Ledisi is a neo soul singer who has risen to prominence through hard work, determination and believing in her talent. The multiple Grammy nominee might grace grand stages today — performing in spaces as dignified as the White House or as funky as the Essence Music Festival — but the songwriter and natural hair icon had to struggle to find the inner center that would become the foundation of her achievement. The star’s new book, Better Than Alright: Finding Peace, Love & Power, is a love letter to her fans and an interactive inspiration tome to all women (and men) who seek to empower themselves using the same tools that enabled Ledisi to become a breakout sensation. The powerhouse vocal diva, who has been compared to Tina Turner in terms of her vitality — and Ella Fitzgerald for her vocal range — sat down with theGrio to discuss how readers of her first book can find “Peace, Love & Power” through loving their natural selves.
theGrio: What inspired you to write, Better Than Alright: Finding Peace, Love & Power?
Ledisi: It naturally happened. I had started writing an affirmation book, because someone said “You don’t know how to write a book.” It was on a dare. I’ve always written since I was a little kid, but I never thought I could write something that extensive. That’s how it started. And the next thing you know, I’m at Essence doing a book deal. So, it all happened naturally.
When I was writing it, my editor… was saying, “Make sure you tell a story, and make sure it’s real and honest and open. People need to see who you are in words.” So I [was involved in] everything from the layout of the book, to the feel of the book, to the words in the book and the photos – they didn’t know I took photos as well. I love taking pictures on the side, so I put those in there. It became a collage of everything I love, and what [has] inspired me. That’s what made it fun and challenging at the same time.
Your book features many beautiful images of black women. Do you find such pictures uplifting and empowering in themselves?
There are black women in there, and there are black men. I love spreading the positivity of being a black woman, so I celebrate that part of myself. I want our culture to see that it’s exciting to be us. And that’s a part of Essence, celebrating being a black woman.
Better Than Alright is very freeform and poetic. It’s full of poems that readers can meditate on and spaces for them to respond. What inspired you to use this interactive format?
That was actually an idea that Essence thought of, because I’m interactive with my audience, on social media as well as in my live performances. They felt in a literal sense that that should happen [in the book]. So they came up with the idea to be interactive. I said, “That’s great! That’s who I am. You get it.” I think that’s awesome, because people can just start writing and be a part of it.
You wanted to do this book to share with readers the strength and determination you’ve developed while working to achieve your goals. How did you develop that strength?
Other people reaching back. Family. Faith. All the things mentioned per chapter. Each chapter has a word that helped me. And then I tell you how I came about having that strength. It comes from other people. We all need each other. Experiences. Everything. Everything around me inspires me and keeps me going. I want people to start looking around themselves. Sometimes what you need happens in silence. I talk about that. Being still. Sometimes you hear it in a phrase on a billboard. And you think, “Oh I needed to hear that.” It all goes together. Your surroundings. I think what my book does is help you see how we need one another.
What types of personal struggles are behind these life lessons?
I’ve accepted who I am. All the things that I’ve written about in the book are from the past. I’m past these things. But I felt like they needed to be said. You know – going through abuse, going through having a dysfunctional home life here and there. Gosh, struggling to become a successful artist. I wanted people to see that even though it looked impossible, it was still possible. That’s how I look at life. It’s not just being an artist. It’s any kind of profession. You always need other people to help lift you. A lot of people think you just made it on your own. No, I had a lot of help. (Laughs.) And we all need to see that and hear that. I didn’t know my story would inspire other people just through song, but now I have written it out [as well] to tell you an even deeper part of it. It was hard for me. (Laughs.) But it was worth it. It’s not all roses. But, even at the end of all that, I always feel as though there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Every time.
You have created a unique career, as you have put it, “on your own terms.” What are those terms?
It has to feel right. It has to feel natural. It has to feel real and me, or I’d rather not do it at all. I love learning, and I’m open to listening to what other people think, or else I wouldn’t have made it this far. But I have to make sure it feels like me from the cover, to the pictures inside, to [choosing] other people’s words that have resonated for me — it all has to feel good. And that’s how I made it. In a literal sense as well as in my music. Everything has to feel natural. Even just walking into a room. I have to be myself – or it won’t work. I tried it the other way, (laughing) and nothing happened!
So you’re saying in a way that it all starts with someone being in touch with who they really are?
Yes, it will always go back to that. You can avoid it like the plague, and live a way that’s not you. But at the end of it, you’re going to have to come back to you. And that’s what this book made me do. It made me totally relive a lot of stuff and see that at the end of it, I had to be myself. It was very therapeutic writing this book, and I hope it helps others, because it’s very open. You HAVE to be yourself, or it won’t work. You have to talk to yourself – meaning sit down and figure it all out – to deal with our past, present and our future.
The book itself is very beautiful, and you have a whole chapter on beauty. Can you talk about the quality of beauty? It’s something that a lot of black women struggle with – how to feel beautiful in a world that sometimes doesn’t want to depict us that way.
That’s a hard one. That’s why I had to write about it, because I was never viewed as beautiful. My mother always said, “you’re beautiful,” and that’s what I thought. But when the world came to me, they said something different, and that’s why I have to keep saying that I am beautiful. With being natural, with being always the darkest one in my class, or [the one] with the biggest eyes – I was very skinny with big eyes, I mean my eyes were so big (laughs) – I was a target for teasing.
In the world, I was never looked at the way you would classify a beauty. Had my mother not said it over and over again, I don’t think I would feel that way. And someone else out there probably didn’t have a mom like mine to keep saying how beautiful they are, always encouraging them. So I think that an audience of readers needs to see that. I feel like at Essence, that’s all they talk about, is how beautiful we are as black women. It’s a great combination.
There has been a lot of controversy about the depiction of black women in some of the more negative reality TV shows. Your book, and your project, has been to uplift the image of black women. Can you name some other black women who you think are promoting positivity?
Wow! There are so many. I know that Oprah is one of the people that I love and adore. Her best friend Gayle is really cool, too. Taraji P. Henson. Love what she does. She’s very classy, but at the same time in touch with her roots. I absolutely adore her. Mary J. Blige. Always real and honest. I love her whole thing. Maya Angelou. Iyanla VanZant. I could go on and on. Alfre Woodard. Gosh, there are so many. I’ll have to send you an email.
Do you think that the media focuses on these women enough?
It depends on what you’re looking for, you know? It’s out there to me. It’s available to me, because I’m looking for it. So, I’m the wrong person to ask. I’m always looking for the light out of it all. I would like to see more in the mainstream of it, yeah. But I wonder, would our audience want to see that? I mean [the] audience as a whole – not just black people, everyone.
You are definitely a natural beauty icon. What was it like to see the transition from a time when what you were doing was really revolutionary — especially with your hairstyles — to today?
That’s an excellent question. I never considered that, but that’s a great compliment. I’m just being me. The main thing to understand is that it doesn’t start on the outside. It’s in the inside. When you carry yourself a certain way, it comes out naturally, so, that’s all I’ve been doing. If I can’t be naturally me, it won’t work for me.
To see people wearing my hairstyle – I see it every day, and it’s not my hairstyle, it’s not anything new, it’s just that now it’s in the mainstream in hair magazines and things like that — it’s really cool to see people celebrating that natural side of themselves, and becoming more free. It’s becoming more acceptable. I think it’s great, and I had something to do with it. That makes me feel good. But Idia.Arie was doing it before. Angela Davis. I mean, Cicely Tyson was huge for that. Roberta Flack, I mean it goes on and on. I’m not the only one. Style is transitioning all the time.
It really starts from the inside of it. It’s all about how you carry yourself, [from] the inside out. That’s all I’ve been doing, and that’s how I’ve watched Nina Simone, and all the other greats, do it. I mean, those are great women to me. I’m part of that crew? That makes me feel good.
Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on Twitter at @lexisb.