www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER Page 5 ~ July 20, 2012 ENTERTAINMENT Wife of Nat “King” Cole, and Natalie Cole’s Mother, Dies at 89 Special to the NNPA from the racial violence. She raised Afro-American Newspaper their five children and sup- Big Band singer Maria ported her husband while his Hawkins Cole, wife of jazz career flourished. legend Nat “King” Cole and After her husband died mother of singer Natalie of lung cancer in 1965 at age Cole, died July 10 in Boca 45, Cole created the Cole Raton, Fla., after a short Cancer Foundation and be- battle with cancer. She was came very active in charity 89. work. “I just want to thank According to the everyone for their prayers Maria Hawkins Cole Times, Cole’s family said she [and] loving support. Mom New York Times, and hired also retuned to singing both has passed, gone to glory, her as a vocalist for his or- before and after her July 10th 2012. She will be chestra. She stayed with him husband’s death. She and Return to Dunbar--(L to r) Austinites Doris Williams, Tommie Wyatt and Laura Jackson all graduates of the Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School in Lubbock, Texas returned to the city for the next to Dad at Forest until 1946, when she became Nat recorded songs with Dunbar All School Reunion, July 12-15, 2012. Dunbar, the original all Black high school in Lub- Lawn,” Natalie Cole a solo act at Club Zanzibar Capitol Records and her bock, graduated the last class in 1993. It is now a Junior High School College Academy. The All tweeted on July 11. in Harlem, opening for the best-known solo album, School covers all students who attended the old Dunbar from 1923 - 1993. Born in Boston in Mills Brothers. “Love Is a Special Feeling,” 1922, Cole and her sister It was there that Nat was released in 1966. MILWAUKEE BRANCH OF THE NAACP CLAIMS moved to North Carolina “King” Cole first saw her, “Our mom was in a VICTORY IN WISCONSIN VOTER ID LITIGATION after her mother died in and reportedly became so class all by herself,” Natalie childbirth, according to The smitten that he divorced his said in a statement released Milwaukee— On Tuesday, of the Milwaukee Branch of Since 2011, Wisconsin Hollywood Reporter. first wife Nadine. The pair with her twin sisters Timolin Wisconsin Circuit Court the NAACP released the fol- and 40 other states have in- Blessed with the gift of were married in 1948 in a and Casey Cole. “She Judge David Flanagan issued lowing statement regarding troduced voter suppression music, she studied voice and lavish wedding presided over epitomized class and el- his decision to permanently the decision: legislation. Twenty states piano as a child and gradu- by Congressman Adam egance and truly defined enjoin Wisconsin’s restrictive ”The permanent in- have successfully passed re- ated in 1938 from the Clayton Powell Jr. at the what it is to be a real lady. and burdensome photo ID junction on Act 23 will help strictive voting laws between Palmer Memorial Institute, Abyssinian Baptist Church in We are so blessed and privi- law, declaring Wisconsin’s ensure that Wisconsin’s elec- 2011 and 2012. “Restrictive then one of America’s most Harlem. leged to have inherited the photo ID law the strictest in tion integrity is preserved voter ID legislation is only a prestigious African-Ameri- “Nat wanted to im- legacy that she leaves be- the nation. during the election season, portion of the strategic at- can prep schools. After a prove himself,” Maria Cole hind along with our father. The Milwaukee Branch by protecting each citizen’s tack on voting rights that has short stint in Boston, Cole told The Boston Globe in She died how she lived: of the NAACP, Voces de la right to vote and railing grown to include harsh regu- then moved to New York to 1989, as cited by the with great strength, cour- Frontera, and twelve indi- against claims of mass voter lations on registration, cuts to pursue a career in music, Times. “I wanted to help age and dignity, sur- viduals partnered in the fight fraud and detrimental solu- early voting, unlawful purges, performing with Benny him improve. What he rounded by her loving against Wisconsin Act 23. tions in search of a problem. and the disenfranchisement Carter’s band, Count Basie needed, I had. What I family.” The act requires photo iden- Since 2004, no state efforts of former offenders,” said and Fletcher Henderson. needed, he had. That’s According to the Asso- tification to cast a ballot, in- have produced evidence of Jotaka Eaddy, NAACP Her big break came in why our marriage worked.” ciated Press, Cole, who lived cluding absentee ballots. voter fraud indicative of the Special Assistant to the the 1940s after Duke After their wedding, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., at Only around 80 percent of voter ID requirements of Act President and CEO & Se- Ellington heard a recording the pair traveled and per- the time of her death, will be Wisconsin residents already 23. The Milwaukee Branch nior Director of the Voting of her “throaty, resonant formed together during the buried in private services in registered to vote possess a of the NAACP, NAACP Rights Initiative. “This deci- voice,” according to The ‘50s, often encountering California. driver’s license that meets Wisconsin State Confer- sion is an important victory the Photo ID requirements of ence, and leading partners for Wisconsin citizens, the Gospel Poet, Rapper Redefines the Genre will continue to push against NAACP, and voter protec- Act 23. In addition, to ob- she explained, “the poems the state and national attack tion.” Gunn puts a beat to tain a WisDOT Division of come when the Holy on voting rights.” Last December, the her spiritual, unique Motor Vehicles issued Spirit feels like filling my In the official court NAACP released the report message driver’s license or alternative mouth or my mind with the Wisconsin Circuit Court or- “Defending Democracy” When Iona Gunn de- ID a certified birth certificate words.” der Judge Flanagan states, which detailed the various scribes what exactly it is is required. Gunn has found that “Act 23 addresses a prob- attacks on voting rights, in- exactly she does when If enacted, the act pattern to hold true ever lem which is very limited, if cluding Florida’s change to she steps up to a micro- would impose strict voter since she first began writ- indeed it exists.” “It offers no third party, non partisan phone to recite her poetry identification laws on Wis- while music plays in the ing poetry in the early consin residents, denying the flexibility, no alternative to voter registration proce- background, she typi- Iona Gunn 1990s. One of her first, right to vote granted in the prevent the exclusion of a dures. The full report is at cally, says “it’s poetry The hell that I live and now one of her most Wisconsin Constitution. constitutionally qualified http://www.naacp.org/ with an attitude.” with it’s a reflection of the popular poems, reflects James Hall, President voter,” he continued. pages/defending-democracy But in many other mistakes that I made upon the life and impact circles, Gunn’s artistry is along the way of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther described as Christian The hell that I live with King, Jr. rap. However, the word makes me want to through But beyond famous can still conjure up nega- up my hands and quit figures, her poems cover tive images among some The hell that I live with a vast array of topics in- people, particularly for leaves me wondering “Is cluding faith, abuse, rela- those from an older gen- it worth it?” tionships and in particular eration. The hell that I live drugs. The 49-year-old with I’ll accept it for now “I want to reach poet, wife and mother of because one day when those in the community three can understand Jesus comes I’ll wear a that are struggling with some elders reluctance to crown. —Iona Gunn drugs to let them know embrace the hip hop Slowly she came to that they don’t [drugs], genre. appreciate the genre they have can have a bet- “At first, I didn’t like more. Yet it was not until ter life without it,” said it either because I last year at the request of Gunn, who used drugs couldn’t understand what her nephew that Gunn re- herself as a teen. people were saying, so cited her own poetry to a To help her poetry reach [rap] was closed off to beat. a broader audience, Gunn has me,” she recalled. “So my they really liked it.” begun to perform at more ven- brother began coach me And although Gunn ues, posting on YouTube, and he said, ‘rap ain’t has loved to write for sev- while also selling copies of her nothing but with poetry eral decades she makes poetry and her own poetry with an attitude.” sure to acknowledge that CD, “The Hell That I Live The Hell That I her creativity was a gift With.” Live With from a higher power. For more information, The hell that I live “I don’t sit down contact Gunn at with it has a name I keep and make up anything,” [email protected]. it to myself because of the shame You could be reaching The trials are hid by the smile on my face try- our many readers by ing to make the pain go away placing your ad here! The hell that I live with others do not know call for information they see me as I come and as I go (512) 476-0082.