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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1999)
Page A7 JAN. 13, 1999 (Elie IJortbm ò (Obscruer CHEROKEE tant past A personal decade - long relationship that began romantically enough, but soon declined into a hell o f emotional abuse and relentless con trol. But this is not a bum m er To the contrary. I Love You... Me is a love letter to one’s self, an organically soulful celebration o f freedom found. “This is an album about women and the things we deal with in relationship,” says the quiet, affable Cherokee. “It w asn’t meant to be a concept album. I just wrote about my life and what I was going through during a specific mo ment in time. It’s personal, but I’m telling a story that a lot o f people can relate to”. Before D ark delivers a pow erful, d iv erse mix o f sizzling R& B and b lazin g hip-hop flavor w ith their deb u t RCA records album release, D ay d ream in ’ - featuring the aptly titled first single, “ C om e C o rrect” - forM ia( 14), Arike (16) and Jeni (18) - alw ays do! B efore D ark, veterans o f the business despite th eir young age, co n sisten tly d eliv er cool, co n tem porary b eats in a y o u thful, yet tim e le s s f a s h io n .T h r o u g h o u t , D ay d ream in ’ p u lsates w ith golden voices, b a n g in ’ beats, serious slow ja m s and a p leth o ra o f passionate lyrics. Each son depicts various lev els o f rom ance, a su b ject about w hich the o b v io u sly “w ise b eyond IW’cxhing pRee D ie Oc‘t\rh O f Íie R ÓRorhcR Sends À UJom òn ln »«Z z a \ , “Once upon a time, not long ago/ there lived a girl who had it goin on but didn ’ t know/She was caught up so mis- brought up/Never thought about her happiness’ cause she didn't give a ...” That powerful verse is from the song “ILoveYou..M e.’’just oneofthe defin ing m usical m om ents o f I Love You.. Me, the debut Trip'RCA album from Cherokee. As a singe, songwriter, producer and musician, Cherokee represents that rare genre o f female artist bold, avant garde, fresh and delightfully eclectic. Fittingly, the album is a concentrated dose o f bohem ian soul, a passionate amalgamation o f R&B, hip-hop, jazz, blues and folk interpretations that speak to the heart from the heart. But, I Love You.. Me is more than just another im portant debut, the 10 song set, conceptualised, written and co-pro duced by Cherokee is, in many ways, a prolific chronicle o f the liberation o f one w om en’s soul. Several tracks augm enting the project - the bluesy, deviant “Steppin Stone," the sexy souLJazz melange “Blue Bottle A tla Shave," the anthemic “M y Own Q ueen" (featuring the leg endary Billy Preston on a purring Hammond organ) and the grooving mantra that is the title track (featuring rapper Simple E) - were inspired by a grim reality o f C herokee’s not so dis- a /T a Im ag in e a se n sitiv e ch ild , eaching into adolescence w ith a gangly figure, red hair, buck teeth vhich she had to grow into), and i stubborn streak o f indepen- lence. This w as Pam at fifteen, a re- n ark a b le girl w ith a fam ily h is tory o f ugly violence, w ho ex changed the brutal conflict b e tween her m other and father for a husband who repeated the harsh abuse she had learned as a child, and w hich she transform ed into horrifying nightm ares. F or tw enty years they drove her out o f her bed into a sleep w alking state to roam the dark streets alone. M enaced by a bullying h u s band who beat her, haunted by fears o f inadequacy, yet su p ported by her ow n tough inner fibre, and the strange infrequent visits o f a gentle figure in a calm ing vision, Pam survived the m ur der o f her brother forecast in a vivid nightm are, the investiga tion o fh is killers and the stalking o f the m an w ho tried to silence her forever. T hen, like a dream o f peace unfolding, Pam w as inspired to q uit her abusive husband and take heart from a whispered prayer that redirected h er life. B reaking Free is a sensitive book w ith a gratifying, surprise A b» o K n M r l v 'O e ending, w ritten by a w om an w ho learned to liberate h e rse lf from abusive bondage and to believe in the person o f h er g reater prom Sends A The Winter’s T T y g re s H e a rt S h a k e sp e a re C o m p a n y in v ite s yo u to en jo y a n ig h t o f e le g a n c e , d ram a , je a lo u s y an d b e tra y a l in its u p c o m in g p ro d u ctio n o f “ T h e W in te r’s T a le ." D irec ted b y D ra m m y a w a rd w in n in g Jo n K re tz u an d sta rrin g A c to r’s E quity guest artist M ichael M e n d e ls o n a s L e o n te s , “ T h e W in te r’s T a le ” is th e sto ry o f how o n e m a n 's je a lo u s y le ad s to d e v a sta tin g co n seq u e n ces. O v e r tim e, h e le arn s that fo rg iv e n e ss lead s to h e a lin g an d a s e a s o n 's en d o ffers th e h o p e o f a n e w b e g in n in g . T y g re s H ea rt p ro d u c tio n o f “ The W in te r’s T a le ” is set d u rin g th e tu rn o f the ce n tu ry an d w ill fe a tu re th e d e b o n a ir sty le, c o m p le te w ith ball g o w n s an d tu x ed o s, that c h a ra c te riz e s th e tim e. T h e p la y o p e n s o n F rid a y , Ja n u a ry 22 a n d w ill run th ro u g h S u n d a y , F e b r u a r y 21 a t th e D o lo res W in n in g sta d T h eater. T h e p e rfo rm a n c e tim es a re as follow s: 7 PM W e d n e sd a y /T h u rsd a y 8 PM F rid a y /S atu rd ay 2 PM S u nd ay T.J. Maxx Celebrates Black History Month All Year Americans are showing their apprecia tion o f Black History and culture by decorat ing their homes with ethnic art. Even national televi sion shows such as “Fraser" and “Seinfeld", featured apartments decorated with ethnic art. This treasured art, which was once avail able only in Africa and at expensive museum and specialty shops, is now being purchased by mainstream Americans at the national off-price retail chain, T.J.Maxx. 1.1_________ l \ l i il ise. B reaking F ree is b oth a fast- paced m urder m ystery and the revelations o f a sturdy w om an w ho learned to liberate herself from abusive bondage, and cam e to believe in the person w ho she w as alw ays m eant to be. Pam ela P enrose is a w om an o f action. B y taking hr book on the road, stopping for book signings at m ajor truck stop travel centers, libraries and b o o k stores, she is sharing her story o f m urder in vestigation and personal trium ph o v er abuse w ith thousands o f people. In so doing, she is fulfilling not only a prom ise to herself, but is reaching out to w om en every w here to encourage them to break free from abuse. Pam travels w idely in the N orthw est teaching industrial w elding. She lives in G re s h a m , O re g o n w ith h e r children.T he author w ill be at Barnes & N oble in W ashington Square on T hursday, January 14 ,h at 7 PM. A nother opportunity to m eet her is at W alden Books Store on B um side in G resham on Jan u ary 16lh, from 1 -3 P M . Her next radio interview will be on K.VAN, January 21 at4 :3 0 PM. th eir y ears” threesom e nonetheless adm its that they still have a lot to learn about. “ W e m ay be young and inexperienced in the deeper aspects o f love relatio n sh ip s," says A rike, b u t w e know how it feels to really care about a guy, and the hap p i ness and pain that goes w ith it,” “ So, w hen w e sing about all the different stages o fb ein g with som e o n e," Jeni intellects, “ i t ’s com ing from honest feeling and real em o tion, b ut no necessarily actual ex perience.” D ay d ream in ’ opens on a ja zz y , harm onic high note, w ith the fi nessed fem ale funk o f the future anthem “C om e C o rrect” Produced by the C haracters (B oyz II M en, S W V , 702), this first single ’ s punchy rhythm w ill set th e stage for th eir o th er prim e LP cuts; “ A lw ays O n M y M in d ,” a b eau tifu lly d eliv ered R& B b allad o f extrem e q u ality and em o tio n , p roduced by B ig B aby; “ W e w ant to give props to ev ery body w ho helped m ake our first album , one w e ’re v ery h appy and excited about,” acknow ledged M ia, the last to jo in the group. L ike the co n su m m a te p ro fe ssio n a ls, th ey then honed their voices, d ev elo p ed th e ir fashion forw ard style, and the rest, as they say, is h isto ry - th ey w ere signed to RCA Records. Reflections E ve nk You Are Invited Biographical Sketch Na’im Akbar, Ph.D Januari, 23, 1999 Dr. N a ’im A kbar has been ac claim ed by E ssence M agazine as “one o f the w o rld ’s preem inent Psychologists and a pioneer in the developm ent o f an A frican-cen tered approach in m odem psychol ogy.” a form er president o f the National Association ofB lack Psy chologists, A kbar teaches in the D ep a rtm en t o f P sy c h o lo g y at Florida State U niversity in Talla hassee, Florida, and is director o f his private consulting firm . M ind Productions and A ssociates, Inc. A kbar form erly served as A s sociate Professor at N orfolk State U niversity and w as chairm an o f the M orehouse C ollege P sychol ogy D epartm ent for three years. A graduate o f the U niversity o f M ichigan, w ith both undergradu ate and doctoral degrees in psy chology, Dr. A kbar has received m any honors for his progressive and landm ark contributions to his specialized studies o f the psychol- ogy o f the A frican-American. Tens o f thousands o f people around the world have read and been inspired by his highly read able and significant books which include: Breaking the Chains o f Psychological Slavery, T heC om - m unity o f Self, Visions for Black Men. Light from A ncient Africa and Natural Psychology and H u m an Transformation. Book Signing @ 2:00pm Walnut Park Retail Center 446 NE Killingsivorth Street Portland OR97211 httpV/unvu.users.uswest.net/- reflections