Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph will visit Baton Rouge for booksigning | Arts & Culture

Actress redefines ‘diva’, brings book to Baton Rouge

By Candace J. Semien

”DIVA is an equal opportunity word and a way of life! Live it!,” writes actress Sheryl Lee Ralph in her new memoir Redefining DIVA, published by Simon and Schuster’s Gallery House division. Ralph will be in Baton Rouge, Thursday, June 21, at Books A Million, 10533 South Mall Drive off Siegen Lane.

The book signing begins at 5pm. Store managers said 300 copies of Redefining Diva will be available at the store. However, with the city’s large numbers of HIV advocates and one of the nation’s largest population of Delta Sigma Theta sorors, Baton Rouge readers are expected to turn out in droves to see Ralph who has a career of HIV/AIDS activism.

“Soror Ralph takes back the word ‘Diva’. She owns it, and in doing so, encourages Divas from all walks of life to embrace the title that is truly and rightfully their own,” said Cynthia M. A. Butler-McIntyre, national president, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Ralph said the book is part memoir, part self-help, where she writes “You’ve got to be able to look in the mirror and love what you see.  That person should mean the world to you. Your relationship with that person should be worked on everyday and not neglected—because you really mater.”

The book shares moments of her life that Ralph reclaims. The process lead her to truly redefine the meaning of ‘diva’. According to Ralph, to be a diva means to recognize that “you are Divinely Inspired Victoriously Alive people who are able to go with the ups and downs of life.”  Her DIVA Foundation raises awareness of HIV/AIDS for men, women and children around the globe.

She writes A Diva loves the woman she sees in the mirror, owns her talent and her strength, and knows the first step on the road to fame is respecting herself. Ralph created the role of Deena Jones on Broadway in the landmark musical Dreamgirls, which earned her both a Tony and Drama Desk Award Nomination for Best Actress. She starred in “It's a Living,” her own series “New Attitude,” the George Foreman series “George,” in the hit comedy “Designing Women,” and as Cheetah in “Justice League” and “Justice League Unlimited.”  She was also voted one of TV's Favorite Moms for her portrayal of step mom Dee on the number-one rated television series “Moesha.” On film, she starred in “Sister Act II” with Whoopi Goldberg, “The Flintstones” with Rosie O'Donell, “The Mighty Quinn” with Denzel Washington, “Mistress” with Robert De Niro, and Eddie Murphy's “Distinguished Gentleman.”

Redefining Diva: Life Lessons from the Original Dreamgirl can be purchased at Books A Million, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, simonandschuster.com or at SherylLeeRalph.com

Redefining Diva can be found on twitter @aRedefiningDiva