Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: Stephanie Mills

Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip:

Stephanie Mills

In my own personal big gay church, there is a wing devoted to those belonging to The Rhythm Nation. These women got us to think, encouraged us to love and respect ourselves, made us feel sexy as hell and... most importantly, got us to dance! One such soulful heart? Well, she may have started on Broadway, but she ended up serving it up on the dancefloor big time! We are talking about...

Stephanie Mills.

If you come to this diva, you best come correct. 

She no longer suffers fools. She no longer holds her tongue. She does not mince words.

With a voice as big as her heart, she came on the scene at the age of seventeen. She took Broadway by storm and that led to a career in music which resulted in hit after hit - so many wonderful songs it killed me to exclude any of them.

This little lady could do no wrong. 

If there was a trend? She was on it. She brought the beats and the heat. 

Today, she's still representing and presenting - nothing can keep this diva from sharing all the marvelous gifts she's been blessed with. 

The gospel according to her. 

Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic? State Of The Nation

  

"They [politicians] must put money back in our school system. Make sure that our children are learning and have all the equipment that they need to learn. They must do affordable housing. It’s really a shame that at the end of this month, people have to either find the money to stay where they are or they’re going to be evicted."

"Talk is cheap and we’ve been hearing a lot of talk. And, you know, they all come in, ‘We’re going to do this. We’re going to do that now.’ Talk is cheap. I’ll believe it when it’s done. And I don’t know why it’s so hard to do."

"I think that we’re the only race of people that really don’t stick together."

"I think that too many of us have fear. That’s why we’re mute. I think we’ve been politically correct so much that we’re not correct. They say whatever they want to say about us, call us all kinds of names … but you have to stand for something."

"I feel like we’ve been traumatized. I feel like we have been almost back in the 60s, you know, of 50s."

"They’re letting the Republicans just run amuck and the Republicans are weak and spineless and evil and hateful."

"I know that I’m outspoken, but it’s in me. I can’t help it. I’m 64 years old. When you get a certain age, you don’t give a fuck."

I Never Knew Love Like This Before

Medicine Song - Stephanie Mills

(You're Puttin' A) Rush On Me - Stephanie Mills

And one last parting shot...

"I’ve seen the politics of everything. I’ve seen how people really operate. I see how you’re never really accepted. You’re accepted for the time that you are making money. Then you have hit records, you may have a hit Broadway show, a television show, but then after that, ‘OK, next.’ And that’s just the way it is."

"I realize that R&B is what I do best, and I'm comfortable with that."

"I'd like to have mass appeal, but not at the expense of what I am and what I do best."

"I’ve never wanted to go and be pop because I wasn’t changing the way I sung. I wasn’t singing these songs that I couldn’t relate to, and I was real clear about that. So, I just want our young entertainers to stay Black, stay who you are. Don’t want to go over there and be pop. Stay true to your music. That’s very important. Don’t sell out. Don’t sell out, because we don’t want you when you sell out. You keep your ass over there. Don’t come back over here."