Rihanna And Sheryl Lee Ralph Caribbean Entertainers With An Agenda

Tony Best

It’s not unusual for the average person on the street or in the home to put all celebrities in a box, one of limousines, fancy clothes, a carefree existence, bits of scandal and lots of money to spend.

After all, most of what people read or hear about famous entertainers and sports personalities comes down to those things anyway. Why they are dating, how much they spend on clothes, their run-ins with the law, presence in fancy restaurants or their latest hit song or movie.

But there is another side to some of them, a far more serious and positive pursuit of public service as seen in the causes they support that help to bring relief to victims of disease, the poor and others often described as “less fortunate” than the rest of society.

Two performers from the Caribbean, Rihanna, the Bajan Grammy-award winning singer with a global following, and Sheryl Lee Ralph, a well-known Jamaican-born actress of the stage, large screen and television, are cases in point.

Both are using their celebrity status to help children or adults in the United States and different parts of the world turn dreams of a better day into reality.

Rihanna has launched her own charity, “The Believe Foundation,” which is joining forces with other institutions, including the record label Def Jam to turn around the fortunes of children, who are ill, in need of care or a happy and smiling moment in their lives.

“When I was young and I would watch television and I would see all the children suffering, I always said when I grow up, I want to help,” she told “People” magazine recently after a concert in Chicago. “Not long after I was in a position where I could help, I started to visit all these children’s hospitals and I have a soft spot for kids. I just want to help and make sure they are happy. They can come to a Rihanna concert or have toys or gifts at Christmas.”

The Foundation’s mission, according to its literature, “gives children a chance by providing everything from medical attention for children, who can’t afford it, school supplies for children in poorly funded public schools, toys for children who are terminally ill and clothes for children in homeless shelters.”

It is holding a series of concerts in Chicago, San Francisco, New York and elsewhere and Rihanna is among the star performers. After the shows she meets, greets and reaches out to the kids.

Quite recently too she helped a woman in New York find a donor for a bone marrow transplant, an effort which attracted considerable international media attention.

“I just want to travel all over the world with the kids,” the Bajan said. “As a kid, the thing I hated the most was disappointment, so I never want to disappoint kids. I always want to put a smile on their faces. Kids are our future.”

Ralph, a mother of two teenage children, Etienne, 16, and Coco, 13, has established a foundation to heighten people’s awareness of the spread of HIV/AIDS.

“I try to be the best possible person I can be,” she told Ebony magazine recently. “I try not to cuss out anybody. I believe that if you want to see change, even in your own family, you have got to be the change you want to see.”
The actress, who commutes between Pennsylvania her family’s home and California, has toured the country, performing in a one-woman play, “Sometimes I Cry,” which sends a powerful message about HIV/AIDS and the toll it is taking on women. It is based on true stories of female victims of the deadly disease and she told the monthly Black publication that she was moved to write the play after hearing about females as young as 11 years old and as old as 68 talking about the impact of the disease on their lives.

Ralph who starred in the original Broadway version of Dreamgirls in the 1980s and was honored a few years ago by the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies for her philanthropic work and her positive image has seen how HIV/AIDS caused suffering and subsequently death within the artistic community in which she has thrived and has been very successful.

But there is another chapter she is writing with her work on HIV/AIDS. As a mother and the wife of Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes, the Jamaican is teaching her children by example about the virtues of getting involved in public activism.

And she is also doing that through her activities in support of U.S. Senator Barack Obama, who wants to be the next Democratic President of the United States. She has joined other prominent public figures to help get Obama’s message of change across to the nation.

 

The Spirited Essence Of Santana Unique 2 CD Santana Collection

By Walter Greene

Grammy Award winning international musicians Santana is celebrating the April release of their historic double CD ‘Multi Dimensional Warrior’ with a North American tour which ends on May 4th at the Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ten years after their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1998, the spiritual power of Santana is exposed in this, the first historic Santana collection to present music spanning three-plus decades from all three major record labels they’ve been associated with - Columbia, Polydor/PolyGram and Arista/BMG.

All of the tracks were personally selected and sequenced by Carlos Santana himself. The 2 CD collections are also unique in that one disc is comprised of all vocals and the second disc is all instrumental. This is truly a collector’s item for the numerous fans and music lovers of the legendary band. Santana’s music is known to have meditative powers. Over the course of some four decades, this international music ensemble led by the amazingly talented Carlos Santana has never loosed their focus or fan base. Now, for the first time the exclusive focus of Santana is packaged in one memorable collection.

The history of Santana began when Carlos Santana was signed to Columbia Records by Clive Davis late 1968. They began recording in January 1969 - although the follow-up session of May 1969, were the ones eventually used for their debut album, released on August 19, 1969, the day after the end of the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair, where they performed on Saturday afternoon. ‘Warrior’ includes one of their oldest signatures, “Samba Pa Ti,” the B-side of their fourth single, “Oye Como Va,” from the second Santana album, ‘Abraxas’ (1970).

At the far end of the Columbia timetable are the final three albums to bear the Santana name - and the only three albums on ‘Warrior’ to be represented by one track each on disc one and disc two. Early 1987s ‘Freedom’ which reunited original band members Gregg Rolie on lead vocals and keyboards (after his 1975-85 founding stint in Journey), drummer Mike Shrieve, and percussionist Jose’ ‘Chepito’ Areas - is the source for ‘Praise’ and two instrumentals, “Bella” and “Love Is You.”

Carlos Santana delivered “Blues For Salvador” at the end of 1987. This was his final Columbia solo album and it won him his first Grammy Award, for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. ‘Warrior’ includes the closing title instrumental, as well as the opening vocal medley of “Bailando/Aquatic Park.” Santana’s two decades at Columbia encompassed some 25 studio and live album releases, comprising band albums and solo projects by Carlos Santana. On the vocal side ‘Warrior’ revisits ‘Festival’ (1976),’Moonflower’ (1977), ‘Beyond Appearances’ (1985). A brief three year stay at Poly Gram Records started in May 1992 with the release of ‘Milagro’ (translated: Miracle). Carlos dedicated the album to two close friends, Miles Davis and long-time Santana manager and booking agent Bill Graham, the album contained tributes to Santana’s icons, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley. From that album ‘Warrior’ offers four vocals on disc one: “Life Is For Living,”“Saja/Right On,” and two Santana originals, “Somewhere In Heaven.” and “Your Touch.”

On March 31st on the eve of the CDs due date, Carlos Santana joined millions across the U.S. in observance and celebration of the birthday of United Farm Workers activist and labor leader Cesar Chavez, who died in 1993. The movement to win a Cesar Chavez National Holiday has long been held dear by Carlos Santana. He has agreed, along with Martin Sheen and Edward James Olmos, to serve as National Co-Chairs of the effort. To date, 40 cities in 25 states will be holding events.

“It’s supremely important that a day be selected to honor the life of Mr. Cesar Chavez for his quality of service to all humanity. His supreme cry of ‘si se puede’ will forever resonate as a positive motivator as words of light,” said Carlos Santana. He helped organizers wage a successful signature campaign during his 1999 Supernatural tour, which led the State of California to establish a legal holiday for Chavez the next year, the first time that a Latino or labor leader was honored in this way in our nation.

 

Caribbean’s Undisputed “Queen Of Soca” Alison Hinds Garners Four Nominations Caribbean Award Shows

 

New York, N.Y. - After the highly anticipated release of her debut solo album SOCA QUEEN (produced by the renowned Salaam Remi) in November 2007, ALISON HINDS the undisputed Queen Of Soca continues her reign in 2008, picking up four prestigious nominations with two major Caribbean Award Shows.
ALISON HINDS is nominated for “Best Soca Artist” and “Best Calypso Act” at the first annual Caribbean Urban Music Awards 2008. The event will take place on April 26 at the James Bond Beach in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. What makes this show special is that all the winners in every category are selected by fans from across the world. This year they received 1.5 million nominations spanning the globe from as far away as Japan. In addition to her two nominations at the Caribbean Urban Music Awards, ALISON HINDS is also nominated for “Best Music Video (Roll It Gal)” and “Best Calypso/Soca Entertainer” at the International Reggae and World Music Awards being held at the world famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York on May 4. The International Reggae & World Music Awards is the longest running international reggae event, and the only Awards program of its kind that honors the accomplishments of reggae and world beat entertainers.