Jill Scott on motherhood, music and much more

This week on Our World with Black Enterprise, host Marc Lamont Hill sits down with singer, songwriter and actress Jill Scott, who speaks passionately about motherhood, the music industry and the youth in her hometown of Philadelphia. A Grammy Award winner, poet, author and philanthropist, Scott is also an entrepreneur and the visionary behind the Butterfly Collection Inspired by Jill Scott for Ashley Stewart, a bra line for plus-size women.

Also, in this week’s On The Record segment, Hill talks with Republican political commentators Lenny McAllister, Vanessa Jean Louis and Armstrong Williams about the rise of African Americans within the G.O.P.

Our World with Black Enterprise is the award-winning weekly 30-minute program, hosted by Marc Lamont Hill, providing a fresh mix of interviews with today’s top newsmakers and celebrities, eclectic roundtable discussions concerning the hottest topics affecting African Americans, and profiles of some of the world’s most intriguing people.

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Scott unveils the Butterfly Bra Collection

Grammy award-winning singer, actress, poet, author, and philanthropist Jill Scott is perhaps best known for her inspirational and seductive lyrics. But she’s also an entrepreneur, unveiling the Butterfly Collection Inspired by Jill Scott for Ashley Stewart, a bra line for plus-size women. Proceeds from the collection benefit Scott’s Blues Babe Foundation based in North Philadelphia, which encourages young people to excel artistically and academically.

Black Enterprise recently caught-up with the 37-year-old Philadelphia native about her foray into entrepreneurship, the importance of diversifying her revenue stream, and her recent role as series heroine Precious Ramotswe in the new HBO show The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency filmed in Botswana. Scott is the first African American woman to star in a series on the network and is set to be honored by the country with her own postage stamp.

How did the Ashley Stewart joint venture come about?

I never understood why department stores and boutiques don’t pay attention to this market. They are homeowners, they pay taxes, and they have money to spend. So it didn’t seem farfetched or odd to want to go into an area where I see that the need is great.

Every woman in my family is pretty voluptuous. They all have these dark marks and have suffered shoulder pain from bras. I spoke with my business partner and told him that I wanted to create a bra line and that Ashley Stewart would be a great place for it. We met with the company and I brought in bras, fabrics, and materials that I thought would work well. I explained the need and gave them my designs.

What were some of the challenges you faced creating the line?

It’s hard to find a bra that will give both support and shape. We went back to the drawing board many times. There’s a specific plate to make each cup. We went from foam to gel to a type of padding. It’s very intricate and specific. I would go into Ashley Stewart and say, “OK, this is good. This isn’t going to work. Let’s try this.” There was lots of starting over. There’s a science to it all. Making a bra is difficult.

The line faced some criticism because the sizes weren’t expansive enough for some women. Are you looking to expand the line?

Right now it’s a great bra, but it’s not for everybody. I’m going to do my best to take it from a 60th percentile to at least the 90th percentile in terms of meeting the needs of more women. So I’ll need to do bigger and smaller sizes, more colors and styles, as well as maternity bras and girdles.

What you’re doing is a reflection of artists diversifying their income streams. How important is that for artists?

You have to diversify because nothing is guaranteed. I learned this from my mother. She can sew, lay down hardwood floors, perform acupressure, and is also a dental hygienist. All of those things make her happy. That’s how I’ve wanted to live my life. If it happens to become something financially beneficial, then great. I sing, write, and act because I can’t help myself. I love being creative. Of course I want to make money to take care of my family and myself, but I want a livelihood that gives me internal pleasure.

In addition to redesigning bras, you’re also reshaping the mold for leading actresses. How did your new HBO series come about, and why is it important to see plus-size women on TV?

The more roles, the more diverse we can be, the better. The character I’m playing is a traditionally built woman. There are no hang-ups about her size in Africa because there’s a different mentality in terms of standards of beauty. She’s normal. She’s beautiful.

This story originally appeared in the May 2009 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.

Dorothy L. Height, 96, president emeritus of the NCNW, far right, says she cherished her mentor, civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, and believes black girls can benefit from mentorship.

Ashley Stewart began their celebration of women’s empowerment four months ahead of National Women’s History Month, when they announced the “We are Listening” campaign last October. Now, every Tuesday in all 217 Ashley Stewart stores across the country, black women and girls join together with the support of the National Council of Negro Women to mentor, celebrate, and empower one another.

“We have to work harder at intergenerational sharing and giving,” Dorothy L. Height, chair and president emeritus of the NCNW, said after a press conference this week announcing the benefits of the program. “I think older people have a responsibility not only for sharing our history, but also recognizing the new changes and the new things to which we have to adapt and move forward.”

Sponsored by the Ashley Stewart Stores Community Foundation, the “We are Listening” program was created to provide “safe spaces” for young women under 35 and older women in the African American community. At the Tuesday meetings, the women and girls discuss topics ranging from domestic violence to education and cancer prevention.

Since the program’s inception in November, each week 1,800 women of all races have paid the $30 membership fee to join the NCNW through Ashley Stewart stores. This week the ASSCF presented Height and the NCNW with a check representing funds raised through the end of Dec. 2008. Customers who join the NCNW receive a one-time 20% discount and a 10% discount for one year on all purchases at Ashley Stewart Stores.

The intent of the campaign is to shed unflattering perceptions that are heaped on black women by society and even themselves, and help melt disparities that disproportionately affect black women.

“So often when we think of black women in this culture, it is just a sexualized image or an image of victimhood,” says Avis Jones DeWeever, an affiliate scholar at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the director of research at the NCNW. “I think it is a wonderful example of corporate responsibility and giving back to the community by a company that didn’t have to do it but they did,” says DeWeever.

Ashley Stewart, a division of Urban Brands, is not alone in its undertaking to empower women and girls. President Barack Obama has initiated a federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls with the creation of the White House Council on Women and Girls. The council will ensure that all federal agencies take into account the particular needs of women and girls, including topics such as family leave and child care.  Three out of four low-wage workers have no paid sick leave, according to the White House.

DeWeever believes that paid sick leave is critically important, especially for black women, because they have the highest labor force participation rate of any group of women. Also, she says black women tend to be clustered in very low wage jobs with little access to health benefits.

Ashley Stewart Stores is one corporation that is ahead in the game on this issue, says Mary Kay Devine, director of work force development policy, at Women Employed, an organization that helps to remove barriers to economic equity for working women. With a workforce that is made up of 98% blacks and 97% women, Ashley Stewart offers full-time associates paid, short-term disability and six to eight weeks of maternity leave.