Erykah Badu

Giving Revolution: Four-time Grammy award-winning soul singer Erykah Badu is making big things happen by doing the little things

by Laura Hemberger

 
Dallas native Erykah Badu entered the music business in 1997 with the five-time platinum-certified album, Baduizm and has followed it with seven successful albums. Her voice has been compared to Billie Holliday’s, and she has transformed the world of soul with her silky vocals and poetic lyrics.

However, Badu’s current projects involve giving more than music. One venture is the Black Forest Theater, a fifty-year-old South Dallas landmark that once hosted the likes of Aretha Franklin and Chuck Berry. Badu took over the lease almost three years ago and is raising funds to purchase the building. In the same shopping center was the Green Parrot, an after-hours jazz club owned by her uncles and grandfather. “Every jazz musician who came through town would do a late-night set there. So I hope to carry on that tradition.”

Also close to Badu’s heart is B.L.I.N.D. (Beautiful Love Incorporated Nonprofit Development), the nonprofit born out her vision to revitalize the community she grew up in by securing a community-minded venue for the performing arts. Its mission is to “bring the culture out of the people to put it into the people, and to seek out and locate leaders and put them into their positions.” Artists will have a space to hold full-scale shows and performances, and the Black Forest will serve as a community anchor. B.L.I.N.D., which offices at the theater, will work through the theater to serve this purpose.

Badu’s dreams are already coming true - the theater and B.L.I.N.D. recently hosted after-parties for Prince and Snoop Dogg. In addition, B.L.I.N.D. has maintained a full schedule of drama and visual arts classes, drumming sessions, and an African dance class. The nonprofit has also held coat drives, and is planning to coordinate with the city to be the venue for an event where homeless people will get vaccines and haircuts.

Badu is inspired by “little things people do.” She says, “I’m kind of competitive - I see someone do something good, and I just want to do good, too!” Erykah’s mother, Kolleen “Queenie” Wright, says Erykah has always had a giving nature. “It’s her best and worst thing. She knows no limits when she gives, but sometimes she gives beyond her purse strings.” Erykah says, “I wish I had a clever answer for what inspires me. It’s just natural to me.” Badu attends the fundraisers B.L.I.N.D. holds in the Black Forest Theater. Says friend and B.L.I.N.D. volunteer and consultant Denise Harper, “I see her effectiveness with her tireless efforts at the theater. Her very personable interaction with the public is very powerful.”

A visit with Badu will reveal that her heart is one of the teacher she was before achieving musical success. “I taught theater fundamentals, but I was concerned mostly with life lessons. So many of us are followers and don’t have a mind of our own, and a lot of really great ideas and developments are not seen through because we don’t really believe that we can do anything on our own. Fortunately, I had people in my life who pushed me forward, but there are so many people who don’t. I know B.L.I.N.D. is going to do that; it already is.”

Left: Erykah Badu performs at the Snoop Dogg after-party.   “I try not to preach, but to reach... God has not forgotten you, the community is here.” Erykah Badu

She says you never know when you are impacting a child for a lifetime, which is why she believes in doing the little things that make a big difference. In an effort to give young people an opportunity to express their community concerns, Badu began a series of conversations
among Dallas-area high-school students and a distinguished panel of speakers to discuss everyday life experiences. “Once I became a celebrity, (I would) go to a school so the children could see an actual person who ‘made it.’ (They realize), you can be anything you want to be. I try not to preach, but to reach. It’s really not about black and white to me. There are so many kids who are going to be left out, and B.L.I.N.D. wants to pick them up, and tell them and their parents, we didn’t forget you, you’re important too! God has not forgotten you, the community is here.”

Volunteering her time does not stop with B.L.I.N.D. or the theater. Badu frequently gives benefit concerts and serves as a celebrity host. Denise Harper, also the resource development director at AIDS Arms, Inc. in Dallas, says, “We asked Erykah to be our spokesperson for our annual event, “LifeWalk.” She graciously stepped up to the challenge and was very effective in getting our message about being tested for HIV out to the public. And she committed a tremendous amount of time and resources to help promote LifeWalk for 2002 and 2003. When she commits to a project, she is completely dedicated.”

Those around her are clearly affected by her. “It is truly a pleasure being part of Erykah’s team,” Harper says. “She is an extraordinary person with a large heart to help others.” In the midst of listing off all her initiatives, Erykah says, “And the visions are still coming. To me, I haven’t even really begun to do anything yet!”