'Mothers' Day!

Mothers Making a Difference

Story by: Catalina Byrd
info@catalinabyrd.com


After the Heal A Woman To Heal A Nation luncheon, myself and a few other members of the local press were allowed to sit down with Dr. Green, Dr. Hines, and Ms. Smith for an interview. It was in this setting that these ladies’ personalities shone the brightest, in my opinion. Naturally, because of the success and well-known friendship amongst their children, their perspective on the artists’ careers and impact in the industry were sought, as were their views about what they did as mothers that nurtured the creativity of their children and what other mothers could do to do the same. Each of them very open and speaking with great candor, fans of their boys’ work could easily see them in the work of their children.

Dr. Hines believes that Common didn’t compromise his art for commercial success because he came up “in the purist time to be involved in Hip Hop before it became commercial”, something that Dr. Green and Ms. Smith agreed with as well. Black Star (Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s name when still performing as a duo), the mother’s of the two artists recalled, took the money from their first album to open a bookstore so that their friends could come and do Spoken Word.

Music and the arts were used in their homes for more than recreation. Dr. Hines said that she’d studied how classical music helped children retain information better and played Bach as Common studied. Ms. Smith agreed that you had to expose your children to diverse things in order for their thinking to grow to be more diverse. Dr. Hines remarked that “even if you don’t like what you are listening to, don’t let [the children] know that you don’t” or that you were making a conscious effort to show them new things. The mothers all stated the belief that the arts were needed to raised well-rounded children and supported their artistry “not with the intent of wanting the child to become commercially successful” and in no way knew nor cared one way or the other if they became famous for it.

To read more from Catalina's informative article, click the link below:
http://www.etmmagazine.info/future/2009/05/2009_05_mothersmaking.html