Davis describes a transformative moment of watching Cicely Tyson, a Black actress who looked like her mother, on television. Watching Tyson act, Viola discovered her calling. Soon after, she and her sisters created a skit for a local contest. Dianne took charge. The girls made a plan, acquired their materials, and rehearsed intensively. Viola was petrified with stage fright, but she performed, and the skit won the contest. The crowds cheered wildly. Viola, as a young girl, experienced the feeling of winning as a form of protection against the struggles of her life. It gave her the sense of being somebody when she had felt like she was nobody.