Become Universe — Live. Aspire. Thrive.

For years I’ve been wanting to watch Diana Ross’ performances in “Mahogany” and “Lady Sings The Blues.” And for some reason I never managed to make that happen. To end the madness, I finally checked out the movie at the library this past week and it was an excellent move. Let’s go back to 1975 in the midst of Blaxploitation films being the only thing that portrayed African-Americans on the big screen. Out comes Ms. Ross (The Boss) with another film after her Oscar-nominated performance in Lady Sings The Blues. Mahogany is a super heroine in her own right coming from “nothing to something.” Ross stars as Tracy Chambers a young woman from the Chicago ghetto streets with big hopes of being a fashion designer. It’s not a story too far from Diana’s upbringing in the Brewster Projects of Detroit.

Billy Dee Williams, who also starred in Lady, plays Diana’s love boo the second time around. He’s running for city Alderman but struggles measuring up to Mahogany’s success when comparing his own failures. She is the first from the ‘hood to make it big. Her self-confidence, although channels her own flaws at the beginning of the story, is rare to see on the big screen. During this time in history, for many black women, there wasn’t anyone who beat the odds into the realm of success. The portrait of black was painted brightly by Diana Ross, Berry Gordy and The Motown Corporation.

“Theme For Mahogany (Do You Know?)” is a dream. It is known that Diana Ross wasn’t a powerhouse singer like a la Patti LaBelle. But her contribution to American culture should not be forgotten. She has made it possible for singers to have number singles, albums, and movies all at the same time. When looking at the history of Beyonce’s career you can easily see that it was modeled after Ms. Ross.

Check out a mini music video of “Do You Know?”