Jeannie Pepper

[on why she got into the porn business] I just wanted to show the world, "Look, I'm Black and I'm beautiful! . . . We are always seeing white people have sex. We wanted to see some Black people having sex . . . I wanted to be part of history. Show less «

[what it was like in the porn business in the 1980s] It was scary in the '80s. There was a lot of risks when it came to AIDS. My mom and my family were concerned, and I don't blame them. You were taking a risk every time you walked on the set. And AIDS was still new to us. People needed to take their own tests. There wasn't any mandatory AIDS and STD testing like they have now. Show less «

That [traveling] was the best part of my career . . . Going [to Europe] and making it . . . It changed my world. I have fans all over the world. I get letters from all over the world . . . [I felt] like I was a superstar. Like I was Josephine Baker or Billie Holiday. [European fans] embraced me overnight. All of a sudden I was famous there. They let you do what you want, they gave you freedom, they paid you more, put you in first-class hotels. Show less «