THEN MY LIVING WILL NOT BE IN VAIN

It is no secret that Patti Labelle is my favorite entertainer of all time. Not to mention her soul-shaking voice, her warm-hearted, sassy stage persona is--from what I can tell by meeting her twice--emanating from a truly radiant spirit. OK, so I've made a few jokes about her diabetes medication commercials lately. "Ten years ago I collapsed onstage. Then the stage itself collapsed underneath my weight." Kidding! But this woman can make me burst into tears just by quivering her nails. But it's not Patti's performance that's making me cry when I watch this video. I had never heard of Oseola MaCarty, the gal Patti is honoring. But if a washerwoman can care so much about others to scrimp and save on her meager wages to create a $100,000 scholarship fund, I know that I am definitely not doing enough with a Katrina/tsunami contibution here and a moveon.org contribution there so I'm totally humbled by this old gal's generosity. The world is such a mess on so many levels right now and if the people who can don't do anything to right it, who will? The concerned occupants of some other planet? I know how sappy I sound but I'm often quite dishy on my blog, so a little balance will hopefully be forgiven. And I know that some of you will find it as moving as I did when Patti hugs Oseola in a jam-packed auditorium. The philanthropist never expected such a reward for her efforts, but I'm so glad that she got this one. For that moment she was a queen, with the Queen of "Rock 'n' Soul" at her feet. Too bad Oseola had to get up and clean the entire auditorium by herself after the show ended. Kidding, gurl! Anyhoo, here 'tis!

From youtube:



"The one and only Patti Labelle performs in honor of Oseola McCarty, the Mississippi washerwoman who'd saved $150,000 over her 70 years of working for nominal wages and donated it to create a scholarship fund. The performance is rousing, not Labelle's most spectacular vocal performance but probably the most heartfelt. What other diva possesses the grace and humility to kneel at another's feet? Only Patti."

THEN MY LIVING WILL NOT BE IN VAIN