1983 Ad

Ebony, April, 1990 by Lynn Norment

VANESSA WILLIAMS 'SUCCESS IS THE BEST REVENGE'

ON this beautiful California day, Vanessa Williams is awakened early by baby daughter Jillian, who is ready to be fed, and 2-year-old Melanie, who is ready to watch cartoon movies. Both are oblivious to the fact that their mother, the recording artist, has just returned from a European promotional tour and would love to get just one more hour of sleep. But such a leisurely lifestyle is not Vanessa's. With hugs, kisses and loving patience, she feeds, bathes and dresses both girls--and herself--for another active day.

Whether she is breast-feeding Jillian, romping in the backyard with Melanie, or tidying up her new home in Playa Del Rey, Vanessa presents the classic picture of the loving, dutiful mother and wife. What is so unusual about this tranquil domestic scene, however, is that during her two prenancies in the past two-and-a-half years, she also has recorded and released a gold album, traveled extensively across the country to promote it, performed on numerous television shows, and even managed a couple of trips to Europe.

In the prime of her life, Vanessa is full of vim and vigor, talent and optimism, delighted that her first album is a success, thankful and proud to have two healthy daughters, and still newlywed-happy in her marriage to manager/publicist Ramon Hervey II.

The former Miss America says there were many people who thought--even hoped--that she would be a flop, who felt that her being the first Black woman to be crowned Miss America in 1983 was due to luck and not real talent. Vanessa recalls that there were those who were nasty and mean when the beauty title was stripped from her the following year after nude photographs were published in Penthouse magazine without her permission.

"I'm not dwelling on that now," she says, gently rocking Jillian to sleep. "I'm just moving on, for there is nothing I can do to change that, so I just have to deal with it and move on. If situations arose where I could get revenge, I absolutely would. But at this point, success is the best revenge."

Success--as in her gold LP The Right Stuff, and the four hit singles and videos it spawned. Success--as in the NAACP's Best New Artist Award and three Grammy nominations. Success--as in her having "survived" under extreme public and personal pressure, under circumstances that would have crushed many women of age 20.

Vanessa is by no means gloating, for she is much too busy and practical for such exercises in egotism. Instead, she wants to prove to Polygram Records Executive Vice President Ed Eckstine that having two babies will not throw off the production schedule of her new album. So she's back in the studio, working hard to achieve that just-right combination of funky dance tunes and mellow ballads, such as "Darlin' I" and "Dreaming." She also hopes to play keyboards on the alboum.

"The next phase is making sure you are taken seriously as a recording artist, that it is not just, as a lot of people say, 'Oh, she had success with her first album, but you know that was just luck,'" shey says, mimicking a gossip. "You have to prove that you are in it for the long haul, that you hope it is going to get better.

"The new one will be a much stronger record, just because I'll be much more confident," she says.

Her confidence in mothering is increasing as well, and like other Black parents, she is concerned about racism, drugs, crime, child abuse, and quality education. She already knows that she must be physically and mentally prepared for the rigors of raising two daughters while continuing to advance her career. Nevertheless, her children and family are top priority. "If my career was too stressful, or if it was really ruining their lives or if I saw that it couldn't be done, I could definitely give it up," she says with a maturity that surpasses her 27 years. "I have my responsibilities. I brought these two kids into the world, and now I have to do the best job I can."

That means excelling in her marriage as well. "I'm not very religious, but when I decided to get married, I knew I wanted to get married only once, and I wanted it to last forever," she says, adding that her views on marriage are greatly influenced by her parents, Milton and Helen Williams, who have been married 29 years. "They are a great example," she says. "They get along well, and they are still friends. And they are great grandparents."

As a youngster growing up in Millwood, N.Y., Vanessa dreamed of being a wife and mother just as she dreamed of being an actress and recording artist. The former Syracuse University musical theater major has always said that she only participated in beauty pageants to advance her career. It turned out that the Miss America Pageant also led to her meeting her husband, who was hired to help her deal with the Penthouse photos crisis.

"I've always wanted kids," she says. "I baby-sat almost my whole adolescent life, and I always knew that I wanted to be a mom--to be pregnant, to have that maternal instinct."