Mary J.Blige said she was "damaged in a good way" when working on "I Can See InColor," the lead song from the controversial film, "Precious:Based On The Novel 'Push' By Sapphire" which opens in limited theatres today.
The filmis about Clareece "Precious" Jones, a 16-year-old girl twice pregnant by herfather, also abused by her mother, illiterate, and still in junior high school.She aspires to appear in a hip-hop music video.
The film stars Mo'Nique, Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton,Mariah Carey, and includes Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry among its producers.
Mary co-wrote a song of triumph. The lyrics champion finallybeing able to see the world from a new perspective.
The metaphor for seeing the good in life in color is ananalogy Mary drew from her personal experiences. "When I'm depressed, and goingthrough something, it's in black and white. The flowers are not yellow," Marysaid when recently speaking about the song at the Hollywood Reporter andBillboard Film And TV Music Conference, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The film's director Lee Daniels encouraged her outpouring ofemotion in the song that also shares writing credits with producer RaphaelSaadiq and Mary's protégé LaNeah Menzies.
"If you're about to cry, just cry," Daniels told Mary. Thesong was based things experienced by the film's character, Mary, and LeNeah.
The soundtrack also features songs from Queen Latifah, JeanCarn, Labelle, and Mahalia Jackson. Mary is also a co-executive producer forthe soundtrack released on her Geffen distributed Matriarch Records.
A longtime voice of empowerment,Mary recently opened a safe haven for women in her hometown of Yonkers, New York.
Last week she held a ribboncutting ceremony for the Mary J. Bilge Center For Women. The center willinitially focus on assisting young single mothers with parenting skills,educational and vocational support, and other individualized services. It willalso provide self-esteem counseling and employment and job placementassistance.
The Mary J. Blige Center For Women is the brainchild of theFoundation For The Advancement Of Women Now, Inc. (FFAWN), an organization Mary created alongwith veteran music business marketing executive Steve Stoute.
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