Arts and Culture
Bay Area African American Women in Music: Sista Monica Saw No Contradiction in Blues and Gospel
The late vocalist Sista Monica Parker was blessed with an uncanny power to move people. She could bring audiences to tears, whether belting the blues on nightclub and festival stages or wailing gospel songs in church.
Parker was inspired to become an entertainer in 1990 after seeing rising rapper M.C. Hammer – then her neighbor in a Fremont apartment complex – on “The Arsenio Hall Show.”
“I said to myself,” she recalled, “‘If he can do it, I can do it.’”
The onetime Marine Corps recruiter spent much of her last 27 years on the phone, however, as a corporate headhunter convincing software and web developers to fill jobs at firms such as Hewlett Packard, Apple, Yahoo and Amazon.
“I can persuade people to do things on the telephone that I can’t in an e-mail,” Parker told this writer two months prior to succumbing to lung cancer on October 9 of last year at 58. “They can hear my voice inflections and some authority in there, and suggestions and advice.”
Parker traced her powers of persuasion to two summers she spent at 12 and 13 years old as the first “Popsicle girl” in her native Gary, Indiana, with Tastee’s Popsicles.
“That was the first time I had the opportunity to be a salesperson,” she said. “I learned how to sell and convince people to do things.”
Parker, who began singing in church at age 7, always ended her blues shows with a gospel song. She formed a blues band and played her first gig in 1992 in Santa Cruz.
She developed an affinity for blues after attending the Chicago Blues Festival and found no contradiction in mixing the two idioms.
“Blues has some of the same rhythms and chord changes that gospel does,” she explained. “There’s a lot of truth in both blues and gospel. That’s why I write both. Maya Angelou said, ‘People don’t think about what you say; they think about how you make them feel.’ I would like to make people feel uplifted and hopeful.”
Parker subsequently issued 11 CDs on her own Mo Muscle record label – nine of them blues and soul, two gospel.
“The different emotions she would take an audience through during a performance – from happiness to sadness – were just really wonderful,” said Leon Joyce Jr., her drummer for three years, shortly after Parker passed.
Parker announced her illness on Facebook several days before her final performance at Yoshi’s on September 2. With the aid of an oxygen tank, she performed for a packed audience of friends, family and fans. There was hardly a dry eye in the house by the time the show was over.
Art
Phenomenal Woman’ Maya Angelou Monument Unveiled at San Francisco Main Library
In a joyful community celebration attended by over 200 people, including Mayor London Breed, the highly anticipated ‘Portrait of a Phenomenal Woman’ monument to Dr. Maya Angelou was unveiled at the San Francisco Main Library on Sept. 19. Oakland-based artist Lava Thomas created the 9-foot bronze and stone monument in the form of a book featuring a portrait and quotes from the celebrated author, poet, civil rights activist and former San Francisco resident.
By Linda Parker Pennington
In a joyful community celebration attended by over 200 people, including Mayor London Breed, the highly anticipated ‘Portrait of a Phenomenal Woman’ monument to Dr. Maya Angelou was unveiled at the San Francisco Main Library on Sept. 19.
Oakland-based artist Lava Thomas created the 9-foot bronze and stone monument in the form of a book featuring a portrait and quotes from the celebrated author, poet, civil rights activist and former San Francisco resident.
The work was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission in response to legislation passed in 2018 by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, requiring at least 30% female representation in the public realm.
Attending the unveiling were Angelou’s grandson, Elliott Jones, social advocate, philanthropist, and board member of the Dr. Maya Angelou Foundation; and Rosa Johnson, Angelou’s niece and family archivist, who spoke about the historic unveiling of this first public monument portraying a Black woman in San Francisco’s history.
Arts and Culture
San Jose Jazz Fest ‘24: Fun, Food and an Unforgettable Frankie Beverly Farewell
SAN JOSE — The sounds of summer echoed through the heart of town during the 3-day-long San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2024, held Aug. 9 – 11. Multiple stages hosted a variety of iconic performers such as Incognito; local favorites like Tia Carroll; and trailblazers such as Herbie Hancock. Guests enjoyed dozens of vendors featuring art, gifts, and clothing. Tasty bites included flame-grilled barbeque, seafood and a variety of desserts
By Carla Thomas
SAN JOSE — The sounds of summer echoed through the heart of town during the 3-day-long San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2024, held Aug. 9 – 11.
Multiple stages hosted a variety of iconic performers such as Incognito; local favorites like Tia Carroll; and trailblazers such as Herbie Hancock.
Guests enjoyed dozens of vendors featuring art, gifts, and clothing. Tasty bites included flame-grilled barbeque, seafood and a variety of desserts.
Oakland entrepreneur Ava Carrie and several friends said it was great to get out, enjoy the sun and hear great music. “This is a wonderful festival and just a great time with friends,” said Carrie.
Festival goer Cin-Dee said she flew in from Virginia to celebrate her birthday in the Bay Area. She was saddened that she missed Frankie Beverly’s farewell tour that kicked off in March when he performed in her area on the east coast, capping a 50-year career. When Cin-Dee noticed Maze would feature Beverly in the line up at the San Jose Jazz Festival, in a tribute to him, she made sure to cut short her touring of Santa Cruz to not miss the performance on Sunday evening. “I am so happy to be here and have this opportunity to see Frankie with Maze,” she said, dancing to the music. “This is really special and it’s great to see Frankie on stage and hear my favorite songs.”
Maze performed favorites in tribute to Beverly while introducing their new lead singer, Tony Lindsay. During the last stretch of the concert, Beverly performed, “Happy Feelings,” and “I Wanna Thank You.” The performance was emotional for Beverly as the audience stood up and danced during the entire performance, capturing the historic moment on their cell phones.
Maze was founded by Beverly in 1970 in Philadelphia and was recognized by Marvin Gaye when they relocated to the Bay Area in 1971. The group went on to earn nine gold albums between 1977 and 1993 with mega hits such as “Happy Feelin’s” and “Before I Let Go.” Beverly, known for his soulful baritone voice, wrote hit after hit during his five-decade career. Beverly said he was initially inspired by the pacesetting R&B doo-wop group Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.
Performances at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest also included the John Santos Sextet, the San Jose Jazz High School All Stars, Faye Carol, Delfaeyo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, David Benoit Quartet, Andre Thierry Accordion Soul, Ayo Brame, The Family Stone, and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
Arts and Culture
African American Historic Ties to Blue Jeans Revealed in Indigo-Dyeing Workshop at Black-Eyed Pea Festival
Oakland-based artist Reshawn Goods, also known as Bushmama, will host a hands-on workshop that connects present-day blue jeans to the skills of enslaved Africans at the 9th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival on Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West streets. Indigo is a plant that is cultivated in a number of places around the world, including India and and Africa. Indigo dyes were introduced in America as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Many of the enslaved African people knew how to propagate indigo to create dye from the plant.
By Daisha Williams
Oakland-based artist Reshawn Goods, also known as Bushmama, will host a hands-on workshop that connects present-day blue jeans to the skills of enslaved Africans at the 9th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival on Sept. 14 at Marston Campbell Park at 17th and West streets.
Indigo is a plant that is cultivated in a number of places around the world, including India and Africa.
Indigo dyes were introduced in America as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Many of the enslaved African people knew how to propagate indigo to create dye from the plant. Indigo was used to dye clothes throughout all of West Africa, often referred to as blue gold. Wearing these clothes was a symbol of wealth. The Yoruba of Benin, the Manding of Mali, and the Hausa of Kano were renowned for indigo processing and dyeing.
According to Goods, the Europeans liked the colors that this dye produced and made slaves continuously produce it. Another crop that they cultivated was cotton, still something used for much of our clothing today.
When talking about the historical significance of indigo for Black Americans Goods said, “Slaves at that time were given a ration of clothes once a year… this cloth was very coarse and harsh to the skin. So, one slave decided to dip their clothes in the indigo vat and this was the early beginnings of what denim became to be. People will say that Levi Strauss created jeans, but we created jeans.”
At Goods’ workshop, attendees will be able to use cotton, indigo, and denim to create patches that resonate with them that will be used to form a family quilt. This fun and free craft has a lot of historical significance.
“When you go to school you learn about slaves, but you don’t learn about where they came from or what they brought with them,” said Bushmama. “That’s not part of the narrative… we brought so much with us, and that part is not shared. I feel that if we knew how powerful we were it would help us to elevate. That would help to dismantle white supremacy.”
Bush has been creating ever since she was young. Her first exhibition was in 1994 and was also where she sold her first piece. Since then, she has continued using art to create awareness within the Black community.
Before the counterculture of the 1960s, dungarees weren’t even sold in department stores but rather Army-Navy and hardware stores. They were really cheap but sturdy and only made in men’s sizes. Eventually, blue jeans began to be used by designers and became fashion statements that can cost hundreds of dollars.
Many Black Americans are unfamiliar with this history, and with conservative pushback against things like Critical Race Theory, many pieces of history like this are left untold.
That’s why having workshops like these is so important, it shines a light on the parts of history that have been hidden in the shadows while empowering the Black community by connecting them to their roots.
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