh whiteez in their family tree are evil.
Feministing had a good tribute (with interesting links) to her: http://www.feministing.com/archives/021126.html
Kinda trippy that the studios punished her for not wanting to go along with their idea to "pass" as Latino and that she only got invited to parties to be entertainment.
-------------------------------------------------
Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you you gonna bite?
It got kind of crazy in here, but I hear what you all are saying. I don't think Lena was denying any part of herself necessarily and I think people should be able to identify themselves absolutely however or as whatever they want. I never think you "owe" anything to anyone or any genetics or bloodline. I was actually criticizing people and society in general for our need to simplify things and individuals to satisfy petty desires to classify, rate, and define things.
Cabin in the Sky is one of my favorite films of all time. Lena Horne was an all around talent.
R.I.P Ms. Horne
Tell me why there's no sun up in the sky stormy weather...
I'm trying so hard not to take the bait. Had to edit out some of the f-bombs, simply because my mee-maw and Ms. Horne would not have approved.
Submitted by dcgirl on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 4:17pm.
could NOT have said it better myself, in a million years. thank you dcgirl.
*raises glass*
a toast to Ms. Lena Horne!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the thing that you're hearing is only the sound
Of the low spark of high-heeled boys
Wow. CandyPerfumeGirl, you really do have at least one major issue. The biggest one being sheer ignorance, since you have obviously never been taught the most basic of American history. But outside of putting your ass in a fucking time machine and sending you to hang out with Miss. Horne and to experience what she experienced, I can't think of any cure for that.
The terms multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-whatever, etc. didn't exist or come into play during most of her life. L.H. didn't have to deny her mixed-ethnicity, because by law and by an order of society that began with slavery, and existed for hundreds of years before her birth, those other ethnicities were pre-denied to her.
Also, you seem not to know that Native Americans, Asians, Jews, and pretty much anyone who was not purporting themselves to be of "pure" White Anglo- Saxon Protestant heritage were designated to the lower rungs of society. So how would it have helped Horne's cause to yell out, "Hey, let me in the front door, I'm part Indian?" That would have given the hotel and club owners a real good laugh.
When you belittle and dismiss Miss Horne's accomplishments (and others like her) because you don't like that she thought of herself as black, you're re-writing and diminishing the shared histories and experiences of a whole lot of people. You do not have the right to tell other people how they should think of themselves, their families, and their heritages. Why are you so hell bent on telling people what they feel they are?
i wrote an obit on my blog. she's one of my biggest influences and i am so sad to see her go - but WHAT A LIFE!!!! just the clip from "Stormy Weather" , lord have mercy....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCG3kJtQBKo
and i am usually the first person to talk about racism in american but as far as ms. horne goes, if you don't get it, you don't WANT TO get it. and i'm not wasting my time trying to show you.
RIP Lena Horne, and thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the thing that you're hearing is only the sound
Of the low spark of high-heeled boys
Entering the land of the redunkulous in 4...3...2...
-------------------------------------------------
Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you you gonna bite?
are we trying to get nominated for a feature on fandomwank? i just wanna testify about Lena Horne. what is with the sacrilege? :/
i feel like all these issues should be worked out in the college dorms when your RA has an event on multiculturalism and people just show up for the pizza but they end up getting all heated anwyay. and those in the know always choose sprite over coca-cola. not as a statement on race. it's just when the brawling starts, at least you won't have beverage stains.
So wait a minute @dcgirl, because the club owners didnt give a fuck about her white and native american ancestry, she has every right to deny that part of her? She suddenly stops being also white and native, because she was discriminated against by people who singled out her black ancestry only? Uh huh...that make sense....
Look, she can identify herself as whatever and whoever she wants - hindu, Buddhist, black, white, asian, quaker, shakeretc - but that does not change anything about who she in fact is - which is a multi ethnic or multiracial (if you wanna call it that) woman whose ancestry did contain - behold behold - some Caucasians and also native Americans. Period. You cant deny who you are.
Obama can say as much as he wants that he is a black man only, but the truth is that half of his ancestry, his genes, were supplied by a white woman. His personal preference of whom he identifies with does not change that very fact. He can be in denial about being half white, just like Ms. Horn denied her other ancestries, was ashamed of it apparently and thought she was black only, but the truth is that she was more than that.
She also wouldnt be _imitating_ a white woman, she _was_ partly white and frankly, even her physical features revealed that.
I guess I just have an issue with people denying who they are and picking and choosing their heritage like it was a matter of choice anyway. And then _always_ picking the "good" race (ethnic minority) over the "bad" race (white) - like they are ashamed of being white or having had white ancestry in them. Like it was something insulting and dirty, which is bullshit because there are good and bad people everywhere, in every race, in every culture...
...
-------
"Charlie you fucking bitch, let's work it out" - High Fidelity
I wish her 60 minutes interview w/ Ed Bradley were avail online. There's just the teasiest snippet at the end of this video here.
Lena
"If a lady treats other people as she'd like to be treated, she's allowed to roll in the grass if she wants to ..."
On top of all the beautiful and real things she did and was, she embraced the Hot Slut credo. Rest in peace and glory, Lena!
ps. I don't think she had plastic surgery on her nose. It's been like that since the earliest childhood pictures. Check out the book "The Hornes" by her daughter if y'all are interested.
Submitted by JewJewBean on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 1:23pm.
Why can't it ever be a post on here about a black person without it turning into a race debate? It is not up to you to decide how somebody else identifies themselves. DAMN people are so annoying.
******************
You are so right. This should be a post solely dedicated to honoring a great, great lady. I'm especially touched by her death because my own grandmother had an uncanny resemblance to her in terms of looks, personality and genetic make-up. So for me, hearing that Lena Horne has passed away is almost like hearing my grandmother (who lived to almost 90) has passed away again. It touches me to my soul in so many ways that those who don't have similar family histories or social backgrounds can ever understand.
RIP, Lena, you were super awesome.
Not debating but I was actually surprised when someone told me she was black.
♥ Threadkilla!
Follow me and my YouTube addiction induced insane trivial ramblings: http://twitter.com/angel_i
She was one classy woman. I loved to hear her sing. Ms. Horne was very proud of her identity, her work, and her activism.
Newsflash: the majority of "black" people born in this country have white ancestry and a good chunk of them have native ancestors as well. Recall how their African ancestors got here, rub two brain cells together, and stop trying to tell people "what" they are. You really can't tell by eyeballing them. What you think about their ethnicity or how they personally identify doesn't matter.
-------------------------------------------------
Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you you gonna bite?
Why can't it ever be a post on here about a black person without it turning into a race debate? It is not up to you to decide how somebody else identifies themselves. DAMN people are so annoying.
RIP Lena Horne
*HUH?
Ms. Horne will be missed for her great talent and innovative accomplishments in the entertainment industry. This era of entertainment and entertainer is how it was & should be done.
Adieu, Ms. Horne!
++++++++
Virtue and Talent are obviously overrated.
Submitted by CandyPerfumeGirl on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 11:15am.
She had european and native american ancestry in her (I mean duh...look at her) and somehow only the black stands out? She is called the first BLACK so and so having done this and that? Like what?
*********************
CandyPerfumeGirl and madame S., the hotel and club owners who made Miss Horne and her band enter through the service entrance did not give a damn about her European and Native American ancestry. This is what made her so great. She knew that the way she looked opened up small cracks for her, and she used those small cracks to kick down walls.
Who are you to question how she identified herself?
Your 2010 Utopian ideals of multi-culturism cannot be applied to or change the hard history of race relations in the U.S. Today, some things may have changed on the surface, but not as much as you seem to think that they have. Obama identifies himself as a black man, because that is what he is--a man who knows that if he were not the President, he wouldn't be able to get a cab at night in downtown DC.
Rest in peace, lovely lady.
She practically invented the nose job.
_____________________________________________
"Let s/he who is without sin, cast the first Stoney."
RIP, she was a class act.
Submitted by CandyPerfumeGirl on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 11:15am.
She had european and native american ancestry in her (I mean duh...look at her) and somehow only the black stands out? She is called the first BLACK so and so having done this and that? Like what? All the other ethnicities just pale (no pun intended) before the african one? This is so stupid and so typical for this country that on the one hand says race doesnt and shouldnt matter but on the other hand brings race into the debate as often as it can - just to be sure that race really _does_ matter. Tsss...
======================================
Submitted by madam s. on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 11:22am.
CPG,
I know, I was thinking that same thing. I mean, she certainly could have been the first Native American to a lot of the things she did in the entertainment industry. Classy lady with an incredible career, but man is it strange how people decide to selectively label and define things.
========================================
I think you both are missing a very obvious point, she was born and raised in a family that identified themselves as being black. For her to try and "pass" as something other than what she considered herself was preposterous. She said it herself that she didn't want to be seen as some "imitation of a white woman." Similar situations happened regarding Latino movie stars back in those days. It wasn't all on her, it was the American public and their opinions on people of color.
*********
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqnD11rjrtc
Fred Sandford was always hopelessly in love with Lena Horne. I loved the episode when he finally got to meet her, and refused to leave her dressing room.
One of the most beautiful women this world has ever seen...rest in peace lovely Lena
Please allow me to introduce the two of you, and any others with questions regarding Ms. Horne's ethnicity or race, to the One Drop Rule:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_drop_rule
_________________________________________________
Submitted by megank on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 11:22am.
She had european and native american ancestry in her (I mean duh...look at her) and somehow only the black stands out? She is called the first BLACK so and so having done this and that? Like what? All the other ethnicities just pale (no pun intended) before the african one? This is so stupid and so typical for this country that on the one hand says race doesnt and shouldnt matter but on the other hand brings race into the debate as often as it can - just to be sure that race really _does_ matter. Tsss...
____________________________
-agreed, Kind of like how Obama is the first black president...um, hello? He's white too.
You so ugly, you look like you got superpowers
CandyPerfumeGirl, Lena has always identified herself as black and society and the entertainment industry has always labelled her black. I would venture to say at least 80% of the black ppl in this country have European and/or Native American ancestry. Not everyone is a Tiger Woods type who will go out of his way to explain percentages of his "race" to appear as least black as possible. She's a black woman. She identified herself as such. Maybe you should think about why YOU have a problem with that?
************
I like living this way. I like loving this way.
Sweetas, really? she was the one person in The Wiz who annoyed the crap out of me- I always fast forward through her scene. lol
RIP Lena.
**********************************************
Don't be scared to fly alone
Find a path that is your own
Love will open every door
See in your hands the world is yours
-Christina Aguilera
That had me grinning like an idiot.
R.I.P. Ms. Horne, you deserve it!
You so ugly, you look like you got superpowers
It makes me so sad to learn this news. I've admired her grace and beauty. She is a true icon for her artistry as well as her civil rights work. Thank you Lena for being an inspiration to black performers everywhere.
************
I like living this way. I like loving this way.
This is the first time I saw her ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZBHctiksjs&feature=related RIP Lena
miss horne was a class act and legend...she will be missed...rest in peace...
_____________________________________________
what you gonna do? tell mom and dad I put your dick sucking list on facebook?” – "i love facebook like you love cock..."
another classic sesame street courtesy of Ms. Horne:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Y0lJ8ELvI
She had european and native american ancestry in her (I mean duh...look at her) and somehow only the black stands out? She is called the first BLACK so and so having done this and that? Like what? All the other ethnicities just pale (no pun intended) before the african one? This is so stupid and so typical for this country that on the one hand says race doesnt and shouldnt matter but on the other hand brings race into the debate as often as it can - just to be sure that race really _does_ matter. Tsss...
____________________________
-agreed, Kind of like how Obama is the first black president...um, hello? He's white too.
CPG,
I know, I was thinking that same thing. I mean, she certainly could have been the first Native American to a lot of the things she did in the entertainment industry. Classy lady with an incredible career, but man is it strange how people decide to selectively label and define things.
She had european and native american ancestry in her (I mean duh...look at her) and somehow only the black stands out? She is called the first BLACK so and so having done this and that? Like what? All the other ethnicities just pale (no pun intended) before the african one? This is so stupid and so typical for this country that on the one hand says race doesnt and shouldnt matter but on the other hand brings race into the debate as often as it can - just to be sure that race really _does_ matter. Tsss...
..
...
-----------
"Charlie you fucking bitch, let's work it out" - High Fidelity
RIP Lena. Such incredible class, talent and spirit. I'm too young to know about most of her work first hand, but I remember The Wiz and LOVED her in it before I knew she was legendary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QtnXysQUMo
gorgeous goddess go to sleep with the gods who made you! beyonce you suck balls! take a lesson from a true professional.