Gladys Knight Tells Her Story at St. Sabina

Photo: Tonka Maljevic

Father Michael Pfleger & Gladys Knight

On February 26th, Reverend Michael Pfleger and the Faith Community of Saint Sabina hosted the second installment of their annual African-American Speaking Series with special guest Grammy Award winning singer Gladys Knight.

Greeted by a packed sanctuary, Gladys Knight looked absolutely stunning as she began to tell her story. Born in Atlanta in 1944, Knight at age seven, was the first Black to appear on Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour television show. Winning the contest, Knight and her brother Bubba went on to form a group called The Pips and the rest is history.

Focusing on Black History Month, Knight said, “We are not separated from the rest of this country. Our history is their history. Their history is our history. We are intertwined…My mother didn’t teach me to cow-tow to anyone, just respect them because they are your elders…I didn’t grow up with that color thing.

But, I remember when I was called that ugly, nasty word. I was around 12 years old and was out with The Pips. We stopped for gas and I went inside and said, sir, I need the key to the restroom. He said, we don’t let niggers use the bathroom. This is everybody’s history. We all made choices along the way.”

“I remember we went to a meeting with a label who wanted to lay out a lot of money for promotion. They asked me to go outside. After a while I heard chairs being thrown and just a whole lot of noise. The Pips came out upset! When we got to the car, they said that the man wanted me. I had heard of the casting couch but then I knew it was real. Evil flourishes when good men and women do nothing. That’s what it’s been like, incidents like that. I remember drugs but they use to hide it, now it’s out in the open and I feel for our young people today.

“We didn’t have much but we had the strength of spirit. Our parents kept us moving in the ‘respect’ direction. We spent a lot of time opening doors. If you [young people] don’t walk through correctly, it’s on you. Cars, money, and a big house are not blessings, they are temptations. Even our Saviour was tempted by the devil…when you find yourself being tempted, you need to slow down and see what’s going on around you. We want to give our kids what we didn’t have but we are not teaching them about Christ. We are losing sight of what’s really important.

“Our journey called life is fleeting…it is important what we do with it. When you take God out of everything, everything collapses. That’s why our country is falling apart. So far we are still here but in my opinion, we are losing our way.

“The more we have, the more distracted we are. We have to use our gifts to the best of our ability. It is for Him that we work. He said for us to be in service so that we are read when called. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get us on track but it’s out of my hands. I’m just hoping I will touch somebody and bring them back into His army.

“I haven’t been right all the time. I’ve made some bad choices and am trying to make them right but even out of those things, I can see some good. I want us to get back some of that pride. Some of that fire for what’s right and not just on Sunday. If He can’t go, then I can’t go. That should be our measure.”

Gladys Knight is working on a television show, an “old time” R&B album, a gospel album, a line of jewelry, and a perfume. She is looking into helping tennis player Andre Agassi open a school in Las Vegas that will have music and sports which she emphasizes are “all the things that make us healthy”. Metropolis

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