ARCHIVED PRESS ARTICLES

"Chaka Khan Foundation Honors"
[BRE Magazine]

"Magic Johnson, Kenny G Honored at Chaka Khan Foundation Gala Dinner"
[JET Magazine]

"Chaka Khan Believes - R&B Reaches Out Beyond Her Music and Joins The Fight For Autism Awareness"
[Spectrum Magazine]

"Chaka Khan – Assists Women and Children at Risk"
[Los Angeles Sentinel]

Chaka Khan Believes - R&B legend reaches out beyond her music and joins the fight for autism awareness
By Dave Geradi

It’s nearing 11am on what is becoming a hot and muggy morning outside Chicago’s Soldier Field. Chaka Khan arrived hours ago on a redeye flight from Los Angeles. Her show for the previous evening ran late into the night and she’ll be on stage again in a few minutes.

Then the stage collapses. No one is hurt, but a sense of doubt and worry crawls up the backs of the day’s organizers. Thousands of parents are in Chicago for Cure Autism Now’s Walk Now event. They have been looking forward to Chaka Khan’s performance for months. Yes, CAN’s efforts to fight autism are the main course of the day, but this is the dessert—a chance to relax and be entertained. They’re here to see an R&B legend and pop icon. And yet the fans will tell you they would not be surprised or angry if the show was cancelled. This is, after all, the windy city. Area locals speak of the “lake effect,” the weather system that comes off of Lake Michigan. Today, it has ripped down the entire ceiling structure of a stage.

No one would blame Khan for heading back to the airport, back to LA, but she doesn’t. Maybe it was the fatigue talking, or maybe it was her good nature, but Khan takes one look at the debris-strewn stage and says the show must go on. She comes out first to greet her fans and talk to the media. Khan poses for as many pictures and dealt out as many hugs as she possibly can. There is comfort in their eyes as she smiles with them, for a moment at least her fans forget that they have autistic children.

Khan takes the stage at 12:30, sans roof. The midday heat is unbearable now, even in the shade. Khan takes it in stride. You would have never guessed she’d be able to suck it up and give the performance she did. For many reasons Chaka Khan is a legend and today she has no doubt risen to the occasion again. Khan once again proves she is not only a legendary musician, but a legendary personality.

Most concerts are less eventful, disaster-wise.

A woman in her late 30s holds a ticket outside the Superstar Theatre at the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. She first heard Chaka Khan on Kasey Kasem’s radio show.

Record collections were simpler back in 1984 when Chaka Khan smashed through the pop charts with “I Feel For You.” You had your pre-plastic surgery Michael Jackson, Wham, Duran Duran and, if you were the least bit hip, New Order. For whatever reason, whether it was her platinum-selling R&B efforts of the 70s or her dynamic vocal styling in the 80s, Chaka Khan’s music resonated with this particular concert-goer long enough to hit this show instead of, say, some random comedian down the block. When the doors open, the crowd shuffles in with the usual murmuring and hubbub attendant to such things. “Dinner was good.” “We have to see the casino at Trump Plaza.” “Let’s try such-and-such restaurant tomorrow.” Then the lights dim and the crowd’s focus narrows in unison with the center stage spotlight on a curvaceous diva in a sparkly dress.

She was born Yvette Marie Stevens and grew up on Chicago’s South Side. She didn’t adopt the African name Chaka Khan until she worked with the Black Panthers’ breakfast program as a teenager. She rose up through the R&B charts in the 70s before breaking through to the MTV crowd almost a decade later.

After the evening’s show, Khan retreats backstage. Unlike the crowd in Chicago, it’s a safe bet few in the Atlantic City audience realize that instead of partying Khan is huddling up with sister Tammy McÇrary to discuss how her nephew’s treatment is going. Fewer still likely know about the Chaka Khan Foundation, an organization founded in part to provide research and therapy for children with autism.

McCreary’s son, Tallon, is autistic. “When Tallon first came into the world, he was just as bright, just as normal as other kids,” Khan says. “Actually, he was better than normal,” she adds, smiling. Tallon began speaking at age 1 and began to use big words like ‘fantastic’ until, Khan says, “all of a sudden, one day it happened. Like overnight, he just stopped talking and he internalized.”

Tammy believes Tallon’s autism stems from vaccinations he received as a toddler. His symptoms were pronounced by age 2, but he was not officially diagnosed until he was 3 years old.

When family members first suggested that Tammy have Tallon examined by doctors, she was insulted. “I really was offended and angry,” she says. Privately, she was in disbelief that her baby boy might be having problems. Her family tried to sympathize by pointing out that other relatives were late developers. Her husband, for instance, had not begun to fully speak until age 4.

“Oh, we blamed it on all kinds of people,” Khan jokes. But that was little comfort to McCrary. “I couldn’t deny something was wrong,” she says.

At the advice of t heir pediatrician McCrary and her husband, Howard, took Tallon to be assessed at the Language, Speech and Hearing Center at the California State University at Northridge. Doctors quizzed the couple about the pregnancy, birth, their developmental, social and family history, plus Tallon’s existing behaviors. Å therapist interacted with Tallon in a separate room as the McCrary’s watched behind a mirrored glass. Tallon, the doctors confirmed, was autistic.

“I’d seen the movie Rain Man like everybody else,” Khan says. “I had a sense of what it was but not intimately. It’s one of those syndromes that occurs and you really don’t know much about it.”

Her sister felt confused, “I cried a lot,” she says. “I asked, ‘What did I do wrong? What could I have done?’” “In the beginning, Tammy was like other mothers: She was in denial, and that denial keeps a lot of children from getting the help that they need early on,” Khan says.

McCrary now regrets she did not act sooner. Earlier intervention could have increased Tallon’s chances for leading a normal life. At the time, she simply wanted to know the next step.

Doctors suggested contacting the local school district and Regional Center (a state-funded agency that provides support and assistance to people with developmental disabilities) to arrange for Tallon to receive a targeted education. The result was frustrating. The Los Angeles Unified School District has “a certain pool of vendors they deal with: They give a specific therapist for you to deal with and there are waiting lists,” McCrary explains. “Why would it take a whole year before providing the services to your child when time is of the essence?” she asks.

“I think the most challenging thing is knowing what your rights are as a parent and what the school district is required to provide for you,” Tammy says. “As a taxpayer in this country you have the right to have your child properly educated.”

Before therapy, Tallon said nothing and made indistinguishable sounds. Now in his second year at behavioral therapy, Tallon communicates in one to three word phrases and has shown tremendous signs of improvement. He also responds positively to Khan’s singing. “I’ve sung to him since he was born,” she says. Sometimes she uses music to get a point across. “I’ll sing it to him, and he’ll grasp the information better that way.”

Tallon is more focused now on classroom projects that require specific tasks and on household duties, such as folding his clothes and putting his toys back in their place. Once shy, Tallon is able to regularly interact with people, including his younger brother Tyler, age 4. “If Tyler takes off his jacket and puts his shoes in a certain way, Tallon takes his off and lays it next to them the same way,” McCrary says. “He’s following everything that his brother does.”

Watching Tallon improve gives McCrary and Khan hopes that he will grow up to be less dependent on others. This was a key impetus to the origin of The Chaka Khan Foundation. “Before he had therapy, there was virtually no language at all,” McCrary explains. “And now he’s able to communicate his basic wants and needs.” She and Khan believe every child deserves that chance and, in 1999, established the foundation to research autism and focus on other issues dear to Khan, namely, substance abuse, domestic abuse and educational outreach.

The non—profit has brought her life full circle, she says, by helping women and children find the courage to overcome obstacles and realize their dreams.

Khan balances her work with the foundation with a regular touring schedule. “I see my work with the foundation and my professional career very similarly,” she says. “They both provide me an opportunity to interact with and bless others.” She just likes to help people, she says. Always has. Sometimes it’s the big stuff, like helping raise money for autism research. Sometimes it’s the little stuff, lie a toy drive every Christmas for disadvantaged children. “We brought a video game for one young man with a terminal illness,” Khan recalls. “He had just written his list to Santa Claus. It was a short list. All he wanted was a video game. We came with the exact game he wanted. I’ll always remember the joy on his face despite his circumstances.”

This year, The Chaka Khan Foundation aligns itself once more with Cure Autism Now. Under its 2005 iniative, called Chaka Believes, the foundation has signed on as a research partner to help develop a teaching method for non-verbal children with autism. The project will help autistic kids learn how to read and write so they may be able to communicate better with their parents and teachers. As with man endeavors through the foundation, this one has a personal root.

Prior to the onset of autism, Tallon had a growing vocabulary and was very interactive. Khan recalls a visit to China in which Tallon was admiring a crystal chandelier. “Remarkable,” he said, pointing. After the onset of autism, however, his speech stopped altogether. “It was very difficult to get eye contact,” Khan remembers. “He would not look at you. You had to practically do a handstand to get his attention.” Once therapy started, his eye contact got better and he began to say a few words prompted.” Khan hopes her foundation can help repeat success with other families.

With more than $46,000 given to CAN though the Chaka Khan Foundation and Tallon’s Tower Grant, the foundation has made strong headway in its efforts. “I think it’s really her celebrity status that gives CAN the publicity that we wouldn’t have gotten on our own,” says Elizabeth Kilpatrick, the former director of development for CAN. “It’s amazing to see these (CAN) events are raising this kind of money, and I think Chaka Khan has a lot to do with that.”

Last year, Khan was the official host for Walk Now Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium and Walk Now Chicago at Soldier’s Field. With Khan’s help, both Walks raised $1.4 million for CAN towards helping researchers find a cure.

“The walk is just part of it,” Khan says. “The biggest part is once we all get together. Now that’s a really good thing.” Khan reprised her role at the Los Angeles and Chicago walks this year and is scheduled to appear at Walk New York at the Bronx Zoo on October 1. Khan sings a selection of her hit songs at each walk.

“At the end of the day we all have an obligation to do our part to help and serve others,” said Veronica Coffield, President of The Chaka Khan Foundation. “Overall I think people have responded well. It’s been enlightening for people to see and know that there is so much more to Chaka than being an amazing musical artist. Her philanthropic concerns and goals are very much a part of her life.”

Later this year the Foundation will benefit from the proceeds of Through the Fire, the musical based on events that occurred in Khan’s life. The theatrical performance addresses domestic violence, substance abuse and the subject of autism. Proceeds from Through the Fire will also benefit women and children in the 40 cities the production visits.

It’s not about going through it, but getting through it,” Khan says. “Substance abuse had been a very challenging issue for me. The one thing that really helped me overcome it was my love for other people and wanting to help them. During that process, I realized that in order to effectively help someone else I needed to get better and be better myself.”

On her latest CD, “ClassicKhan,” Khan dedicated the track “The Best is Yet to Come” to Tallon and children with autism. “I dedicated this song to all the autistic children,” says Khan. “These children are going to change the world.” A portion of proceeds from the album will benefit the foundation in its efforts to help those confronting autism.

“Realize you have a special child. You have an angel. You have a truly special unique human being,” Khan says to parents. “Get out there and do the work and get that baby whatever it needs.”