Gaye Adegbalola
| Gaye Adegbalola | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Gaye Todd |
| Born |
March 21, 1944 Fredericksburg, Virginia, U.S. |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Labels | Alligator |
| Associated acts | Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women |
| Website | www |
Gaye Adegbalola (born Gaye Todd, March 21, 1944, Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States) is an American blues singer and guitarist, teacher, lecturer, activist, and photographer.
Gaye's father, Clarence R. Todd, was the first Black school board member in Fredericksburg, as well as a jazz musician. He later founded a performing arts group for black youth called "Souls of Shade", today known as Harambee 360. Her mother, Gladys P. Todd, was an early organizer of local civil rights movement in Fredericksburg, and also brought old jazz records home from her job at the Youth Canteen to give to the young Gaye.
Gaye's surname, Adegbalola, was given to her by a Yoruba priest she met in 1968. Meaning "I am reclaiming my royalty", Adegbalola uses the name to signify her pride in her black heritage.
Gaye Todd graduated from high school as valedictorian in 1961, having already participated in numerous sit-in protests and picket lines as a member of the civil rights movement. She later attended Boston University, graduating with a B.A. in Biology. Gaye's occupations after college included those of a technical writer for TRW Systems, a biochemical researcher at Rockefeller University, and a bacteriologist at Harlem Hospital, where she was also the local union representative. These were all in sharp contrast to her first job as a teenager, working in a laundry for forty-five cents an hour.
From the years 1966 to 1970 she was involved in the Black Power Movement in New York and organized the Harlem Committee on Self-Defense. During this same period she met and married her husband. Her son, Juno Lumumba Kahlil was born in 1969, and would later make his own mark in the goth/industrial music world.
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