St. Louis Blues is a 1958 American film broadly based on the life of W. C. Handy.
 It starred jazz and blues greats Nat "King" Cole, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, and Barney Bigard, as well as gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and actress Ruby Dee.
 The film's soundtrack used over ten of Handy's songs including the title song.
Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and civil rights activist.
 She is perhaps best known for originating the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of "A Raisin in the Sun" (1961).
 Her other notable film roles include "The Jackie Robinson Story" (1950), and "Do the Right Thing" (1989).
Morning Star is a song and single by Nat King Cole from the 1958 album St. Louis Blues.
 "Morning Star", taken from the Paramount picture St. Louis Blues, with new lyrics by Mack David, was based on W. C. Handy's spiritual "Shine like a morning star".
 The song tells of a mother's love for her son.
 The lyrics commence "I asked my mother / Is there a morning star?
 / I was answered by my mother / Yes, there's a morning star".
"Saint Louis Blues" is a popular American song composed by W. C. Handy in the blues style and published in September 1914.
 It remains a fundamental part of jazz musicians' repertoire.
 It was also one of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop song.
 It has been performed by numerous musicians in various styles, including Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo, and the Boston Pops Orchestra.
 It has been called "the jazzman's "Hamlet"."
 The 1925 version sung by Bessie Smith, with Louis Armstrong on cornet, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993.
 The 1929 version by Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra (with Red Allen) was inducted in 2008.
St. Louis blues is a type of blues music.
 It is usually more piano-based than other forms of the blues and is closely related to jump blues, ragtime and piano blues.
 It is sometimes performed to a "Saint Louis shuffle" beat: a drum rhythm with heavy on-the-beat accents.
 A band performing St. Louis blues typically consists of one or a few singers, a pianist and a few other musical instruments (used primarily for rhythm), but it is also common for a guitarist to take the lead, even to play parts normally played on piano.
The Kansas City Blues were a minor-league hockey team based in Kansas City, Missouri that played in the Central Hockey League from 1967 to 1972, and again in the 1976-77 season, mainly as an affiliate of the in-state St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League.
 The 1967 Blues were owned by Missouri Lieutenant Governor (1968-1972) William S. (Bill) Morris, and represented the return of hockey to Kansas City for the first time in over 30 years.
 Morris was determined to bring an NHL team to Kansas City and tried to lay the groundwork by convincing his friend Sid Soloman, owner of the St. Louis Blues, to create a farm team in Kansas City.
 The Blues made history on February 21, 1971, when Blues goalie Michel Plasse became the first goaltender to score a goal in a professional hockey game, scoring against the Oklahoma City Blazers.
 This goal was unfortunately witnessed by few as a snow storm was moving through the Kansas City area causing even the team's owner to leave the arena early.
St. Louis Blues is a 1929 American two-reel short film starring Bessie Smith.
 The early sound film features Smith in an African-American speakeasy of the prohibition era singing the W. C. Handy standard, "St. Louis Blues".
 Directed by Dudley Murphy, it is the only known film of Bessie Smith, and the soundtrack is her only recording not controlled by Columbia Records.
Ronald Handy (born January 15, 1963 in Toronto, Ontario) was a professional ice hockey player who played 14 games in the National Hockey League.
 He played with the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues.
 Handy was more known for his lengthy and traveled career through the minor league circuits of hockey.
 His last stop as a player was as a member of the Arkansas Riverblades, which he became the head coach of after retiring as a player.
 On July 31, 2015, Ron Handy was inducted into The Committee Hall of Fame.
 He was only one of six members inducted into the 2015 Committee HOF Class.
St. Louis Blues is a 1958 album by Nat King Cole, arranged by Nelson Riddle.
 "St. Louis Blues" was the soundtrack to the film of the same name that starred Cole.
 The Billboard album chart placed the disc at a peak position of #18.
The W. C. Handy Jazz All-Stars (also known as the W. C. Handy Festival All-Stars) is a group of jazz musicians who play annually at the W. C. Handy Music Festival in Florence, Alabama.
 During the last week of July each year, these musicians travel from all over the United States to gather in Florence and perform in various combinations.
 In addition to performing jazz, members of the W. C. Handy Jazz All-Stars serve as the resident faculty of the W. C. Handy Jazz Camp, also teaching the "A B Cs of Jazz, Blues and Beyond".

Question: St. Louis Blues is a 1958 American film broadly based on the life of W. C. Handy, It starred various jazz and blues greats, and actress Ruby Dee, an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and what?
Answer: civil rights activist