When God was planning my arrival, he could have made me anything. I could have been born in Portugal, Indonesia, Romania, Japan, Brazil, et al, but he chose me to be born in Augusta Georgia, at precisely 10:20 a.m. on July 8th, 19___. Ha. My business, but the point is…not once in my life have I ever looked in the mirror and wished to be someone else. I love my skin, my eyes, my nose, my hair and most importantly; I feel blessed being a Black woman. I feel like I hit 777 in the lottery. The dice keeps rolling 7’s. I keep pulling Aces from the deck. I am a symbol of beauty that can’t be duplicated. I’m in a royal class. Their is joy in my spirit for I know that I was born of love…and I’ve always felt special.
We are every woman!!!
Whether or not anyone accepts me for me, I really don’t care. The most important validation of my existence is self-acceptance. And Lord, I thank you for giving me the gift and honor of being a Black woman. Everyday I walk outside my home; I’m representing former queens, intelligent mothers, proud grandmothers and gifted women who birthed every Black woman there is. My head is held high. My walk is straight and I look forward as each step is precisioned toward my destination.
It is not what I am that matters, but what it means to be that. Being a Black woman means that we are born to be first. Africa birthed the first queens. That regality is deep within me. My spirit soars and I don’t need a throne. Folks see me and automatically are motivated to bestow respect fit for one who was born to be exalted.
I AM A BLACK WOMAN. Proud and free.
Thank you, Lord.
I love who I am and every single day…I fly with my feet firm on the ground, but soar each time I spread my wings, like an eagle, and glide with a firm wind above the clouds.
[Orchestra begins…]
Ahhhhhhhh……….Yeah! I always feel like I am the Greatest even when the world tries to tell me I’m not.
Some days, I feel like my parents did when rap music came out: reminiscing about the “good old days”, showing every bit of my age, but not being ashamed about it at all.
One of the artists that I grew up listening to in addition to all of the great talent that came from the late 60’s through the 90’s, was the late Donny Hathaway. Who was he?
Artist Biography by Steve Huey
Donny Hathaway was one of the brightest new voices in soul music at the dawn of the ’70s, possessed of a smooth, gospel-inflected romantic croon that was also at home on fiery protest material. Hathaway achieved his greatest commercial success as Roberta Flack’s duet partner of choice, but sadly he’s equally remembered for the tragic circumstances of his death — an apparent suicide at age 33. Hathaway was born October 1, 1945, in Chicago, but moved to St. Louis when he was very young, and began singing in church with his grandmother at the scant age of three. He began playing piano at a young age, and by high school, he was impressive enough to win a full-ride fine arts scholarship to Howard University to study music in 1964. While in college, he performed with a cocktail jazz outfit called the Ric Powell Trio, and wound up leaving school after three years to pursue job opportunities he was already being offered in the record industry.
Everything Is EverythingHathaway first worked behind the scenes as a producer, arranger, songwriter, and session pianist/keyboardist. He supported the likes of Aretha Franklin, Jerry Butler, and the Staple Singers, among many others, and joined the Mayfield Singers, a studio backing group that supported Curtis Mayfield’s Impressions. Hathaway soon became a house producer at Mayfield’s Curtom label, and in 1969 cut his first single, a duet with June Conquest called “I Thank You Baby.” From there he signed with Atco as a solo artist, and released his debut single, the inner-city lament “The Ghetto, Pt. 1,” toward the end of the year. While it failed to reach the Top 20 on the R&B charts, “The Ghetto” still ranks as a classic soul message track, and has been sampled by numerous hip-hop artists. “The Ghetto” set the stage for Hathaway’s acclaimed debut LP, Everything Is Everything, which was released in early 1970. In 1971, he released his eponymous second album and recorded a duet with former Howard classmate Roberta Flack, covering Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend.” It was a significant hit, reaching the Top Ten on the R&B charts, and sparked a full album of duets, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, which was released in 1972. The soft, romantic ballad “Where Is the Love?” topped the R&B charts, went Top Five on the pop side, and won a Grammy, and the accompanying album went gold.
Extension of a Man Also in 1972, Hathaway branched out into soundtrack work, recording the theme song for the TV series Maude and scoring the film Come Back Charleston Blue. However, in the midst of his blossoming success, he was also battling severe bouts of depression, which occasionally required him to be hospitalized. His mood swings also affected his partnership with Flack, which began to crumble in 1973. Hathaway released one more album that year, the ambitious Extension of a Man, and then retreated from the spotlight; over the next few years, he performed only in small clubs. In 1977, Hathaway patched things up with Flack and temporarily left the hospital to record another duet, “The Closer I Get to You,” for her Blue Lights in the Basement album. The song was a smash, becoming the pair’s second R&B number one in 1978, and also climbing to number two on the pop charts. Sessions for a second album of duets were underway when, on January 13, 1979, Hathaway was found dead on the sidewalk below the 15th-floor window of his room in New York’s Essex House. The glass had been neatly removed from the window, and there were no signs of struggle, leading investigators to rule Hathaway’s death a suicide; his friends were mystified, considering that his career had just started to pick up again, and Flack was devastated. Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway was released in 1980, and both of the completed duets — “Back Together Again” and “You Are My Heaven” — became posthumous hits. In 1990, Hathaway’s daughter Lalah launched a solo career.
Listen to this wonderful cd and enjoy what I did back in the day for those of you who have never been introduced to true soul music.
Good music has always been a part of my life, but I’ve noticed within the past decade a serious downgrade in the artists that are getting signed to major labels. To be frank; there simply is no GREAT TALENT out there. Just average singers with more gimmick than substance. There are a few notables, but when was the last time you felt AWE–like back in the day?
There was a time when singers, particularly the super talented superstars like Prince,Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Sade, Babyface, TLC, Toni Braxton, En Vogue, Brownstone, Boyz II Men, Tupac, Ice Cube, NWA, Geto Boyz, Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, Mint Conditioned, R. Kelly, Notorious B.I.G., Lauren Hill, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, EPMD, Wu Tang Clan, Guy, et al., Black music was relentless and dominated 20 years ago. But not anymore.
The people that were in the business back in the nineties have now either left or ventured into other areas of the business.
Napster changed the game. It truly did. Music has not been the same since. Can’t blame the fans. They had been telling the music industry through slow sales that they needed to “up” their game. They were slow to respond; Napster woke them up. Link: http://entertainment.lilithezine.com/Napster-Revolution.html And downloading music soon became the norm. It literally killed the CD market and forced music stores to shut down.
But how can we demand better talent? We can literally change the music industry by simply embracing artists that reflect the quality we expect.
There are many underground artists that don’t get any recognition, but fans that are tuned in know about them. Like Kindred The Family Soul and Raashan Patterson, Anthony David, Ledisi, to name a few.
Music gives us joy and improves the environment. I just can’t fathom that one day, this may be a thing of the past if things don’t change.
From The Mind of Truthangel 