Tuesday, May 11, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.
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A light has gone out in the entertainment world, in the black American community and our country. The beautiful, vivacious, talented, elegant, class-lady Lena Horne died this week in New York City at age 92.
An enchanting jazz singer and actress with alluring beauty and magnetic sex appeal, Lena Horne was at her heights in the 1940s and ’50s. She was one of the first black performers to sing with a major white band.
Later in life she became an activist for civil rights. And in the latter half of her life she gained new popularity, especially during the 1980s.
Horne appeared in Las Vegas casinos in the 1950s. The then-segregated Las Vegas, while hiring her as a star, denied her staying in their rooms because she was black.
The courageous Hank Greenspun, founder of the Las Vegas Sun, played a major part in breaking down this color barrier. In fact, it was Greenspun, one of the most powerful movers and shakers in Nevada history, who in 1960 drafted and pushed through the agreement to allow blacks to stay in casinos.
Lena Horne was a proud black woman who helped change America for the better. She’ll always be loved, remembered and honored. Good night, beautiful queen, Lena Horne. The stars, sun and world, knowing your destiny, rejoiced the day you were born.
