00:00You know something, in my mind, there have always been opportunities, because I will never forget
00:05Virginia Capers telling me, if they're not going to write it for you, you must write it for yourself.
00:11I am not the greatest writer, but I'm always writing and working on something for myself,
00:18and now for others. So that has been an ongoing process for me. Don't leave the work undone,
00:26always be creating.
00:30I did not know or feel it was going to be my night. I really felt it was going to be
00:37somebody else's night. When they called my name, I was absolutely, totally, completely
00:44in shock. I was in such shock, I had to play in my brain over and over, did they really
00:52just call my name? Am I awake? Am I in the dentist's chair? Am I under some gas?
00:59What's happening here? And then finally I heard Quintus say, Cheryl, get up! And literally
01:10it was like, oh, okay. And that's, I do not remember putting my feet on the steps, getting
01:18there. I don't remember it really. But I do remember centering my stage, myself center stage and saying,
01:28okay, calm down, calm down, don't cry. And I just sang, because that was very calming for me,
01:35especially a song that I had been singing for so long.
01:39As a black woman in Hollywood, it started with my very first film, Piece of the Action,
01:47under the direction of Sidney Poitier. I was 19 years old and I walked into a room where we're
01:56sitting there with some of the greatest young black actresses at the time. And I was up against two.
02:03One was Tamu. Tamu, who had just finished doing a wonderful film called Claudine. And the other was
02:12Pamela Poitier, Mr. Poitier's daughter. So when I walked in there and I realized that we were the final
02:19three, I figured I've got nothing to lose here because guess who's not getting the job? So I just went in
02:28there, gave it my best. And I left and I went back to Jamaica. I was there with my mom. And about a month later,
02:37I got a call and it said, we're booking your ticket and you're coming to Hollywood. And that was Mr. Poitier
02:44on the phone. And I could not believe it, but I was very excited and very happy with the outcome. And it was
02:52probably one of the best, best places that any young actor or actress could be to get their real start
03:01in an industry that was less than welcoming at the time. We finally met Jennifer Holliday and then
03:11everything came together. It was dream girls. We went from a 50s girl group to a 60s girl group and
03:18we were off to the races after that. I was never alone. I was mentored by some of the strongest
03:30black actresses of their time. Virginia Capers, Tony Award winner on Broadway, Rosalind Cash. Movie after
03:39movie, the woman who stood up and said, my hair is my crown. And if I want to grow it out of my head,
03:46the way it grows out naturally, that is how I will wear it. The industry tried to blackball her
03:51because she stood up for her locks and her natural hair. The beauty of a Beverly Todd and a Judy Pace.
04:00These women were around me. They were speaking, they were taking up space and I never felt alone. But I've
04:09also been the kind of kind of person I ask for what I want. And especially if that is help and
04:15direction. And they just happened to be the kind of spirits that could give it to me.
04:24Using my voice to speak up and out around HIV and AIDS, especially as it pertained to people of color,
04:32black in America, black throughout the diaspora, it was very risky. And people, oh,
04:40they would tell you to your face. They're not going to like you. You spend too much time with those people.
04:48A church once wrote me a letter and told me that God would find no favor in me.
04:56They lied. They didn't know the God that I serve. They didn't know that. But they took time
05:05to write that letter and tell me that. There were people who were even infected with the disease,
05:13who had to ask me, why would you take this kind of risk? It is not worth it. When I started 33 years
05:21ago with the first Divas Simply Singing, there were people in the industry who told me it was a complete
05:27and utter waste of my time that I should be spending my time in better ways. And I thought to myself,
05:35spending my time in better ways than helping black people and other people in their time of their
05:42greatest need. Oh, there's a better way for me to spend my time. Give me a break. And they did not
05:50give me a break. Oh yeah. And every time it seemed like there might be somebody to help,
05:57guess what they chose to do? Not help. Those you thought might see you, guess what they did? Close
06:04their eyes. Yeah. I had someone look at me and tell me, girl, you out on your own on this.
06:11So I created Divas Simply Singing. I called up all the Divas I knew from Debbie Allen to Diane Reeves,
06:19Mary Wilson, God rest her soul, Jennifer Lewis, Linda Hopkins, God rest her soul. I called all the
06:26divas, Liz Torres. I called them all and I said, ladies, please just come and raise your voice in song
06:36or spoken word. Or in the case of Debbie Allen, a diva simply dancing. You know, I said, just come,
06:43we have to raise our voices and talk about this. I had no idea that 33 years later, we'd still be on
06:50this. We'd still be talking about this. My career has been
07:00one of intention. I take roles that one match me in some way. That one, when I, you know, funny thing
07:12happens sometimes when it's a great script and a great role, you read it and the character embodies you.
07:18They take over. And when that happens for me, I know it's right. But I also want young women and boys,
07:27my community, my people, I want them to look at that screen and say, that's why we love her.
07:33That's why there she is. Yeah. When they talk about represent, for me, it's important to represent.
07:41It means something. I've been in this career a long time now. And I know representation means
07:54something. If I was supposed to have been seen differently before, I would have been seen
08:02differently before. God did not put me here in this place to gather objects, gold objects. God put me
08:12here in this place to spread knowledge, to spread wisdom, to be a North Star.
08:22I've always tried to do my best as a performer. I'll never forget. I was about 15 years old and this
08:32big film festival came to Jamaica and all these great stars came down. Stan Lathan, a very young
08:40Stan Lathan. He was there. Paula Kelly was there. That's where I met Rosalind Cash. And I remember
08:47one day I was walking through the Tropicana Mall with Rosalind Cash holding her hand. And she said,
08:55Shirley, what do you want to be? And I said, I want to be a great actress. She said, hmm, all right. And we
09:04talked about, you know, what that takes and studying. Years later, before she died, she opened her home to
09:10me when I came to California. And she said, you get, you get a month. And after that, you're out. And it
09:17was years later and I was frustrated. You know, I was starting to feel like nobody was seeing my work.
09:25It was, it was difficult. You know, folks were doing this, doing that, winning this, winning that.
09:32And I felt like I was overlooked. And she said to me, what did you ask me for? What did you, when I
09:39asked you, what did you want? You said you wanted to be a great actress. And I said, yes. And she said,
09:46and that's exactly what you are. You didn't ask about stardom. You didn't ask about fame. You didn't ask
09:55about awards. You said that you wanted to be a great actress. And that is exactly what you are.
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