Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Being the child of a global superstar is never easy. Being the daughter of the Godfather of Soul—that’s a category unto itself. Fame, drugs, jail, and the complicated women in James Brown’s life set the stage for an uncommon childhood. Cold Sweat is about how Yamma rose to meet every challenge. Though celebrities ranging from Michael Jackson to Al Sharpton make appearances, Cold Sweat is not just a celebrity book. It focuses on an everyday issue faced by millions of women—domestic violence—and in this book Yamma faces it in an honest and powerfully moving way. Dealing with a complex and famous father eventually took a backseat to coping with her own abusive and deceitful marriage. Cold Sweat is about how Yamma got caught in the same trap as her mother, doing things in her adult life that, as a child, she’d promised herself she’d never do. But at the same time, Yamma learned valuable lessons about life from her father. The struggles she went through, both as a child and as an adult, make for a gripping read and, in the end, a profound examination of the nature of celebrity, violence, and survival.
On Friday, October 3rd, at 7PM, Yamma Brown brings her story to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. In the wake of too many news items forcing the interstices of domestic abuse and celebrity to the forefront of the public consciousness, Yamma’s strength and candor contribute powerfully to an important conversation.
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Photo Credit: TheDailyBeast.com