Will somebody wear me to the fair?
Will a lady pin me in her hair?
Will a child find me by a stream?
Kiss my petals and weave me through a dream.

 For all of these simple things and much more a flower was born

It blooms to spread love and joy faith and hope to people forlorn

Inside every man lives the seed of a flower
If he looks within he finds beauty and power 

Ring all the bells sing and tell the people that be everywhere that the flower has come  Light up the sky with your prayers of gladness and rejoice for the darkness is gone Throw off your fears let your heart beat freely at the sign that a new time is born – Les Fleur Minnie Riperton

EXPERIENCING MINNIE

Summer 1979 I was eight years old when Minnie Riperton Rudolph passed away from this earthly atmosphere.  A sensitive, artistic child I was already building my own musical catalog from some great artist. My mother indulged my love of music, my uncles were deep into music, I was getting a great taste of various music and learning very early to tune my ears to the layers of music within one song.   By the age of eight I was performing with a group musically with my piccolo, then to flute ( 7/19 ). I was already beginning my investigative research after receiving the last album of Minnie Riperton MINNIE  by my mother. I begged for this album.

SIDE BAR–Love Lives Forever was also given to me but that was a collabo of guest artist appearances added to her vocals after she passed on…

How much investigative research at age eight Bebe? LOL…. I kept a journal of the press Minnie received after her  cancer came back with a terminal diagnosis. From the public announcement  directly from Minnie of  having cancer on The Tonight Show with Flip Wilson being the fill-in host for Johnny Carson, 1976, to being the First Black Woman Spokesperson For The American Cancer Society.  There was no YOU TUBE to review. I locked into my mind to what I had witnessed from television press, radio and printed media –along with the help of my mother.   I made  entries in my journal of  how I felt as a child of eight when the commercial would play of Minnie Riperton speaking out against breast cancer.  There wasn’t full sentences all the time, sometimes adjectives.

Intriuged.  I felt intrigued by this woman’s story, the music Minnie Riperton gave to the world, her husband and her children.

Minnie Riperton, Mark and Maya Rudolph

I was intrigued at such a young age by this woman’s voice in song, and the strength in the midst of a grim diagnosis.  Minnie was born in 1947, my mom 1948. My mother is a beautiful singer, coloratura soprano, who sung lullabyes to me, sung in the church, weddings, formal programs despite being an educator so I felt a big connection between a singer I didn’t know personally and my mother. Minnie had a daughter, I was a daughter, the album was great in my opinion and my mother could sing ‘Memory Lane’ like a heavenly angel too.  I was totally smitten.

Indulging Me Further…

There was a ABC SPECIAL about Minnie Riperton’s fight against cancer but no one seems to discuss this great moment in time. 

I remember asking my mother could I stay up to watch the special because at this time, the cancer was terminal. It was a beautiful special, a woman brave until the end of her life, truly a classy lady. My mother had a subscription to Jet Magazine , which had me in the loop of things with Minnie Riperton. RETURN TO FOREVER was a song from the last album that truly registered with my soul at such a young age. In my opinion, it was a sad, haunting song that spoke of wanting to just have more time. Wouldn’t anyone want more time when they have such a vivacious appetite for life? Minnie had a vivacious appetite for life! 

July 12, 1979, The Day A Beautiful Voice, A Beautiful Woman was silenced

My mother sat me down, “My little angel, Minnie Riperton passed away today.”

I was devastated, full of grief, I could not compose myself. Radio stations were playing her songs, it was a sad say.  I didn’t read it, I didn’t listen to this moment from someone else, I lived it.   I was there when history added this event of life into the archives of life. I remember asking my mom when Minnie Riperton passed away, was she going to die of cancer.  I was too close to this situation for such an age. 

My grief was hard to control.  My mom stated that she didn’t have cancer and to stop playing the album for a minute. She was very gentle with me and my tender feelings.  I did as I was told because I was grieving.  This woman touched me. She had two young children and I remembered Maya from more press as she took the stage to accept an award for her mother. I was like,  “This could have been me.”  Yes at this age I was feeling this thing we call grief for a woman whoose music touched my life.  I didn’t play the record and I didn’t read or view my mother’s Jet Book showcasing the funeral until a few months later with Minnie Riperton on the cover. Inside this edition, pictures were of her husband, her children, Pam Grier a very close friend of Minnie’s, her parents, her in-laws, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and more.

I soon got myself together emotionally because summers were fun for me.  They say children can bounce back, very resilient and yes that is very true.  After two months with school almost starting,  I began to play the record again with more records from her that I purchased with my allowance. Saturday’s would be filled with walking downtown with a group of friends and my aunt who was four years older than I.  We would descend upon the record store and just come back with some great records. The more I listened to Minnie Riperton’s body of work, I didn’t feel sad, I felt good, felt happy. The rest of 1979 would evolve me musically. As a very young girl I slowly but surely was coming into my own. More music gained my attention by ’80, ’81 Stacy Lattisaw had blown my mind with ‘Love On A Two Way Street’, “Let Me Be Your Angel’ and more…  

Throughout the years I would dust off my albums of Minnie Riperton and play them.  By junior high school I was more advance in playing the flute, and  into the music more than ever.  I was re-discovering Minnie Riperton’s beauty of phrasing words, making songs sound like a sunny day. When compact disc made it’s appearance I was revamping my Riperton Collection.  Updating! Wow if Minnie could just see the technology happening today with the remastering of music.   As a woman in my 20′s I would discuss with others, I wonder when would the family give us more… more of  Minnie, more of themeselves?  I followed Dick Rudolph’s ( husband ) work with artist such as Shanice Wilson and Teena Marie.  Then Maya was on SNL and Marc wasn’t too visible in media he was behind the scenes of media. It was very safe to say, many inquiring minds  were waiting for this recent historic moment.

TV ONE, Unsung Series was presenting MINNIE RIPERTON.  I must admit, I shedded some tears. They were tears of joy upon hearing, and reading this announcement.  The family would give us a glimpse of themselves, more of Minnie’s life and music!  There was no way under my control I would let this moment go by and not view this great moment in time. I also taped it cause I wanted to make sure this moment was captured for me.  Many kindred spirits were so ready to see this special.  Airing June 7 at 8pm est, those who waited finally had the opportunity to see a great biography of the life of Minnie Riperton. OMG I loved how her showcase started.  Minnie’s voice was captured welcoming us to tune in…. priceless.  It was a candid moment from the days in Chicago, rare photos, video footage, and yes the children now adults spoke. The husband who dearly loved this woman spoke, her sister spoke and friends spoke. There were moments where it was too much to just say something , especially from Richard. He loved this woman!

Mya’s honesty on still dealing with losing a mother so young ( not even seven years old ) was so heartfelt.  Maya opened up about how it would be so good to have her mother and her beautiful daughter pearl have a nana/grandaughter relationship was heartfelt too. Marc truly had alot more memories of a supporting mother  coming to his games, being a loving mother.  The sister who truly gave us such great accounts of Minnie’s life was heartfelt too.  It was just a great moment we all were waiting on.  I also respect the fact that Richard did not share the most intimate details of the ending of Minnie’s life  as well as it should be -private.  This was well worth the wait for me at 38 years old. Life is like a great poet –  during the TV ONE showcase of Minnie Riperton, my mother and I watched together.  How poetic is that?

Minnie Riperton 1960′s Photo With Son Marc

I believe that some spirits come for a short while on earth, fully aware of their purpose.  They recognize their talents, they perfect with gusto, touch people from all walks of lives,  enjoy their lives, they show humility, compassion and they don’t want the sympathy that drowns out the beauty of life, even if it’s a flickr as this life fades and they radiate into the next.  I believe Minnie Riperton was one of those spirits.  I believe the human part of her wanted to stay for her husband and her children.  She according to her husband, according to the performances she did literally a month before dying showed she was living life to the fullest, till the end.  I believe that the half  has never been told. In my life I have seen some things and these very things let’s me know that love lives forever, the spirit is real  and it never dies.  We just move on as humans to another realm, we are allowed to connect back in a way that is not the way of the world. If tuned in,  when a loved one is near,  you can feel their spirit all around you.  I smile at the very thought of  such a wonderful gift of being in tune to loved ones who passed on from my life.  Minnie Riperton faced her Life Storm with grace, class, and much gusto!   Performing up to the end, truly magnificant!  Truly this is an artist that touched my life and the life of others. Minnie, A Perfect Angel Indeed.

-Bebe Davis