J LV 2 iAUGUST'''' 1
, PAGE%l
·Sen Vereen recall� years of drug. abuse
s
r S y Daughter'
. .
Death In 1987 Pushed Him Over the Edge
ME YO - Stage and
film tar Ben Vereen, bo bad
previously aclmo ledged that
be turned to drug for solace
ben bi daughter, aja, as
killed in an auto ccident in
1987, bas revealed that be was
no tranger to drugs at tbe
time.
Vereen, ho now lectures
youngsters around tbe country
against drug abuse, said in an
intervie to be published this
Sunday in PARADE th t he
had been involved with drugs
lnce the '60s. "It eemed like
everybody w doing them, at
le st in my 'cro d," be
recalled. "We live in a society
that says 5 o'clock is happy
hour. 'You really look like '
you need a drink. or a joint;"
be mimicked.
"But sometimes what
people really need is a good
bug! so they kno they are
loved. We didn't understand
love. Instead, we bought into
drugs."
For years, Vereen id, ")
told my elf, '1 can bandle it.
It' not han4ling me.' Tben
Naja died. You don't want to
face the loss. The addictive
me said, 'I'm going to need
some MAJOR drugs to bide
the pain.' But tbe pain ju t
seeped through a y y."
De cribing his lowe t point, .
Vereen said, "You see
yourself era . ling on the floor ..
You smell yourself, �nd you
don't smell good, and you
don't care. I ha4 bit skid row .
in my life, meaning I bad
. given up. You could have
walked in and iped me out,
and I ouldn't have cared.
Thoughts of ·death danced
through my mind."
VEREEN, WHO HAS
four other children, said bi
older daughter Malaik , 20,
finally made him realize what
. he wa doing to·bimself. "She
came bursting into my room
one day, hen I w in the
heap of de truction, an�
tarred creaming at me,
'You've een lite tbi for four
months no , and Naja
wouldn't bave wanted tbis! ,It
. Rap contest offers
Thi Week In
Black History
JULY 29, 1839 - Slave
Ship Amistad was taken oven
by slaves led by Cinque. 1895
- First National Conference
of Colored Women
Convention.
JULY 3, 1967
Thurgood Marshall wa
appointed firt Black Justice of
the U.S. Supreme Court. 1822
- James Vanek became first
bi hop of the African
Methodist Epi copal Zion
Church.
J LY 31 1 - Black
p ct Paul Dunbar completed
L ric of a Lowly Life. 1874
- Patrick Franci Heal
mauguarated a pre ident 0
Geor etown Univcr i iy ,
a hington, D.C.
UG UTI, 1 95
Bcnjamin E. Mays.
Morehou e College pre ident,
a born.
UGUST 2, 1 38 -
Robert Purvis helped to
e t bl ished underground
rail ay in Philadelphia. 1931
- Philippa Duke Schuyler,
child prodigy boo compo d
over 200 musical selection
as born.
AUGUST 3, '1791
Benjamin Banneter attacked
Thoma Jefferson for his view
on Blacks. 1832 - Edward
W. Blyden, lawyer. diplomat
and preacher. wa born.
U U T 4, 1 3 - Jame
Baldwin wrote "Th Fi re ext .
Time." 1 1 - Robert Purvi •
Black abolitioni t wa born.
"Admitting tbat be needed
help, Vereen went to a
psychiatrist and then placed
bimself in a drug-treatment
center. "I reconnected with
my spirituality: he said. "I
realized that it had never
turned. from me. I bad turned
from it. It motivated me and
became my rock."
") felt I wasn't enough" be
continued. "And I am enougb.
If) had loved me, ) wouldn't
have gone through all tho e
years of substance abuse. If
you don't love yourself, you
have nothing to hold on to."
Vereen aid he still grieve
and finds it bard to smile.
"Now, wben I have a problem
and find my elf feeling
anxious, a voice in ide me
says, 'Tbis too will pa s.'
Wben I'm going through
trauma, tbe voice s y ,
'You've suffered gre ter loss.·
Tbis is nothing. Get up. Get
on.'"
weet smell of ·succes
OJ J zzy Jeff & The Fr h Prine
RAP! TIME calls it "the
most exctung development in
American pop mu ic in more
tban a decade." AND Jovan,
makers of the fragrance tbat
define "what exy i ," i
pon oring the first-ever Jovan
Musk Rap Song Contest, run
until September.
And YO! Judging the
contest will be OJ Jazzy Jeff
and The Fre h Prince, winners
of the first Rap Grammy
Award. Two of Rap' hone t
st r • they have al 0 won two
American Mu ic Awards, an
�
MTV MUSIC Award and many
Traxx on the Radio, MTV
News Kasey's Top 40, The
Source and Plain RaB
Countdown. Dead Ii ne for
entri i September 30, 1990.
Winne·rs wi II be announced by
December 1.
. A part of Jov n Musk
Summer Rap Ra e, the
company is offering a Jovan
Musk cas e tte Ceaturing the -
late t album of D.J. Jazzy Jeff
and The Fresh Prince," AND
IN THIS CORNER ... ". The
ca ettes, a $10 value, are
available FREE by mail with
proof of purcha c. and $1.00
Yo! Jo D u k' gODDa ke p you cool
wit rap competiti OD tbat' re I je et
Tell II your buddle
Time to RAP! Po !
Cau e R p i tbe future
ad the future i OW!
other! The Grand-prize
winner they lect will be
flown to ew York with a
friend to receiv their award,
meet DJ Jazzy Jeff nd The
Fresh Prince and have the
opportunity to record his/her
origin long. Other winners
will rec ive prize including
Sony portable AM/FM
cassette CD player,
"platinum" and "gold" record
pi que and Jovan Musk "Rap
It Up" t-shirt , with Jovan
Musk om Sets,
Entry blank will be
available, w.ith purcha e, on
fragrance counters and at more
than 800 Sam Goody and
Musicland lore all over the
country. Radio tations aero
the U.S. will direct potenti I
conte tant to the tore in
their rea via commercial
Ceaturing judge D.J. Jazzy
Jeff and The Fre h Prince on
network radio program
including American Dance,
Ior po tage and handling.
Entertainment Briefs
Appoloni has na bbed the
lead role in a new martial
arts/spy thriller, "Thunder
and Lightning" .... Different
World Co-star Gly
T rID. W named Grand
Marsh II of Coor Bill
Pickett Africlo-American
Rodeo. It' all right up
Turman' alley he i bOth
an owner and breeder of
Arabian horses this L8 e
Hughes, California ranch
.... Est er Rol became the
first woman to ever receive
the prestigiou AACP
Chairman's Civil Righu
Leadership Award at the
NAACP's annu 1 convention
in 1..0 Angele ...