There is something extraordinarily powerful about hearing a child declare with complete conviction, “If God says, ‘Go,’ you do what Christ tells you to do and go!” At just nine years old, Kierra “Kiki” Sheard belted out these very words on her famous mother’s (Karen Clark Sheard) gospel song, “The Will of God,” and by the look on little Kiki’s face, I can see and feel that she means what she’s sanging. Out of the mouths of babes!
While today I still tear up when I watch her incredibly moving childhood performance (about half of the YouTube video’s 500k+ hits are probably from me), my first introduction to Sheard’s music was her all-grown-up, first solo album, 2004′s I Owe You, that I stole from my older sister my Freshman year of college. Nine years, four albums, two Stellar Awards and a Grammy nomination later, the 25-year-old chart topper and her powerhouse voice are still at it. But while it’s common knowledge that the girl can blow, I was surprised to learn that the seemingly self-assured Sheard has had a lifelong struggle with her weight.
Her efforts to stay healthy as she prepares her fifth album and manages the trials and triumphs of her famous family, are on full display in a new BET docuseries called “The Sheards,” premiering on April 7th. When I caught up with Sheard recently, she shared with EBONY.com the moment she realized that she was overweight. The way many of us are first alerted to our flaws, a family member made her aware of her growing size when she was still young.
“My uncle, who is no longer with us, lived in Las Vegas and I lived in Michigan and [when I went to visit him after not seeing him in years], the first thing he said…was ‘Girl, you getting as big as you can be. You need to get some weight off.’ That I will never forget. I walked out. I cried.”As a child, Sheard never expected to hear those words from her family. She says, “you expect to hear, ‘You’re getting just as pretty as you can be!’” But her uncle wouldn’t be the only loved one who would comment on her weight. “My nana [who is still alive, was] always on me about my weight.” In time, Sheard would learn that her family’s comments weren’t mean-spirited but were rooted in love and concern for her health. “[My nana’s said] ‘You’re so pretty. I want you to live long!’ She doesn’t have any health problems, and she says [to me] ‘I don’t want people to be able to see your health problems in your skin, or anything, and I want you to be able to live long.” At one point, the college grad had ballooned to more than 300 pounds. She credits her family’s comments with saving her life.
CLICK HERE to read story
article courtesy of Ebony.com
Kierra “Kiki” Sheard Sheds Pounds To Get Her Spiritual Weight Up was originally published on praisecleveland.com
