Published May 11, 2010
NPR's Sonari Glinton
Sonari Glinton is an NPR producer on loan to WBUR. He has reported on Lena Horne, the iconic soul singer who died Sunday at 92. Horne made a deep and lasting impression on Sonari, so I asked him to share his memories with us.
Andrew Phelps: Sonari, in your obituary for NPR, you wrote that Lena Horne’s career “began with frustration and ended in celebration.” And here you are, celebrating her career. Why?
Sonari Glinton: I should have said: “ended in triumph.” I guess this is my chance for a do-over. Lena Horne’s career ended in triumph. There. Redone.
Anyway, moving on. I think her cultural importance is equal to and may even outweigh her actual artistic importance. (She was no slouch artistically.) I mean, for decades she represented black beauty. By the way, here’s a hilarious bit by Lenny Bruce about Horne’s beauty:
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And she was the first real black movie star! Think about that. Before Lena Horne, the black women in movies were actresses like Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen. While they were both important, no one would call them glamorous.
I talked to Jesse Jackson about her, and he called her “a black queen.” He likened her decades of civil rights work to other icons such as Dorothy Height and Rosa Parks. So I think her cultural significance cannot be overstated.
AP: I hear you insisted to your editors long ago that you wanted to cover Horne’s eventual death. Why? Tell me the back story.
SG: This always seems morbid to people, but most news organizations do advanced obits of important figures in their coverage area. I don’t think it’s morbid but a sign of respect. And at NPR, at least, there is a tendency when it comes to artists that the fans of their work end up doing the obituary. I have many of her albums and about two dozen of her songs are in significant rotation on my iPod. Plus, let me say this in the most diplomatic sense: I think I could best express her cultural significance.
AP: What is your personal connection to Horne?
Here’s an interesting story that I learned while reading about the 40th anniversary of “Sesame Street” a few months ago. Lena Horne and other New York-based artists such as Harry Belafonte were friends with the “Sesame Street” creator, Joan Ganz Cooney. So Horne was a fairly frequent guest on “Sesame Street.” So essentially Lena Horne taught me my ABC’s.
And to be honest, Andrew, I’m such a dork that even at my advanced age I watch this video if I’m nervous about going to a party:
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Also, as a black man I’m very curious about how successful African-Americans have dealt with race. Lena Horne’s struggle is well-documented. As Diahann Carroll said to me: “Lena Horne was angry, and, unfortunately, so am I.” Horne seems to have overcome her anger and the obstacles put in front of her (as did Diahann Carroll). She spent years performing at places that refused to have her as a guest. The famous story goes that after her daughter got in the pool at a Vegas hotel, the management drained the pool.
And despite that, she pushed and pushed and had this unparalleled career. And at the end she just seemed to be such a highly evolved woman.
The quote of hers that sticks with me is from the New York Times obit: “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.”
AP: Why do you love her so?
SG:Why do I love ice cream? I’m not sure. I know I respect her for her contributions to the civil rights movement. I know I’m inspired by her because of how she dealt with racism and sexism. I love her work because she was so classy, so sexy, so damn good. And because she taught me my ABC’s
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