Grammy Winner Rips 'Coward' Abusers

PopEater

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(March 2) -- With the still-evolving story of Rihanna and Chris Brown making headlines daily, it only makes it more relevant that Grammy-winning jazz artist Patti Austin has written a song (unrelated to the Rihanna saga) urging people to look deeper into the problem of domestic violence. She's also joined forces with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence to help further her message, and in her chat with PopEater, she let loose about how the Chris Brown and Rihanna story is being perceived.

When it comes to the Rihanna and Brown and how few celebrities have spoken out about it, Austin tells PopEater she's "way past being surprised about our culture and how we function as a society." She cites Attorney General Eric Holder a few weeks ago referring to Americans as "cowards" for not being able to openly speak about racism.

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"Many people went 'How dare he?' like he talked about your momma. I'm going to use that word one more time and people can take it however they'd like to: We're cowards on many levels when it comes to addressing violence. Anybody who hits anybody to bring their point home is already a coward," Austin said.

Despite all of the media attention around Brown and Rihanna, Austin feels the problem of domestic violence is only going to worsen.

"Whatever's going on with Rihanna and Chris Brown is endemic of a much larger problem that is only going to get worse as the economy declines."

She also reacted to TMZ publishing of a police photo of a beaten and bruised Rihanna, saying it gave the world "something physical to attach to" the story. "None of us will ever really know what happened, and I doubt either of them really knows what happened, because when you're in a painting you can't see it. Well, we got a chance to see the painting," Austin said.

Austin says she was inspired to write the song "By the Grace of God" as a tribute to a victim of domestic violence she saw on 'Oprah.' After the woman described how she was shot in the face by her significant other, Austin says "Oprah said, '"Girl, you are here by the grace of god.'" Something about hearing those words at that point after that story sent me out of my seat right to the piano," Austin told PopEater.

Aside from her involvement with NCADV, Austin's career has been churning along nicely lately. She recently unveiled a 3-song holiday release that included a cover of 'Lean On Me,' which is available on Amazon.com or iTunes.

2009-03-02 16:25:44

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