Mary J. Blige Was 'Damaged' By 'Precious' Song, Opens Women's Shelter
Mary J. Blige said she was "damaged in a good way" when working on "I Can See In Color," the lead song from the controversial film, "Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push' By Sapphire" which opens in limited theatres today.
The film is about Clareece "Precious" Jones, a 16-year-old girl twice pregnant by her father, also abused by her mother, illiterate, and still in junior high school. She aspires to appear in a hip-hop music video.
The film stars Mo'Nique, Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton,
Mariah Carey, and includes Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry among its producers.
Mary co-wrote a song of triumph. The lyrics champion finally being able to see the world from a new perspective.
The metaphor for seeing the good in life in color is an
analogy Mary drew from her personal experiences. "When I'm depressed, and going
through something, it's in black and white. The flowers are not yellow," Mary
said when recently speaking about the song at the Hollywood Reporter and
Billboard Film And TV Music Conference, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The film's director Lee Daniels encouraged her outpouring of emotion in the song that also shares writing credits with producer Raphael Saadiq and Mary's protégé LaNeah Menzies.
"If you're about to cry, just cry," Daniels told Mary. The
song was based things experienced by the film's character, Mary, and LeNeah.
The soundtrack also features songs from Queen Latifah, Jean Carn, Labelle, and Mahalia Jackson. Mary is also a co-executive producer for the soundtrack released on her Geffen distributed Matriarch Records.
A longtime voice of empowerment, Mary recently opened a safe haven for women in her hometown of Yonkers, New York.
Last week she held a ribbon
cutting ceremony for the Mary J. Bilge Center For Women. The center will
initially focus on assisting young single mothers with parenting skills,
educational and vocational support, and other individualized services. It will
also provide self-esteem counseling and employment and job placement
assistance.
The Mary J. Blige Center For Women is the brainchild of the Foundation For The Advancement Of Women Now, Inc. (FFAWN), an organization Mary created along with veteran music business marketing executive Steve Stoute.
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