Feature

The Other Women That Helped Raise Me

Monday Oct 26, 2009 – By Alaina L. Lewis

I remember way back when…

Reminisce with me.

Life was less complicated for a youngster. My Huffy Bike was valet’d in the driveway, Saturday morning cartoons were in heavy rotation, Puma wasn’t just an animal at the zoo, and donning the asymmetrical haircut didn’t mean you were preparing for a trip to outer space. Even things like clocks with hour hands and tennis shoes with shoe laces, were apart of Mom and Dad’s speech called, “Back In My Day,” upon the introduction of digital swatches and Velcro instead of laces.

But don’t forget…

There was nothing strange about wearing your clothes backwards, inside out, and rocking safety pins didn’t classify you as an EMO kid or a KISS fan. If you couldn’t go back to Africa to celebrate your roots, you wore a Medallion across your chest of Nefertiti or the continent, which was a perfect accessory to compliment your 4 Finger Name Plate Ring.

Matter of fact, the only thing that stirred my emotions back then, was every faithful Saturday, Kitchenside-the night before Sunday service, when thoughts of Vincent Van Gogh casually danced in my head like a sugar plum — minus the fairies. There I was, tense, frozen, locked in concentration, every time my Momma warned me to hold my ear during those moments when I felt the heat coming close to my skin back in the Hot Comb era. That was a time when the sizzle you thought you heard coming from the back of the stove, was actually the grease popping heavily above your neckline when moms grazed a comb through your head trying to straighten up that curly “kitchen” of yours.

But even as I reminisce on the latter day norms that make my nowadays seem so complex, the one thing that always reprises in my storage box of fond memories, are the soft spins of The Other Women That Raised Me. Those R&B songstresses who never failed to impress, those women who precede by definition, and owned their own platform in an era not long ago. Stephanie Mills, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, and so many others swept me away with a melody, and kept me with the promise of smooth lyricism. Here’s a few of the women who made my yesterday today, by creeping apart from the Vinyl to add their soundtrack to my life’s fondest memories.

Stephanie Mills:

“The Little Girl With the Big Voice,” that gave Dorothy an ebony twist, by bringing it Home for African American’s during the 70’s upon the introduction of the Wiz and at the start of her promising music career. Mills was discovered by Jermaine Jackson, but it was his brother Michael that swept her off her ruby red slippers. One would like to think- or rather dream longingly, that maybe her brief relationship with the King Of Pop, may have inspired some of those ballads she spun, that we all hold so dear. Art imitates life and her songs were laced with love and designed to inspire. It wasn’t long before we all knew Stephanie and some time after we learned to share our hearts when we too found our first love.

All Time Favorite Song: Something in the Way You Make Me Feel
Favorite Songs: You’re Putting A Rush On Me. Never Knew Love Like This Before, Home.