Singer/songwriter/talk show host Syleena Johnson may be living and working in Atlanta but she is Chicago through and through. Johnson sat down with the Chicago Defender during a recent trip where she headlined Bantu Fest. Johnson talked about “Sister Circle Live,” her new album “Woman,” and where she goes to eat when she comes back to Chicago to visit.
In part one, we feature her role in “Sisters Circle Live.” In part two, she speaks about her new album, “Woman.” And, in part three, Johnson dishes on all things Chicago.
CD: “Sister Circle Live” is in its second season. How did you become involved in this project and how did you know it was something you wanted to sign on to do?
SJ: My sister (Syleecia) was in Florida and she ran into a producer that was actually on her way to Atlanta to help create this show — her name is Georgia Dawkins — and once we got to Atlanta she and Syleecia set up a meeting with me and Helen Swenson, who is the creator and executive producer of “Sister Circle.” And so, I had a meeting with her over the phone and then I went in and had an interview with her and the rest is history. We shot a pilot, I came in and kind of auditioned with some other girls and surprisingly the four girls, the three other girls who I audition with happened to be the four that all made it.
There was only supposed to be one host, then there was supposed to be three but then because they saw the chemistry among the four of us, and then that’s how it were created.
CD: And, how did you know that this was a project that you wanted to sign on to do?
SJ: Ohh, that’s real easy; I just get to talk. That’s so easy. So, you know for a person that has been writing lyrics all her life and having to sing them, now I just get to say them. That’s so easy. When I was in the interview I was like, “Oh, I get to just talk? Oh, this is a good time.”
CD: You’ve appeared on reality shows before so what was that transition like from a reality show to a daily, daytime talk show?
SJ: I like the fact that we’re scripted. Not scripted by what our opinions are but on the structure of how the show is supposed to go.
Negativity is not perpetuated. Actually, it is not welcomed, and we are in an environment that perpetuates love. You know because we have to have that in order to continue and for four black women to be on a talk show you know one can always say “naw that’s not going to work because black women don’t know how to get along,” which is not true.
Now, everybody doesn’t have to be everybody’s cup of tea, but ironically and luckily, we’ve been blessed to be able to actually like each other. So, the four of us go out there, and we know how to disagree without being disrespectful, and we agree on most things because we come from the same walk of Life, you know, what I’m saying, being black women. We all come from the same kind of perspective, but it still varies because you have four different women from four different walks of life.
Love Is perpetuated. Love is encouraged and getting along is encouraged whereas, you know that in reality television show that is not the case, foolishness is perpetuated and dissension is the norm.
CD: What has the experience been like with your co-hosts?
SJ: It’s been good. I think the best part of our show is that we are not just geared towards celebrity A-listers. We have people from the African American community, from all walks of life and any type of culture that actually wants to be on “Sister Circle” — we welcome. It’s not just a show for black people but we are the face for black women, but we’ve had white people on the show, Puerto Rican people on the show .It doesn’t matter the culture, we welcome all cultures.
It’s just that we’ve not had anything that has been from our point of view, you know, being that black women are the number one consumers in America. And so, I think the show has taught me a lot. Just having all these different experts and guests on and having to know what’s going on every single day having to be in the know, being on the other side of the couch, so to speak. I think it has done that for all of us and I think that we are learning together and I think that that’s our common connectivity that we are learning together.
CD: And so, why do you think this show is important? Not just for the black community, but for everybody?
SJ: Oh my God. Well, you know African American women have just been named by the root.com as the smartest, most educated people. Probably because we’re in school getting all the degrees, which also leads us to being the highest in debt. In the average household the African American woman is worth $5 compared to the white woman who is worth $41,000. And we get the lowest, as far as payment is concerned, we get paid the least and we are the highest consumer. So, there you go with the reason why we’re in debt.
This show is important to come from an African American woman’s point of view because we do acquire, we do have a high skill set level but we are not being heard properly, obviously because we’re not getting paid like we’re supposed to despite the Pay Act. So, I think that with us being the highest consumer, we support more and if we’re supporters then we have more of a strong perspective. What we say we’re willing to spend our hard-earned dollars on and what we say is probably going to mean the most. I just think that it’s important because we have less of a say. And two, we need more positive black women working together because we have a lot of negative imagery. We have enough negative imagery when it comes to black women.
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