f a m i l y
A message from Angela
I initially created this site for the purpose of work and career. But lately have begun to truly appreciate that my life isn't only that. There are extraordinary accomplishments that members of my family have made, and I am just as pleased to boast and post those as my own. Life is more than just "give me a job."
I don't expect industry professionals to log onto this page. It is most dearly for those who know me personally, maybe even know my family, and therefore have some interest in their well-being. Though, all are welcomed.
This page is dedicated with love to the memory of my mother, Martha Shepard Brown Hicks, and my step-father, Fred Hicks, who were my biggest moral supporters, and who always hear my voice.
Angela's Mother's Day 2008 Tribute
Angela's Father Day 2008 Tribute to Ted Brown
Music by Martin Davich
Directed by Angela Carole Brown
In recent news:
This hate crime (links to 2 articles below) was recently perpetuated against my niece Chippewa.
What neither article does is say what the racial comment was. But I will. On one of the flyers that she was passing out that read "there's no room for hate on campus," someone scribbled in below it, "except for niggers," and placed it on her office door.
I rarely talk politics. I tend to keep my thoughts to myself. But I will say this: Though my niece lives in Alabama...so, you know, consider the source!........I do think an old and tired mentality of racial hatred and rage has re-emerged loudly, and been whipped up into a frenzy, by/for the McCain-Palin campaign. Just look at any footage from their rallies; they're scarily reminiscent of that classic bit of footage we've seen for 50 years of the raging racial epithets thrown out at the Little Rock Nine in 1957, as they attempted to honor one of the first federally ordered integration acts.
Yes, these ignorant yahoos still live and breathe in our nation, but until this campaign most of this mentality (the South perhaps an exception) had gotten to the point where it was largely kept around their own dinner table talk. This campaign has brought it/them out of the woodworks, and out from beneath their rocks, in a staggering way.
And so, this act of hatred against my niece, while it deeply saddens and disappoints, does not shock me.
Okay, enough proselytizing. I just wanted to share these articles with those in my life who know and love my niece.
The Birmingham News
"Auburn University Professor Chippewa Thomas Reported a Racist Note Left at the Bottom of a Flier"
The News Courier
"Auburn Prof Uses Offensive Note as Lesson in Racism"
A Brown Family Panorama
Video directed by Angela Carole Brown
The Brown-Hicks-Thomas clan is large and diverse, and splits so many ways that the family tree resembles more of a banyan than an oak.
My only niece, Dr. Chippewa Thomas, of Tuskegee, Alabama, is still holding powerful court as a professor at Auburn University. And was featured in the April 2006 issue of Ebony Magazine, in the article "Black College Queens Then & Now."
Sister Pam Brown, of Atlanta, Georgia, is living in her dream house, a fabulous spread of digs that I had the pleasure to visit for the first time last Christmas. Her home is an Architectural Digest wonder, reflecting an elegance, class, and extraordinary aesthetic that she no doubt got from our dear mother, who was always the epitome of taste. Pam passionately collects art and artifacts to keep creating stunning statements of beauty in her home. And she is still shaking up the system at IBM! Kicking...^%&#*^...and taking names!
She and Chippewa traveled to Europe last spring, their first time there together. Paris and Versailles were the destinations. Our mother, who loved gallivanting across Europe routinely, would be tickled by this excursion. They had a blast!
Brother Michael Brown (for whom I wrote the song An Old Black Man Someday) was honored last year by the City of Los Angeles for twenty years of devoted volunteer service to the Department of Parks and Recreations, as a Little League coach. AND...his team just won the championship. He is making a difference in the lives of young inner city boys!
Brother, Andrew Brown (another ACB!), is a college student at Cal State Fullerton, and plans to use his great gift for math to pursue business and accounting.
Brother Arman Brown just graduated from high school! He is coming into his own as a young poet, spinning rhymes for the rap world. He may even appear on a future Angela musical project, if Dre hasn't scooped him up by then! He is also being seriously looked at by the NBA, and this past Spring attended a tournament in Las Vegas.
My father, the acclaimed artist Ted Brown, who has created works and portraitures for President Clinton, the NASA space program, and national ad agencies, and whose portrait of Martin Luther King hung on every wall across America a few decades ago, is happily retired, but still being creative. He designed the graphic layout for my last CD The Slow Club, and I was absolutely thrilled to finally collaborate with him. And since I'm now going a little crazy with my new video editing software, here's just a sampling of his amazing work:
The Art of Ted Brown
Video directed by Angela Carole Brown
And he isn't the only creative one in the family. Step-mom Afi Brown continues to create elegant gift baskets for her company Afi's Gifts.
If you're interested in a basket, send Afi an email @ afisgifts@adelphia.net. She'll be happy to show you a catalog. These baskets are awesome!
The Shepards (my mother's side) once again hosted a family reunion this past June, in St. Louis, MO, assembling together four generations of family from all over the U.S. And my cousin Janelle has created an awesome MySpace page for the Shepard Family. Check it out! It's free to sign up.
The Philosophy of Andrew
And for more classic photos of my mother, father, sister, brothers, and me (in Buster Brown shoes, no less!), from 1957 through 2002, check out the Brown Family Homepage.
From the deepest center of my heart, I am honored to be a part of this family, and I thank you for viewing this page - Angela
© 2005 Angela Carole Brown