November 10, 2012 - November 16, 2012, The Afro-American
B3
ARTS & CULTURE
One on One with…Leon By Aunni Young Special to the AFRO
Actor Leon, a songwriter and leader of his of the reggae-soul band, Leon & the Peoples, recently added his voice to the chorus of entertainment industry supporters of President Obama. The star of The Five Heartbeats, The Temptations and Cool Runnings, appears in two new films, Ex-Free and Soul Ties. He was voted one of the “30 Sexiest Actors of All Time” by AOL Black Voices. AFRO: When I met you last summer, we talked about your band, Leon & the Peoples. You were very excited talking about your music. Leon: Of course, I love music! I listen to a lot of music. My dad was very big into Nat King Cole and Motown. I would listen to and learn those songs when I was young. AFRO: What is your nationality? Are you West Indian? Leon: I am African American. When I was 12 years old, my good friend Trevor, his brother became a Rasta. They took me in and taught me all about Rasta culture and vegetarian life. I kind of took to it and loved the music…My grandfather on my mother’s side was halfJamaican but I never knew it. He died when I was 3. AFRO: The impact of reggae is strong with your music? Leon: Oh yeah. But if you listen, our music is as much soul as it is reggae. AFRO: So you are a vegetarian too? Leon: No, I eat vegetarian a lot, but I’m not a vegetarian. AFRO: You’re a father. You have a daughter? Leon: Yes, a beautiful daughter, Noelle. She’s 12…I took her last year to the BET Awards with me. We performed [as] the Five Heartbeats and she loved that. She walked the red carpet with me. She was my date. AFRO: Is there a lady in your life now? Leon: Not now. I lived with a woman for about five years. For the last [few] years or so, I’ve just been concentrating on my career… Now, my girlfriend is my career. AFRO: Are you happy with the progress you’ve made in your career? You’ve taken a break from acting to work with your band. Leon: Yes! I have a lot of respect for people who are professionals at what they do. A lot of my friends are very prominent singers, musicians. They spend their entire lives doing music. I would never want to cheapen what they do and think I could just jump into it, be good and be respected, without putting in the work.
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” —John Lennon “Oh yes its ladies night and the feeling’s right oh yes its ladies night. Oh what a night! ” M&T stadium was bathed in purple, as ladies gathered from throughout Maryland for an up- close and personal encounter at the Baltimore Ravens’ home. Brenda Sykes, Tanika Sykes, Kendra Sykes and I joined 5,000 women dressed in The Color Purple for a Purple Evening. “Purple rain, I only wanted to see you bathing in the purple rain” —Prince We were dazzling in purple as we toured behind the scene areas like the Raven’s locker room and lounge decked- out in our Raven gear. It was an evening of pampering as women received purple manicures, face painting and posed for pictures with current and former Raven players, Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones, Quadry Ismail, Doss Tandron, Art Jones, Kelechi Osemele, Tyrod Taylor and Jameel McClain. We ran obstacle courses, threw footballs from the fifty-yard line, posed at the yellow goal post, took pictures with mascots Poe, Rise and Conquer and hung out on the club level for autographs. What a thrill when we left the locker rooms walking the steps the players take on “any given Sunday” onto the field to the roar of the crowd. Oops, I must be dreaming there was no roar, but we did walk the steps where a plaque is dedicated to the players from the men and women who built the stadium. We met Captain Dee- Fense, a retired military officer and a humble man who delights in visiting schools and doing speaking engagements I was impressed when he quoted Oprah when explaining how he became Captain Dee-Fense. He said; first, you find something you enjoy doing, and then you find someone who is willing to help you do what you do. Contact Captain D at www.CaptainDefense.com or captaindefense@comcast.net Radiant parents, Albert and Myra Queen joined friends, Gloria
Owens-Gross, Arnold and Dorethea Allen, Dr. Dermell Brunson, Joe Hendricks, Dannette Bland, Carolyn Clopton, Francena Bean-Waters, Napoleon and Brenda Sykes, Lauretta Warfield, Michael and Kim Briscoe, Cynthia Jackson, Sandra Meekins, Sherry Jackson, Michelle Carter, Tracey Days, Kelcey Oliver and Cari Carter at Pennsylvania Avenue’s Jubilee Arts in the Marcus Harris Center. Their daughter Stacey Queen hosted an exhibition of her paintings and photographs from her recent study tour throughout Italy. The event included a gallery talk from the artist and music by harpist Liz Ellis. “Give me a pig foot and a bottle of beer.” The two sides of business executive Marty Glaze are so diverse that when he announces he is the guest chef at local restaurants we flock there to taste the exquisite cuisine he enjoys preparing. Our last soiree with Marty was with Red Parrot’s chef Wendy Cheng. The menu featured several east/ west combinations including catfish, egg rolls, oysters, Chilean sea bass and lamb chops. Check out the Red Parrott and other eateries in McHenry Row. “Where care shall be quiet, and love shall run riot, and I shall find wealth in my friends; then truce to the story, of riches and glory; there’s the place where the rainbow ends.” —Paul Laurence Dunbar Sending huge get- well wishes and thinking of you to Marguerite Peterson, Betty Chase, Lynn Brown, Lousonia Jefferson, Judge Jacque Leeds and Gerald Smith. “You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” —Clay Bedford Proud grandparents Elvard and Rita Cooper told us grandson Kenneth Cooper is excited about the renovations taking place at St. Ignatius Loyola Academy’s new location in Federal Hill. When Kenneth was asked how he felt about the rendition of the school’s new science lab the sixth-grader stated, “I was quite upbeat and ecstatic about learning in an environment like this.” “When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” —Jean Shinoda Bolen Read more on afro.com.
AFRO: People respect you for the roles you’ve played. Leon: I think that if you really look at my work, that I have played all types of roles. I was in Cliffhanger, an action film, $300 million at the box office. My biggest movie as a lead was Cool Runnings, $210 million at the box office, a family comedy. Of course, I’ve had roles where I am a bad boy. AFRO: I saw your work in Waiting to Exhale the other day. It was really interesting to watch you in that role! Leon: I like to play a wide variety of roles…You have to take the opportunity to try and do different things. I also do that on stage. That’s one of the beauties of acting. In the theater, I am allowed to play different types of roles. AFRO: What are your thoughts on the 2012 presidential campaign? Leon: I am happy with President Obama. You have to realize the country was in an atrocious state before he took office. Anyone who wants to blame the economy on him is not being realistic. That’s the reason he got in office, because things were so bad. The history of the presidency is that no president can accomplish anything in one term. The first term is basically implementing your policies and… revers[ing] the situation we were in. I don’t think you should ever vote for a president unless you plan on voting for him for two terms because he can’t do anything in one term. I think if you voted for Obama and you believed in him the first time around, you have to let him have a second term to even make a difference. What I like most about our president, is that he has been a human being… President Obama has shown that he can change his policies and can change his thinking based upon what’s he seen and experienced as president, so I respect that. AFRO: Very nice to talk to you. Leon: You too. Thanks!
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