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