Monday, March 17, 2008

Do you know who Desreta Jackson is?


While finishing the final one hour stretch to complete retightening my hair this afternoon (yah!!!), Jen popped in The Color Purple. As usual, trillions of emotions rose throughout this movie as it always has whenever we watch it. I laughed, I cried, I mouthed famous lines, thinking of Tyler Perry and how he loves to use Oprah (Sophia's) lines in his plays. The DVD we have is the 2-disc collection that has behind the scene interviews with Alice Walker, Steven Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Quincy Jones and others in the cast. As always, the thought to google the "unknowns" comes to mind and I made sure today, I did such. If you know who actress Desreta Jackson is, then you are a true Color Purple fan. I was quite amazed to find out that when the movie was shot in 84, Desreta was about 12 years old. I was 14 at the time so that puts her at about 35ish. The last film on record she played in was Sister Act II. Not sure if Whoopi gave her the "hook-up" or if she had to audition on her own. She looks good and also has a myspace. Not bad for an all grown up young Celie Harris Johnson. She's doing her thang, and I ain't mad at her. It's funny how folks have to get on with their lives. And you never know who will make it "big" and who wont. I often wondered since her role was so negatively portrayed at that time if it would hinder her acting career. Only she knows and will tell. I will say she's not on the extras disc as many other key characters, such as Akosua Busia, (Nettie) are who were located and interviewed.

***Update on Desreta Jackson***
An online interview with Desreta Jackson and BET was posted February 2009. Read the interview here and get many many questions answered as well as see what she's up do these days. Thanks Christine!!!



That leads me to say how I believe my plan for this summer will be to get back to writing. I have too many good stories stored up inside me, waiting to be freed to the masses. Last summer I spent my tax refund money to go to Mexico to study Spanish. This summer, I'm leaning strongly towards hiding out to write. We shall see.

Jen suggested I bantu knot my hair for my Spring Break traveling to see friends and loved ones in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. Here's what my length looks like along with my bantus. The longer my hair gets, the harder it is to bantu. I'm curious to see how this is going to turn out.


You can see some comparison shots of my length from the back in my fotki. I'm glad I took those pics because it shows how far I've traveled on this journey.

OK, I needed to add the results of my bantus. Here they are....
This picture was taken in the evening of 3-21-08. The curls from the bantu knots are tight!!!

18 comments:

Vixen said...

Interesting take on young Celie, and now that you mention it, I also wonder if the type of role she had in the film affected her future possibilities.

Anyway, your curls look great. You have a cute style even with the bantus on top and the back straight. Looks good, looks good!

Maryee said...

Knowing how easy it can be to be type-casted, she may have had some problems. Who knows. Thanks for the compliment on my curls. I'm going to shoot for bigger waves next time by bantu'ing larger sections of hair. Blessings...

CarmenNC said...

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Trina is going to flip when she sees your comment too. On writing, I've been writing at work. LOL. Yes, there is enough down time to write. I'm loving this new job. Unfortunately, I don't have a computer or internet access so I'm working with pen and paper. I'm going way old school by not editing while I'm writing. My goal is to expand a short story. Keep writing and do share too. I'm off to google Shug Avery

Jena Evans said...

Man... look at the length. And you thought you "was doing something" at month 6.

Stay sweet and encouraged~

Goodnapps said...

Cute, cute, cute. I absolutely love the length and would love to take a snap shot and freeze it in time.

Mel said...

Maryee, your hair looks fabulous! I think you ahve had a lot of growth since your Christmas pictures.

Maryee said...

Carmen,

I write my best when it's pencil/pen and paper. Every once and a while I get lucky and type something up real good, but it's the stuff that I write down that ends up HOT, IMHO. (LOL)
If we don't write and tell our stories, someone else will. Thanks for sharing.

J,

Yeah, I did think I was hot stuff at 6 months. Whoa!! We've come a long way baby!!!

Goodnapps,

Yeah, this is a time I longed for and imagined and now that it's here, it's surreal. Your time is coming soon!!!

Mel,

Thanks! You know after you said that, I went back and looked at my Christmas pics and I think you're right. Both Jen and I had major growth spurts at year 2 and year 3. I guess it's a yearly thing! Thanks for sharing!

blessings ladies...

CardioBunny said...

I never knew Desreta's name. And I'm so nosey that I just had to look up her Myspace page. Thanks for sharing!

Maryee said...

I'd forgotten it until I saw the credits and headed thereafter, straight to google.

Aya said...

Wow Maryee, your hair gorgeous!! I love the length and the way the curls turned out. Inspiring.

MEE said...

Thanks Aya. They are still in, so I may shampoo this weekend cause it's time for a wash. I'll be by to visit you soon! Blessings...

Docs Locs said...

I love your hair! Length and texture!

Charizma00! Braidlocks and More said...

Your hair is too cute!!! I'm gonna have to look Ms. Desreta up. I just wanted to stop by and wish you well with the test you have to take. I may be late but better for you know I was thinking of you than to not :-)

Maryee said...

Charizma00,

You are quite welcome! The test is over and we will receive the results in two weeks. The kids are relieved it's over. Take care!!!

Anonymous said...

Maryee,
Congrats on your 54th month mark! Whenever I need inspiration along this Sls journey, I check out your very beginning photos...and my goodness look at your hair now!!! Thanks for all of the updates with your hair, and I can only imagine your length in the next 6 months as you celebrate your 5th year of being Sisterlocked!

Chemi Che-Mponda said...

I love your hair and how you are showing what we can do with our natural hair. Awesome!

On Desreta Jackson, I'm a fan of hers. Her role as young Celie in The Color Purple was awesome. And for a 12 year old she really tackled the subject matter well. I was really disappointed when I bought the special edition DVD and did not see her. She wasn't even mentioned, which had me wondering was there some kind of fall out from this film for her.

She has a none speaking role in Sister Act as a teenage girl and then that's it. Her Hollywood career vanished.

I'm glad to hear that she is doing well with her real estate company in Atlanta. Maybe one day, we will see her again in another film.

canadakurisu said...

Hi there ,
My name is Christine Loughead and I am from Winnipeg,Canada. I was googling Desreta Jackson and came across your blog and I found an interview she did that I thought perhaps you or your friends may want to read :) http://www.bet.com/entertainment/DesretaJacksonTheColorPurple.htm
thank you

Maryee said...

Chemi,

I'm sorry I didn't respond to your post. Christine's link will give you great updates on Desreta's intimate interview with BET.

Christine,

Thank you so much for the link to Desresta's interview. I read it and it answered so many questions. Many blessings to you for sharing the link to her updates.