Bessie

& Ma Rainey: You just got to decide for yourself. Hell, you got the St. Louis blues, the Chicago blues, the Gin House blues, the «my man done left me» blues. They all the same song, ain’t they? With the same three chords. And you done heard ’em about a dozen hundred times from a dozen hundred people. So, what make folks wanna hear from you? So, you got to put something else in it.

& Ma Rainey: The blues is not about people knowing you. It’s about you knowing people.

& — She need to be here?
    Ma Rainey: She needs to understand why TOBA stands for «Tough On Black Asses.»
    — Actually, it stands for Theater Owners Booking Association, T-O-B...

& Ma Rainey: That’s about right. Now how that feel?
    Bessie: Like I’m about to fall.
    Ma Rainey: That’s how it should feel every night. If you’re not risking nothing, neither will they.

---

& Clarence: That’s their motto... «Yours in negritude, Harry Herbert Pace.»
    Jack Gee: The fuck is negritude?
    Bessie: That means they’re real, real black. My kind of people.

& Jack Gee: Okay, we’re going. We’re going now. Right now. But sing one song, honey. The way you like it. Don’t sing it for me, them, nobody. You sing it for yourself. Now what you say?

& Bessie: You know the only difference between white folks in the North and white folks in the South? White folks in the South don’t care how close you get as long as you don’t get too big. And white folks in the North don’t care how big you get as long as you don’t get too close.

& John Hammond: Gonna build a new venue specially for it called the Cafe Society. The first integrated nightclub. No color lines, no balconies. Everyone under one roof just swingin’.
    Bessie: You’re dreaming’ John.
    John Hammond: Will you dream it with me?

♪ It’s a long, old road. ♪
♪ But I’m gonna find the end... ♪

--
+ quotes on the IMDb

+ Soundtracks!