By Joy Sewing
Lalah Hathway feels like a woman-child.
The talented musician and lyricist loves video games, is maniacal about her bed sheets and brushes her teeth in the dark.
Having spent her nearly 20-year career captivating fans with her
rich brand of soul, Hathaway is now stepping into a new, grown-up role.
She joins actress Gabrielle Union and acclaimed artist Synthia
Saint James as a national ambassador for Susan G. Komen's Circle of
Promise, a campaign to help prevent breast cancer in African-American
women and provide a support network within the community.
Hathaway brings as much intensity--and maturity--to her community
service as she does to her music. She'll perform at the Divas Against
Disparities Benefit Concert at Heart & Soul's Sisters Partnering
All-Together (SPA) Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, October 16 to
19, and will continue talking with women across the country about the
importance of early detection and treatment as she tours to promote her
latest CD, "Self Portrait."
"It's amazing how we are diagnosed last and die first," Hathaway,
39, says. "I'm happy to be able to have this platform to talk with
women and just open the dialogue. I'm able to stand in front of
thousands o
f people and share information. That's powerful."
Though she has no personal experience with the disease, her
manager, Patricia Shields, is a three-year breast cancer survivor and
many of her friends have had issues with their breasts. "Breast cancer
isn't anything we ever talked about in my household growing up," she
says. "I know many women who live with that false sense of security.
They didn't have it and their mothers didn't have it, so they believe
it will skip them. But that's not necessarily true."
The Circle of Promise campaign has encouraged Hathaway to re-think
her own health. She recently had her first mammogram at Meharry Medical
Center in Nashville and has become more diligent about doing routine
self-breast examinations. (Hathaway's right on schedule. Women should
have annual mammograms starting at age 40. If there's a family history
of breast cancer, those mammograms should start at age 30.) She also is
making more of an effort to exercise. Her favorites are Nintendo's
WiiFit, a video game that combines fitness and entertainment, and
spinning.
Born in Chicago, Hathaway is the oldest daughter of the late soul
legend Donny Hathaway and her classically trained vocalist mother,
Eulaulah Hathaway. Her father committed suicide when she was just 10.
Hathaway went on to study music at Berklee School of Music in Bo
ston and debuted her first record in 1990 at age 21 while still in
college. She toured with jazz pianist Joe Sample and went on to perform
with Marcus Miller, Meshell Ndegéocello and Mary J. Blige. Her sister,
Kenya Hathaway, has toured with George Benson as a singer, guitarist
and percussionist and, most recently, worked on "American Idol."
"Self Portrait" is her fifth studio album and includes a
collaboration with white-hot singer-songwriter Rahsaan Patterson. She
says her father's presence provided inspiration for the introspective
disc, but especially for the single "Little Girl." "This feels
different and fresh," Hathaway says of her latest effort. "The kind of
response I'm getting feels equal to what I've put into it. That's a
good feeling. Hopefully, I'll be able to play off this record for a
very long time. The most important thing to me is to be able to get out
live and play the music."
She'll continue touring the United States this year and hopes
eventually to release a live album, explaining live music is a "dying
art. Soul music is really meant to be experienced with all the drums
and singing you can't hear on the radio," she says. "I grew up
listening to the radio a lot and recognized all of that music shaped me
as a person. Soul music tells the story of our people in this country,
and it
s really important they hear the story, so it can be passed down."
Hathaway says the Internet has made it easier to reach a larger
number of fans more quickly, but there are still challenges with
traditional radio. "If you turn on the radio right now, you hear the
same 10 songs. And if you want black soul music, you are relegated to a
hip-hop station or an oldies station. You either fit in one box or the
other. There is a whole gang of artists who feel disenfranchised by
radio."
For now, Hathaway continues to share her music with fans and spread the word about the Circle of Promise.
And, occasionally, the little girl in Hathaway returns.
"It's just weird to me when people refer to me as a woman because
there's still that side of me that is online at midnight waiting for
the new GameStop Mario [video game] to come out," she says. "I think
I'll always be that way."
Joy Sewing is the fashion and beauty writer at the Houston Chronicle.
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