Louis Armstrong was a jazz trumpeter, bandleader and singer. He was from New Orleans and became famous in the 1920s. He is known for some of his most famous hits such as "What a Wonderful World". Louis had a difficult life growing up with an absent father and a mother who turned to prostitution. At one point in his childhood, he was sent to the Colored Waif's Home for Boys when he was arrested for firing a gun in the street during a New Year's Eve party. There he received musical instruction on the cornet and fell in love with music. In 1914 the house released him and he immediately began to dream of a life making music. In the summer of 1922, he received a call from King Oliver to come to Chicago and join his Creole Jazz Band on second cornet. He made his first recordings with Oliver on 5 April 1923; that day he got his first recorded solo on "Chimes Blues". Even though he was one of the biggest stars in jazz history, he still faced discrimination because he was black. He faced employment problems, was denied performance opportunities, was not guaranteed equal treatment, had problems with hotel tours, and faced discrimination in the criminal justice system. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayWhen Armstrong became quite famous and traveled extensively, he still faced problems staying in some hotels. He refused to perform in hotels during the day because he was not allowed to stay overnight because the hotels were for whites only, he was also denied the use of the bathroom in a restaurant. The criminal justice system was also difficult to deal with as Armstrong had another run-in with the law later in his career in 1931, when he sat next to his manager's wife, a white woman, on a bus. Armstrong and his gang were thrown into prison while the cops shouted that they needed cotton pickers in the area. Armstrong's manager let him out in time to play his show the next night. During the show he dedicated a song to the local police. He invited the band to play "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Old Rascal You". The band expected another night in prison for that stunt but then the cops on duty thanked him. His joke was not understood by anyone except the African Americans in his band. One of the main issues that showed the significant amount of racism that was happening during that time was when Louis was performing at one of his concerts in Tennessee and someone set off dynamite, luckily no one was hurt. During this time Louis left King Oliver's band due to lack of pay. He tried to find another band as soon as possible, when he met Sammy Steward, one of the band's leaders. The steward rejected his application because Louis' skin was too dark. This form of discrimination was practiced among black musicians against other blacks. Armstrong was quite subdued when it came to talking about racism and segregation. Everyone wanted him in front of the marching crowd, but he simply refused because he didn't want to be a target. This decision gave him the nickname "Uncle Tom". In 1957, however, he angrily spoke out about segregation to President Eisenhower when a group of black students known as the "Little Rock Nine" were barred from attending an all-white high school in Arkansas. When asked about the crisis in an interview, Armstrong responded, “The way they treat my people in the South, the government can go to hell.” He added that President Dwight D. Eisenhower