Michael B. Jordan apologizes for ‘J’Ouvert rum’
Actor Michael B. Jordan speaks. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/
File
Caribbean Life, JULY 2-8, 2021 25
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Sometimes, you just gotta
get out.
You need a weekend in a
remote cabin or high-end spa.
You gotta get out of those
clothes at days’ end. You need
a breath of fresh air, new scenery,
something to distract you.
Sometimes, you need to get out
for your sanity. Other times,
as in the new book “Leaving
Breezy Street” by Brenda
Myers-Powell (with April Reynolds),
you need to get out for
your life.
They told her that her mother
loved her very much.
Little Brenda Myers had to
Read this… and weep
take her aunts‘ words for it;
her mother died before Brenda
could walk, and so she was
raised by her grandmother.
Ma’Dea’s home was safe and
warm, nobody ever went hungry,
but the woman couldn’t
keep Myers from being molested,
starting when Myers was
just four years old.
It continued: at 10, she was
removed from Ma’Dea’s house
due to alcoholism and physical
abuse; a year later, the uncle
who took her in began molesting
her. Myer returned to her
grandmother’s house, “from
the frying pan to the fire,”
where she endured the least
egregious trauma until she got
pregnant.
At age 14, she realized that
she needed money to raise an
infant.
On Good Friday, 1973, she
took the train to downtown
Chicago and turned her first
tricks. She came home with
“almost four hundred dollars.”
Ma’Dea, she says, “didn’t ask
one question.”
That was the beginning of
Book cover of “Leaving Breezy Street.”
years of horrors. Myers was
captured by a pair of “Gorilla
pimps” who beat her to control
her; though she was a minor,
they took her across state lines
and raped her until she didn’t
care. She escaped, returned
to the streets, sold herself for
cash, a place to stay, clothing,
and eventually, drugs, when
all she really wanted was nurturing.
“Folks tell me, ain’t all that
happen to you,” she says. “I
wish it hadn’t… I wish to God I
was lying my head off.”
Here’s a warning, so take it
seriously: if you like your memoirs
sweet and tender, back away
from this one. “Leaving Breezy
Street,” the title of which refers
to the alter-ego and pseudonym
author Brenda Myers-Powell
used for work, is anything but
warm and fuzzy.
It. Is. Brutal.
But then again…
At the risk of being a spoiler
here, there’s a happy ending
or four in this memoir,
including the empowering,
steely, and emotional update
on Myers-Powell’s life today, a
tale-within-a-tale that‘ll make
you teary-eyed. Those tears
will happen partly out of relief
because whew! what Myers-
Powell tells is like some kind of
horror story but the monsters
are real – yet, curiously (and
much to a reader’s chagrin),
she respects her past and leaves
a lot unsaid.
That doesn’t include celebrities,
whose names pepper this
memoir.
Just bear in mind that this
book is packed with profanity
but there’s also a laugh
or two, in a dark kind of way.
Still, if you want a tale that’ll
drop your jaw every few pages,
“Leaving Breezy Street” is the
book to get out.
“Leaving Breezy Street:
A Memoir” by Brenda
Myers-Powell with April
Reynolds
c.2021, Henry Holt and
Company
$26.99 / $36.99
Canada 288 pages
“Leaving Breezy Street” author, Brenda Myers-Powell.
By Nelson A. King
Actor Michael B. Jordan on
June 23 apologized for naming
his new brand of rum after a
Caribbean festival, sparking allegations
of cultural appropriation
against the “Creed” star, according
to NBC News.
The television network said
Jordan’s “J’Ouvert rum” shares
the same name as a celebration
that has 18th-century roots in
Trinidad, when the island was
controlled by French colonizers,
“who kept slaves to toil in the
sugar, coffee and cotton industries.”
The 34-year-old “Friday Night
Lights” star said he understood
the backlash and promised to
change the rum’s name.
“I just wanna say on behalf
of myself and my partners, our
intention was never to offend
or hurt a culture (we love and
respect) and hoped to celebrate
and shine a positive light on,”
the actor wrote on Instagram
Story. “Last few days has been a
lot of listening, A lot of learning
& engaging in countless conversations.
“We hear you. I hear you and
want to be clear that we are in
the process of renaming,” Jordan
added. “We sincerely apologize
and look forward to introducing a
brand we can all be proud of.”
NBC said “the withering backlash
appeared to be fueled by
Nicki Minaj,” the Trinidadianborn,
New York-raised rapper and
singer-songwriter.
About six hours before Jordan’s
message, NBC said Minaj — with
142 million Instagram followers
— shared an extensive IG post by
the Trinidadian artist, Xaria Rae
Roxburgh who explained the festival’s
sobering ties to slavery.
According to NBC, the “Starships”
artist said she is sure Jordan
“didn’t intentionally do anything
he thought” would offend
those with Caribbean roots.
“But she still urged him, ‘now
that you are aware,’ to change the
name and ‘continue to flourish
and prosper,’” NBC quoted Minaj
as saying.