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Exhibitionists·Video

Jully Black shares the joyful, joyful influence of her church choir and...Sister Act 2

"I remember everyone started to cry and lift their hands and worship and in that moment my life was forever changed."

'I remember everyone started to cry and lift their hands...in that moment my life was forever changed'

Mercedes Grundy · CBC Arts ·
Jully Black and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit poster. (Buena Vista Pictures/Touchstone Home Video)

"Canada's queen of R&B," Jully Black, is about to take on the challenge of participating in the Canada Reads debates, defending The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. But before Black debates this year's theme — "one book to open your eyes" — CBC Arts asked her to share something else that opened her eyes and changed her life.

Watch the video:

Jully Black tells us about the music and movie that changed her life

7 years ago
Duration 2:11
Singer-songwriter Jully Black shares how singing in her church choir, and then seeing Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, changed her life.

In this video, Black shares some early memories of singing with the choir at Toronto's Dundas Street Church of God and becoming inspired by another church choir: the student group in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, starring Whoopi Goldberg.

The film's St. Francis Academy choir showed Black the power of community, and she found inspiration in the film's breakout star with her alto voice — none other than a young Lauryn Hill.

Sister Act 2. (IMDb)

Canada Reads, hosted by Ali Hassan, takes place March 26-29, 2018.

Watch CBC Arts: Exhibitionists on Friday nights at 11:30pm (12am NT) and Sundays at 3:30pm (4pm NT) on CBC Television.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mercedes Grundy

Mercedes Grundy is a producer for CBC's Unscripted division. She has played an integral role in the creation of series like Exhibitionists, The Filmmakers and Canada's a Drag as well as special projects like Superqueeroes and The 2010s: The Decade Canadian Artists Stopped Saying Sorry. Collectively, these projects have won Grundy 5 Canadian Screen Awards. She has an educational background in photography, and produces film and theatre when not busy here at the CBC.

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