Snip “If the school in your neighborhood isn’t any good, don’t just accept it. Get in there, fix it. Talk to the parents. Talk to the teachers. Get business and community leaders involved as well, because we all have a stake in building schools worthy of our children’s promise.
And when it comes to your own kids, if you don’t like what they’re watching on TV, turn it off. (Applause.) If you don’t like the video games they’re playing, take them away. (Applause.) Take a stand against the media that elevates today’s celebrity gossip instead of the serious issues of our time. Take a stand against the culture that glorifies instant gratification instead of hard work and lasting success.
And as my husband has said often, please stand up and reject the slander that says a black child with a book is trying to act white. Reject that. (Applause.)
In short, be an example of excellence for the next generation and do everything you can to help them understand the power and purpose of a good education. See, that’s what my own parents did for me and my brother.” Snip
Happy FRY-day, Everyone! Hope you’re enjoying our musical series this week. Today’s featured Girl Group: MARTHA REEVES & THE VANDELLAS
Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas) were an American vocal group who found fame in the 1960s with a string of hit singles on Motown‘s Gordy label. Founded in 1960 by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind Ashford and Gloria Williams, the band eventually included Martha Reeves, who moved up in ranks as lead vocalist of the group after Williams’ departure in 1962. The group signed with and eventually recorded all of their singles for Motown’s Gordy imprint.
The Ronettes were an American 1960s girl group from New York City. One of the most popular groups from that period, they placed more than eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100, five of which became top forty hits.
The Ronettes began as a family act where the girls grew up in Washington Heights, Manhattan. According to Nedra Talley, the girls started singing during their childhood visits to their grandmother’s home.[4] “Estelle and Veronica are sisters,” she said in a later interview.[4] “I’m their cousin. Our mothers are sisters. We came out of a family that, on Saturday nights, home for us was at our grandmother’s, entertaining each other.”[4]
“By the time I was eight, I was already working up whole numbers for our family’s little weekend shows,” Ronnie Spector later recalled.[6] “Then Estelle would get up onstage and do a song, or she’d join Nedra or my cousin Elaine and me in a number we’d worked out in three-part harmony.”[7]
Furthering their interest in show business, Estelle was enrolled at Startime, a popular dancing school in the 1950s,[7] while Ronnie became fascinated with Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.
In 1957, Ronnie formed the group which would later become known as The Ronettes.[8] Composed of Ronnie, her sister Estelle, and their cousins Nedra, Diane, and Elaine, the five girls learned how to perfect their harmonies first at their grandmother’s house, and they became proficient in songs such as “Goodnight Sweetheart” and “Red Red Robin”.[8] Emulating Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, the girls added their male cousin Ira to the group, and were signed up for a Wednesday-night amateur show at the Apollo Theatre by a friend of Ronnie and Estelle’s mother.[8] The show started out as a disaster; when the house band started playing Frankie Lymon’s “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” Ira didn’t sing a word, so Ronnie took over.[9] “I strutted out across the stage, singing as loud as I could,” Ronnie later recalled.[9] “When I finally heard a few hands of scattered applause, I sang even louder. That brought a little more applause, which was all I needed.”[9]
Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
