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