The Ivory Queen of Soul: Teena Marie (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798197517388)

Mary Christine Brockert grew up white in Venice's historically Black neighborhood, absorbing a culture that taught her soul is not a matter of complexion but of lived experience. Signed to Motown at twenty with no lawyer and a contract she wasn't allowed to take home, she spent three years in professional limbo while the label shelved her recordings and paid her a hundred dollars a week. When musical legend Rick James finally walked through her practice room door, the result was a creative partnership - and a complicated love - that produced some of the most iconic R&B of the era. But when Motown refused to release her music while using her exclusive contract to prevent her from working anywhere else, she spent her life savings fighting back. Her 1982 lawsuit against Motown Records established the Brockert Initiative - still active California law - which prohibits any label from holding an artist hostage. THE IVORY QUEEN OF SOUL is the story of a woman who proved that authentic expression has a frequency that transcends race, a career that transcends category, and a legal legacy that transcends her own lifetime.

• "They shelved her voice. She changed the law."

• "The music was always real. Now she had to prove it in court."

• "One woman. One lawsuit. An industry rewritten."

• "She didn't want to start a revolution. She just wanted to sing."