Folk songs, protest, and a voice ‘like thunder’
Sandra Justice joins cast of ‘The Sweetest
Girl: A Forbidden Love Story’
Caribbean Life, May 8-14, 2020 29
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The first note had your foot
tapping.
It didn’t stop until the set
was over or the LP needed flipping.
The song moved you;
those words meant everything.
And the singer of those tunes?
She was the entire reason those
notes were worth listening to.
In the new book “Odetta” by
Ian Zack, you’ll find out why so
few know her name.
From the time she was old
enough to talk, Odetta Holmes
could sing.
She was born on New Year’s
Eve 1930 to a mother who
didn’t want her and a father
she didn’t meet until she was
in grade school. She was a big
girl, and always self-conscious
of it; on the day she met her
father, he mentioned her size,
which embarrassed her enough
for the story to carry into her
adulthood.
But the big girl had an even
bigger talent.
Shortly after her mother
remarried and Odetta gained
a stepfather and a new surname,
money was found for
piano lessons. Odetta enjoyed
the piano but it was her singing
voice that most impressed her
teacher, who insisted that the
girl have a voice coach. Odetta’s
school concurred and she was
taught to sing operettas and
German lieders, instructions
that later served her well –
although college was where she
learned that music and politics
together were a powerful force.
Picking up a borrowed guitar
and practicing at hootenannys,
Odetta shyly began singing
prison songs, spirituals, and
then-popular folk tunes and
protest songs. As her popularity
grew, she became a recording
artist, an actor, and a deep
inspiration for history’s biggest
names and folk music’s best
performers, including Paul
Simon and Bob Dylan.
Once, she told an interviewer
that she didn’t want fame
because of the hassle. In the
end, Odetta got what she asked
for: despite her influential work,
she never had a chart-topper or
a best-selling record.
Author of “Odetta” Ian Zack. Sam Zack
The line in the sand could
be drawn like this: if you’re a
“whatever-music-is-fine” kind
of person, then just turn the
page. Nothing to see here.
If you consider yourself a
major music aficianado and liner
note devotee, though, “Odetta”
is your book.
The difference comes in a
distinction: Odetta (who professionally
used just her first
name) never went mainstream
despite, as author Ian Zack
points out, that her influence
peppers music up and down
the spectrum over the last forty
or fifty years. Casual readers
may never have heard of her;
Zack shows instead that they’ve
heard her through other artists,
and it happened in all the
wrong ways. Odetta wasn’t a
destination, in other words; she
was the journey.
Like the life of a not-quitesuccessful
musician, however,
“Odetta” struggles. Zack seems
to have an odd focus on Odetta’s
hair, and the point is overly
belabored. There are times, too,
when this story drags like backto
back whole notes, and that’s
no fun.
Still, readers who are truly
serious about their music will
relish “Odetta” as they grab
their headphones and an LP to
set the mood. If that’s you, consider
this book and make note.
“Odetta: A Life in Music
and Protest” by Ian Zack
c.2020, Beacon Press
$28.95 / $38.95
Canada 288 pages
Book cover of “Odetta: A Life in Music and Protest” by Ian
Zack.
By Nelson A. King
Sandra Justice, a former
Miss Haiti South Florida and
a dynamic, multitalented
actress, has been added to the
cast of the upcoming film,
“The Sweetest Girl: A Forbidden
Love Story.”
According to acclaimed
Haitian-born, former Brooklyn
resident, author Yanatha
Desouvre (“Revelations: Roads
to Redemption,” Justice will
join Genji Jacques, the actor
dubbed the “Haitian Denzel
Washington”, Haitian icon
Marie Michelle Desrosier and
the talented Ayomi Russell.
Samuel Ladouceur (“A
Great Day in Harlem,” “Power,”
“Boardwalk Empire”) is at the
helm as the director.
The plot — written by prolific
screenwriter Harry Jeudy
(“A Great Day in Harlem”) and
Desouvre (“Revelations: Roads
to Redemption),” one of the top
downloaded e-books in April
2020 in the African American,
mystery thriller and suspense
fiction categories on Amazon.
com) – follows a loving marriage
of 25 years that comes to
a deadly end when a husband
is compelled to tell his wife his
most heart-shattering secret
while she is on her deathbed.
Inspired by true events, Desouvre
said “The Sweetest Girl:
A Forbidden Love Story” is a
“compelling and provocative
love story.”
“It’s set in Haiti and is haunted
by human trafficking and
gun violence,” he said.
Desouvre said Justice will
play Margaret Goodman, “a
formidable, controversial Haitian
journalist who believes in
a moral society.”
“She is driven to reveal the
corruption in Haiti and is committed
to living in an honorable
marriage with Lucias,” Desouvre
said. “As an award-winning
journalist and community
organizer, she is at the top of
her game.
“However, Margaret has no
choice but to face the underlying
threat that has been simmering
in her marriage for decades
as it begins to boil over,”
he added. “Margaret struggles
with people keeping secrets
from her and is dedicated to
seeking and uncovering the
truth in all aspects of her life,
which can be dangerous.”
Haitian actress Sandra Justice.
Yanatha Desouvre