Dorothy Dandridge was an example of pure beauty and raw talent, sadly before her time. Being Black in the 1950’s kept many performers out of nightclubs/venues because of the color of their skin. Dorothy was no exception. I first saw Carmen Jones, an all-Black musical based on Bizet’s opera Carmen when I was 13 and wanted to know more of her life. In this portrait I use the term “first Black actor/entertainer” as non-sexual, meaning either man or woman. Dorothy had a curiosity about her own mortality. One of her many suicide notes (which she kept around her house) is encrusted here in pearls. I have a very tender place in my heart for this woman who lived by her OWN rules in a white male society that didn’t want to have a place for her.