Tag Archives: Lady A

by Beverly Aarons

“I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I really did,” said Lady A during a telephone interview with the South Seattle Emerald. The Seattle-based Black blues singer has been embroiled in a year-long fight over her name with the white country band Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum). “I was not well when this all started and I didn’t know what I was going to do … I was praying and I said, ‘I am going to stop worrying about this. God has a plan …’”

On June 11, 2020, just as explosive Black Lives Matter protests swept the nation, the country band Lady Antebellum announced on Instagram that they were inspired to change their name from Lady Antebellum to Lady A because “… our hearts have been stirred with conviction, our eyes opened wide to the injustices, inequality, and biases Black women and men have always faced and continue to face everyday …” There was just one problem — the Black blues singer Lady A had been performing under that name since the 1980s as reported in the Emerald in 2020.

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The Brand New Lilith Fair: Women in Music Collective’s Compilation Album Puts Female Artists First

June 9, 2021 Editor

by Dan Ray

I have visceral memories of being somewhere between six and ten years old, cringing in the backseat of my mom’s car as she belted Sarah McLachlan’s “Building a Mystery.” At the time, I saw my mother’s actions as nothing less than incredibly embarrassing. (Although, I — and most fellow millennials — was probably burned on McLachlan by those terrifying animal welfare commercials where “Angel” blared suddenly over the TV speakers, casting shame.)

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Voices

OPINION: We Must Continue Lifting the Voice of Every Womxn

February 26, 2021 Editor

by Shasti Conrad

In 2020, we saw people across the country make their voices heard with an urgency America hasn’t witnessed in decades. We marched in cities from coast to coast to express the need for social justice in our country. We advocated for change, pushing for more equity and inclusion.

The core of our chorus in protest after protest, “Black Lives Matter,” is a demand for action — an insistent call to finally tend to the overdue work of elevating Black voices and centering Black experiences.

That call was heeded at the ballot box here in Washington State, with more Black candidates elected than ever before.

Now that we have transitioned into 2021, it is more important than ever to keep building that momentum beyond electoral politics. We must continue to lift our voices and advocate for change throughout our society.

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Amplifying the Authentic Narratives of South Seattle