Margate Dedication Toots 'Horne'

 

From left, Margate Branch Manager, Customer Services Richard Elam, Rock Road Historical Group, Inc. President Hazel Armbrister and Pompano Main Office Supervisor, Customer Services Cherylann Franco reveal the Lena Horne stamp enlargement.

 

Legendary performer and civil rights activist Lena Horne is the 41st stamp in the Black Heritage stamp series. Recently, Margate Branch Manager, Customer Services Richard Elam presented an enlargement of the stamp to the Rock Road Historical Group, Inc. and other community members at a presentation honoring Horne.

Horne used her platform as an entertainer to become one of America’s most public advocates for civil rights and gender equality. Truth be told, she never planned on a career in entertainment. By her own admission, she couldn’t sing or dance very well when she auditioned at Harlem’s famed Cotton Club in 1933 at the age of 16.

 

But what she initially lacked in talent, she made up for in beauty.

 

The world would come to know her not simply as a pretty face. More than any song she sang, character she portrayed, or dance she performed, Horne’s intellect, spirit and unrelenting pursuit of justice, righteousness and fairness are what made her special.  

She blossomed from humble roots. A product of a hard-scrabble childhood that began in Brooklyn, she  bounced around from state to state, family member to family member, all along feeling inadequate, like she didn’t fit in, like she didn’t belong.

 

Perhaps it was that uncomfortable upbringing that helped her cultivate a tough exterior that would later serve her well as she broke new ground in the entertainment industry and became an activist in the Freedom Movement.

 

Although her name will always be synonymous with an era of elegance, sophistication and grace, Lena Horne’s life — by her own admittance — was always about one thing: Survival. In a career that spanned nearly 70 years, she existed and persisted, and along the way, she became a star, an advocate, a leader and a legend.

 

She broke new ground for black performers when she signed one of the first long-term contracts with a major Hollywood studio. And she ruffled more than a few feathers when she refused to play subservient roles typically given to blacks during that time.

 

She inspired everyone. She was the pin-up girl of choice for black G.I.s serving in World War II. With Lena Horne’s photo on your footlocker, you had the courage to fight another day. During World War II, Horne entertained at camps for black servicemen, and after the war worked on behalf of Japanese Americans who were facing discriminatory housing policies. She worked with Eleanor Roosevelt in pressing for anti-lynching legislation.

 

In the 1960s, Horne continued her high-profile work for civil rights, performing at rallies in the South, supporting the work of the National Council for Negro Women, and participating in the 1963 March on Washington.

 

She used her elegance, charisma, and fame to become an important spokesperson for civil rights. So impactful, her name is listed on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. Her passion and purpose earned her a Kennedy Center Honors award in 1984.

 

From left, Cal's Beauty Salon Owner Delores Bullard, Historic Ali Cultural Arts Program Director Cherolyn Davis, Self-Motivated Entrepreneur and Registered Nurse Darlene Brown Ponder and Rock Road Historical Group, Inc. President Hazel Armbrister were pleased to participate in the Lena Horne stamp dedication.

Photos: Fort Lauderdale Customer Relations Coordinator Kelly Worthman