The Study of Racialism

gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }

Cree Summer Francks was born on the 7th of July, 1969 in Los Angeles. Her father, Don Francks, was an actor // jazz musician. Crees mother, Lili (Red Eagle) a dancer. Cree got one younger brother called Rainbow Sun. Don didn't want his daughter to grow up in Hollywood, so the family moved
to Red Pheasant, a Plains Cree reservation in
Saskatchewan, Canada. There, Crees father build
a house of mud with his bare hands. They had no
elecricity and no running water there. There was
also no school, her parents thaught Cree the things
she needed to know.

her brother

Growing up at the reservation, Cree had two records:
Zoot Allure by Frank Zappa, and Motorcycle Mike by
Lotti Golden. She also danced Pow Wow, rode horses,
and played with her many friends. Once a month, Cree
and her family made a trip to North Battleford, to the
half star hotel The Bestburough Hotel for a bath.

When Cree was 6 years old, the government discovered the family was living at the reservation tax-free, and they had to move. First, the family lived in a school bus and a horse stable. Cree also spent a short time living in a commune called Music Church. From there Cree and her family stayed a while in a basement of a friends house. After that, the family went to Toronto.

With some help of her father
Cree could start voicing
cartoons. At age 13, Cree
joined her first band. Cree
went to the Toronto High
School For The Performing
Arts, but dropped out at age
16. At age 18 Cree went to live
in Los Angeles, where she
still lives. She continued
voicing cartoons and perform
music, and also started acting.

By this time Cree got four tattoos.
A fearie on her arm, cause thats
what she would rather be. An Om on her ankle, which stands for the sound that unites everything into one-ness. Cree also got a tattoo on her back. Thats Kali, the Black Goddess of Death, as death is a part of life too. And like Cree says: Kali kicks ass!!

All the things she has gone through in life made Cree who she is now: a very spiritual, inspiring woman, who is thankful for what she has achieved in this life.

Summer has also ventured into the realm of music. In 1993 she released an album (as lead singer) with her band Subject to Change. The album was not officially released by Capitol Records because of creative differences; the records that were produced were distributed promotionally and are considered a rarity. The band, with an aggressive political message and rock-soul fusion sound, remained popular as a co-headlining act with other performers. In 1999 Summer released the solo album Street Faerie produced by and featuring guest artist (and friend) Lenny Kravitz, the album was not hugely successful. Summer toured as Kravitz's opening act, but her label dropped her and a planned spot with Lillith Fair was cancelled. The label continued to promote it, however, sending out a four track sampler to radio and issuing remix singles of the track "Revelation Sunshine" in Australia and Europe. Her musical talent may have had an influence on Summer's portrayal of Susie as a "singer with real talent" [1]. She is also known for voicing the Summoner Belgemine and young Tidus in the video game blockbuster Final Fantasy X, and the Summoner Lenne from Final Fantasy X-2. She is also well know for the role of Tandi from Fallout 1 and 2.

Since 2004, Cree has been a cast member of Comedy Central's animated series Drawn Together, providing the voice of Foxxy Love, a sexually promiscuous spoof of Josie and the Pussycats' Valerie Brown as well as 1970s blaxploitation characters. Summer also provides many of the series's guest voices, having played Strawberry Sweetcake, Ni-Pul, and a number of others. In Danny Phantom (2004), she also provided the voice of Valerie Gray, a ghost hunter. In 2005, she added the voice of some Squirrel Scouts to her character credits on Cartoon Network's Joe Murray-created and produced series Camp Lazlo, as well as that of Rayna, the best friend of the titular character in the Disney cartoon The Buzz on Maggie. In 2006, she added the voice of Mrs. Tusk in the Cartoon Network series My Gym Partner's a Monkey to her list of credits.

gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }

Cree Summer Francks (voice of Susie Charmicheal) with her family.

These are not their daughters, his from a previous marriage

gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }

http://www.hiponline.com/artist/music/s/summer_cree/

"Turning, turn on into my own self at last Out of the white cage, out of the lady cage Turning into my own season..."
- From "Fall"

Somewhere between sea and sky, a soul is kissed by lightning, igniting and illuminating them from all directions. The cosmic download empowers them with a voice that stretches from a husky purr to a piercing roar. It gives them a boundless imagination and open access to the complete spectrum of music. Cree Summer is that spirit - a captivating songwriter, singer and performer making her electrifying solo debut on WORK Records.

The 13-song album, self-titled, is a pulsing amalgam of emotions and styles, movin' and groovin' from the ascending euphoria's of "Soul Sister" and "Deliciously Down" to the electric blues of the Lenny Kravitz duet, "Mean Sleep," and the scathing, shit-hits-the-fan spanking of "Curious White Boy" - all from a woman whose image of god is a voluptuous, brown goddess with long hair and elfin ears! Weaving words with the precision of a surgeon or the poetic grace of a pearl stringer, Cree Summer always leaves a vibrant impression... rockin' you like a hurricane or a cradle. "I guess my songs are a hybrid of the music I heard as a child and the weird-ass way I grew up," Cree shares with earthy candor. "All I ever wanted to do was sing. My father had a jazz band and I remember climbing on stage at clubs I was too young to be in."

Cree Summer was born in California, to a mother who was a dancer, and an actor/musician father, Don Francks. It was 1969; the hippie movement in full effect, and Don didn't want to have a child in Hollywood. Francks fell in love with Red Pheasant, a Plains Cree reserve in Saskatchewan, Canada. So he moved his family and, with his bare hands, built them a house of mud. Cree spent her first eight years there, later living in a school bus, a horse stable and a commune called the Music Church. Her first taste of school didn't come until the fourth grade in Toronto. Restless and relatively independent thanks to the money she saved from voicing cartoons since the age of 13, Cree dropped out at 16. "I had an isolated childhood," she admits, "but I fell in love with music, the first of it being Pow Wow music - traditional native Cree songs. I had two records growing up on 'The Res': Zoot Allures by Frank Zappa - my musical messiah - and Motorcycle Michael by Lotti Golden. Then I'd visit my grandmom in the summertime and there was Aretha and Dinah Washington."

Her father encouraged her to express her thoughts by writing in journals, which blossomed into a love for poetry and literature. Today, one entire high-ceilinged wall of her home is filled with books. "Lyrically, I'm inspired by urban fantasy/fiction, Elf Quest comix, Sonia Sanchez, Toni Kade Bambara, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and Dorothy Parker," she says. As an example, she offers, "'Fall' was written about a dying leaf. I was really into Walt Whitman at the time. But I don't like to tell people what the songs are about. I'm always open to finding out how much deeper a song can be."

"Making this music has been such a journey of self-discovery," she continues, "and totally organic. I can't say there's a theme to the record. It's as spontaneous as my journeys." The first song on Cree Summer is "Revelation Sunshine," the first song Cree ever wrote (at age 19) to her first love. "It's a fitting way to say hello," Cree says. "I love its purity and the time it represents." "Life Goes On" is a meditative nudge to not waste precious time, while "Angry Boy," is a sweet n' sour examination of an abusive man who is out of touch with his emotions. There's the soulful "Sweet Pain," a love song sparked by a craving for more Al Green and Donny Hathaway music, and "Still Heart," a stark rumination about desperate measures people sometimes take to not be lonely.

The album was recorded in Los Angeles, New York and Nassau, where Cree flew to work with longtime friend, Lenny Kravitz. "Lenny taught me song structure," she says of their working association. "He's very persnickety and has an exquisite ear. Lenny made me sing better, and that's a great gift." The unique bond they share is reflected in "Miss Moon," the mystical song they co-wrote for longtime friend, Lisa Bonet.

Most profound of all is "Naheo," a confirmation of Cree's roots that throbs to a tom tom pulse under ringing mandolins. "That was inspired by my family. When I left my mama's house to come to LA, I wanted to be a big star. And my father, having left potential big stardom, said, 'Don't ever lose your Indian. Never forget where you came from. Art is a gift and if nobody hears it, that doesn't make it any less of a gift.' Those words never really meant much to me until my first band, Subject to Change, broke up. I didn't listen to music for a year! Then, I started writing again and the first song was 'Smooth My Heart.' Every now and then, life gives you a glimpse of how good it is..."

Talk such as this and the warm vibrations one gets from spending any time around her have painted Cree as a spiritualist. "I don't believe spirit is separate from life," she states simply. "We are spirit. I believe that music is good medicine and I believe in truth." In these days when airwaves and charts are clogged with inspiration-challenged strains, a presence like Cree's is a goddess-send. And Ms. Summer is just joyous to have had the opportunity to create one from the heart. "While in Nassau, I thought, 'Here I am in the most beautiful place in the world making music.' I woke up every morning saying thank you. If I was going to title my album anything, it's about gratitude. I am so grateful for this life."

Powell · Guru Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2462 }

http://www.donfrancks.com/

So Cree Summer is the daughter of "Walter" from the TV series "La Femme Nikita." Thanks for the information.

I wonder why she dropped her father's name. I also noticed that Suzette Charles (the biracial second "black" Miss America) dropped her father's Italian name - DeGaetano. I'm betting that they feared pressure from blacks to get rid of their "white" names ("White" being defined as those names uncommon in the Old South and therefore very uncommon among "Negroes").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzette_Charles

Powell · Guru Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2462 }

Suzette Charles did use her father's name before she entered the Miss America contest. Want to bet that she was afraid of being accused of passing for Italian (even though she IS more Italian than black)?

Suzette Charles DeGaetano - 1981 Scholar
Just three years after being named New Jersey's Presidential Scholar in 1981, Suzette Charles DeGaetano
claimed another national honor - the title of Miss America 1984. An accomplished singer who had appeared in commercials and educational TV programs, Charles swept the talent competition. After her service touring the nation as Miss America, Charles continued her musical career, performing with Bill Cosby, Stevie Wonder, Lou Rawls, Alan King, and Joel Grey.

http://www.presidentialscholars.org/famous_Alumni_1.htm

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gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }

G-Man · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2992 }

gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }

gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }

zsana · Moderator Joined: 05 Feb 2005 {Posts: 1032 }

Gemini072 wrote:

gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }

gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }

http://www.ymib.com/daily-inspiration/creative-living/bites

Found It: Cree Summers Home

Posted July 18th, 2007
By ymib
We found this little treasure of creative candy on Cree Summer's fan site. Her home is obviously filled with as much charm, character, and culture as she is. I love the leopard arm chair matched up with the florals and the Mexican skeleton. Eclectic would be the word. She seems to fill her space with things that inspire her and radiates creative and ancestoral energy, and The rustic dining area...lovely Cree..just lovely!

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gemini072 · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2942 }