WEBVTT

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"Brown" has a little
explanation that goes with it.

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Whenever you do
ballroom dancing,

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you do competitions, or
showcases in the place

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where you're dancing
with a group of people

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in the audience, there is a
woman who always shows up--

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we call her "the dress lady."

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She's the one who brings
all those wonderful ball

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gowns for sale, yards and yards
and yards and yards of ball

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gown.

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"Brown."

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"Why you look good
in every color!

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The dress lady gurgled,
just before I stepped

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onto the parquet for a waltz.

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I demurred, we were in a
country club, after all.

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And she, fresh from
Fort Lauderdale--

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do people actually live there--

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with five duffle bags'
worth of ball gowns,

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enough tulle and fringe
and pearls to float a small

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cotillion, was only
trying to earn a living.

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For once, I was not
the only Black person

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in the room, two
others, both male.

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I thought of Sambo, I
thought a few other things

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too, unmentionable here.

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Don't get me wrong, I've
always loved my skin,

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the way it glows against
citron and fuchsia,

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the difficult hues.

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But the difference
I cause whenever

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I walk into a polite space is
why I prefer grand entrances,

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especially with a Waltz, that
European, constipated swoon.

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[LAUGHTER]

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The dress, in
question, was red."

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