I'm not living the blues; I'm just singing for the women who think they can't speak out. Can't a man alive mistreat me, 'cause I know who I am.
Source: c. 1985, In My Soul Looks Back, 'Less I Forget, by Dorothy Winbush Riley, 1995.
-- Alberta Hunter, (Apr 1 1895-1988), US blues singer; She who achieved international fame in the 1930s for her vigorous and rhythmically infectious style.