T R U E

C O L O R S

1972

1967

My mom in her hometown newspaper, The Winston-Salem Journal.

My brother had his own record label Tryon Park Records named after the neighborhood park. His song came out in 1979, the same year as Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rappers Delight”. (We lived one town over.) CLICK IMAGE ABOVE TO LISTEN!

SUMMER, a bi-racial preteen and her long-time bestie, FATIMA, take a popularity pledge that revolves around them being invited to the popular New York girl DEE’s lunch table. Everything goes according to plan until…RECORD SCRATCH! Summer is told she is not Black enough to make the cut! But will abandoning her “white” music, white friends, and white boy posters be enough? Or is her friendship with Fatima in serious jeopardy?

a word from the

writer/director:

TRUE COLORS takes place in Northern New Jersey in 1985 during the Golden Era of Hip Hop, which was centered in the New York tri-state area, well before MTV Raps. Rap Music was a big deal for my peers, and since New York was the birthplace and we lived across the Hudson, the culture of hip hop was a huge influence and part of our everyday lives - - - a positive aspect.

Far too often, mainstream media paints a negative image of rap music. True Colors celebrates the beauty of the hip hop culture that unites and uplifts others through the lens of a young girl raised by civil rights era parents. An “old” mom who had her at 40, and her much older dad, in his last years after a major stroke that forced his early retirement, which leaves him bitter.

This piece speaks directly to my Gen-X/"Hip Hop" Generation as well as their offspring. This untypical coming-of-age includes the history of my family before I was born, as well as the current events of the time, including Reaganomics, the crack epidemic, MTV, apartheid, police brutality, and women starting to work outside the house, like my mother. Other unique aspects of this story are a preteen with older parents, a childhood overshadowed by the inevitable death of my father, and the celebration 0f a special bond with a much older sibling, my big brother, a self-taught musician and unsung hip hop pioneer.

Last photo of me, my mom, and dad together. He died two years later.

CLICK THE BRACELET ABOVE TO SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS!!!