AWAKENING with Chetana

 Gramtee's Love

by Chétana R. Narasimha Jois

Cosby Show episodes show up under other videos in my facebook news feed, & I am usually drawn to watch simply by the familiar comfort of the show. I recall what a beautiful era in tv this show was, what a wide scope it had in terms of distinguished guests in its run, what it meant to young people of color like myself, and what its legacy continues to be, which cannot be destroyed. If one needs an explanation as to why that is, there are many that can be explored, including, simply put, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". 

This scene, labeled as Part 1, between Olivia (tiny Raven Symoné) & Gramtee, played by Broadway veteran & great-grandmother of actor Terrence Howard, Minnie Gentry (1915-1993), brought me to tears.

I was initially surprised I hadn't seen it back then, but I realized I actually didn't watch 

Cosby Show regularly after going to college in 1988, or even A Different World (1987-1993), the spinoff that originally featured Denise, as I was exploring varying types of social groups and interests myself in my newfound environment. 

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Maybe back then, despite our age difference, I would have identified more with Olivia's social dilemma. But as a grown woman I experience this scene's depth for anyone who has played any part in bringing children along. It is the culmination of the central conflict little Olivia was having with a now grown and married Denise, her step-mom. To get the full effect of the transformation of Olivia's spirit & how she was touched by Gramtee, one may need to watch the full episode where in the preceding scenes she's full of (normal childhood) attitude & theatrics:  https://www.facebook.com/thecosbyshow.tv/videos/1287456184944896/

In "Part 2", Miss Mavis Staples gives us a whole sermon with just her song leading the choir. True Gold. Both Gramtee's song with its opening lyrics "I left my blanket at the barbershop..." and Ms. Staples' "Holy", with it's soothing sounds, continued to be in the forefront of my heart and head for *days*, and every time I revisit my facebook post, I watch again. I almost posted overnight the night before I finally did, for anyone who needed Gramtee in the middle of the night, as I had been up late with the audiobook of Across That Bridge by beloved Congressman John Lewis, and had room for a lullaby with which to drift off to sleep!

Here is Mavis Staples singing in the church service: 

Enjoy, everyone, and may you be soothed by these sweet lullabies.

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