Portia Clark
Portia Clark (born 11 July 1990) is a Zambian born Country soul, pop singer, songwriter, and philanthropist.
Portia Clark | |
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 Portia Clark | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Portia Thanjekwayo |
| Born | 11 July 1990 Lusaka, Zambia |
| Origin | Australia |
| Genres |
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| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 2014 –present |
| Labels |
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| Website | www.portiaclarkmusic.com |
Biography
Portia was born in Lusaka, Zambia in 1990. Her father was a member of a South African anti-apartheid movement and was killed under unclear circumstances when she was one years old. A Zambian born Portia Thanjekwayo is the daughter of a Freedom Fighter for ANC which was the party for Nelson Mandela; her 94-year-old grandmother is a royal figure in the village of Livingstone, Zambia. She grew up in Lusaka, the capital and largest city of Zambia.
She started singing when she was just 8 years of age at Temple of Power Church in Livingstone, Zambia. She then joined vessels of praise at Capitol Christian Worship Centre in Lusaka at the age of 11. Her music was a dream. She dreamed singing in front of the President and many people. Lacking means to afford everyday essentials and transportation, Portia and her family walked miles at a time to attend church and school, and often went without food. She was inspired by many and believed in herself
Determined to find an alternate creative outlet, Portia took to the streets to explore the Zambian nightlife. She discovered a boy band that held a residency at a local bar—the Vegas Lounge—and attended their nightly show time-after-time sharing her desire and plea to sing with them
She is a Christian.
Clark was 'discovered' by her now husband Brendan Clark, the founder of charity Health Hope Zambia, in 2013 and has since migrated to Australia to progress her music career as a Pop and RnB singer.[1]
In 2014, she released her debut single "Hope" which she co wrote with Zambian Gospel artist Mutamula Mwale.
She nominated for best Zambian representative at the Born and Bred video awards.
Portia and Brendan Clark were married In 2017 at a ceremony officiated by Gene Simmons, the KISS icon.[2]
In 2019, Clark recorded her debut album in Nashville Tennessee, which features Darius Rucker.
Clark is currently the Zambian Ambassador for Health Hope Zambia which is an organisation that works to reduce the mortality rate at Zambia's largest malnutrition facility.
Portia Clark | About
File:Portia Clark.jpeg
Chapters Of My Soul
Venus
where a child is born every 47 seconds, someone dies every four minutes, the median age is 17 and life expectancy just 53.
“My father was a freedom fighter for the ANC government which is the Nelson Mandela party. In the wake of the outbreak of political violence in South Africa, he was killed in the line of duty. I was just a year old when he died. I so miss the love of a man that I’ve never known.”
Raised in a developing nation, Portia (a name borne by the heroine in Shakespeare's “The Merchant of Venice”), her mom and stepsister were homeless most of the time over the course of her youth. Eventually, Portia’s mother was able to secure housing in a compound. Their home (a concrete shanty not larger than 16 square feet) was carpeted in dirt from wall to wall degraded by the latrine—a mere seeping hole in the ground. They lived without power or running water and during the rainy season, sewage swept across their doorstep. Portia slept on the floor alongside her five family members in a room called the “lounge.”
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Village in Zambia
Portia's Home in Zambia
Freedom Of Rain
“When we did not have food, my mother would send me to collect a vegetable, called Amaranthus, that grew alongside the road. We would boil the bondwe (in our native language) with salt.”
The Pentecostal Church became young Portia’s sanctuary. She joyfully sang before the church sermons and was quickly extended the invitation to join its prominent praise and worship team. As part of its ministry, the team embarked on various crusades; eleven-year-old Portia lead many of the religious hymns performing before thousands.
At 17, Portia exchanged pleasantries and kind courtesies with a young man who often carried food and personal care items to her home.
“At first, he was very attentive and I thought he cared for me. …and then he became mentally and physically abusive. It was difficult to leave him because he provided (a bit) for me and my family.”
Not far into the relationship, Portia fell pregnant and, as is customary to Zambian culture, she was forced to move into his home.
“I was very young and could barely take care of myself, let alone a newborn. I had no say, no choice and nowhere else to go.”
Portia gave birth to her daughter, alone, on the floor at UTH University Teaching Hospital (Zambia’s largest public hospital that attends to more 5,000 patients a day).
“There were no beds available; my daughter was born on black plastic that I had brought with me to cover the floor. The nurses took my daughter and put her on a trolley with other babies. She had a high temperature and was relocated to the D Block located far away from the mother shelter. Because of the distance, it was very dangerous to travel alone to the block; we would walk in groups to the ward to see our babies. It was a very scary time for me.”
Portia and the baby returned home to the man (her daughter’s father) who beat her so frequently and maliciously, she feared for her life.
“He was drunk more times then he was sober; I thought he would kill me. One night, I waited for him to sleep and in the early morning hour, I wrapped my daughter in a blanket and I ran with my child in my hands in the pouring rain.”
Portia sought refuge at her mother’s house.
“The following day, he showed up and broke the door down, punched my mum in the face, and dragged me out of the house and beat me. I was bruised, felt broken and lifeless. The police arrived and took him into custody and I’ve not seen him since. I was free.”
With her mom’s helping hand, nineteen-year-old Portia landed a position as a grocery bagger at Shoprite Checkers (a multi-national company headquartered in South Africa). Through a cattle town lined with mud houses where chickens and goats roamed freely, Portia walked nearly four miles a day to and from work.
“My gaining employment was unorthodox. Shoprite has a policy that all employees must have a high school education; I did not. I made $50 a month and was tremendously grateful for the job.”
As chance would have it, Shoprite held an annual national singing competition—“Top Stars.” Portia’s store manager, who recognized her extraordinary vocal talents, encouraged her to enter. She made the grade through the various levels of the contest and was named “Top Female Vocalist.” The only female to win, Portia was flown to Cape Town South Africa to perform in the 2011 “Top Stars” finals. Her singing success afforded her a promotion to become a full-time cashier.
“This promotion was unheard of and I was determined to keep this job, for me and for my daughter, to make a better life. I was upped to $130 per month.”
Though soaring from her accomplishments and blessed with one of God’s greatest gifts—her daughter—a dark cloud hovered. The young unwed mother was disparaged by her community and ostracized by her church. She lost one of her greatest loves…her saving grace…to sing for others.
“Music and singing was my savior; it made me feel vibrant and alive, helped me to express myself and I felt hopeful. I had to find a way to perform again.”
“One evening, my friend introduced to the band that I really could sing and they finally let me up on stage. I sang ‘I Will Always Love You.’ The crowd went crazy and applauded for more. It was the first time in my life that I really, truly, believed in myself.”
That impromptu performance laid the groundwork to enable Portia to sing with the boy band on most nights where she performed for free.
“While I wasn’t making any money, I felt alive again.”
Grace & Condemnation
The Misty Lounge
The Lounge
Bonds That Ache
The gig with the boy band kept Portia out many nights into the wee hours of early morning. She worked at Shoprite during the day and headed directly to the club to revive her spirit. Her absence fostered concerns at home. Her mum, who was a “prayer warrior,” sought guidance in the nearby mountains to pray with the prophets; the message was revealed that her daughter (Portia) was a devil worshiper—a satinist.
“My mom and I never had a conversation about where I was or what I was doing; nor did I feel like she cared. Rather than asking me, she sought answers from a prophet. When she received her ‘answer,’ she tossed all of my belongings (what little I owned) out onto the street, delivered my daughter to a neighbor and changed the lock on the door.”
In the dark of the evening, Portia collected her things and her daughter, and for many weeks the two remained homeless.
“I eventually managed to get $25 together and rented a small shelter. I had no bed, no blankets, no cooking essentials—nothing. My landlord gave me a pot, a plate, a spoon and a fork. My daughter and I lived day-by-day.”
Portia’s one-room shelter was located directly opposite the outside toilet (near the open-air shower) right next to a chicken run. She drew wash water from an open well where frogs swam playfully. She and her daughter slept on a borrowed children’s mattress soiled in urine. The robe that she won as part of “Top Stars” competition blanketed them each night.
“No matter my desperate circumstances, when I left that little shanty each morning, I made sure I looked clean, smelt fresh and wore a smile. My greatest fear was loosing my job.”
Dream Chaser
Many weeks later, Portia was invited to sing at The Misty Jazz Lounge, an upper crust venue frequented by the well-to-do and a place Portia never imagined stepping foot.
“I sat in a booth on the side of the room and gazed at all the nice-looking people—the large table where westerners were seated caught my attention. When I took the stage, I sang ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘Diamonds’ (Rihanna).”
Portia’s performance was once again met with resounding cheers, rounds of drinks, requests for “more” and fired the interest of two young westerners—one such gentleman, in particular, became a captivated admirer and one of Portia’s most- enchanted fans.
“His name was ‘Brendan.’ Brendan would not take ‘no’ for an answer. He called. He came hunting for me in the compound and at work with invitations to take me out to dinner or for drinks. I thought, ‘what do you want with me’?”
Unbeknownst to Portia, Brendan Clark was a successful entrepreneur and impassioned philanthropist in her country. His charity organization had been lauded and highly commended for rebuilding the area hospital malnutrition ward (providing millions of meals to the hungry and ambulance services to remote Zambia to reduce the overall mortality rate by more than 70%). Brendan had coordinated and scheduled a charity function at one of Zambia’s most exclusive hotels; diplomats were expected to attend and the First Lady of Zambia was special guest of honor.
“Brendan explained that he had committed to another singer for the event, but after hearing me, he asked me to sing a few songs; I agreed to do it for the charity. I didn’t know how I was going to get there; I didn’t know what I would wear (especially in front of the First Lady of our nation), but I pulled it off with God by my side and a smile on my face.”
Portia arrived by taxi and appeared in the same dress that she wore in the “Top Stars” competition twelve months before.
The persistent and attentive Australian romantic suitor sought various avenues to court the young Zambian singer with the offer to “carry her away.”
“To me, all of this seemed too unreal. While Brendan was pleasant enough, I could not give up on my permanent and reliable job, that I had worked so hard to retain, for such an imaginary proposal. I finally gave into Brendan’s charm…we worked closely together on my music and at his charity functions...we fell in love…we married. Brendan’s belief in me is immeasurable; my cup runneth over.”
Hope
“We landed in Minneapolis, were driven to a luxury hotel and later transported to Tani’s home; she was hosting a pre-gala party. There were celebrities everywhere; I could not believe that I was standing there.”
The following day, Portia attended sound-check; backed by a 26-piece orchestra, they rehearsed her song.
“I wept; this room was about to seat nearly 2,000 people filled with celebrities and world diplomats and I was to sing before them.”
Portia walked the red carpet and was led to the “Austin Table.” Seated in front of her was former President George Bush and beside her sat Paul Williams and Katy Perry (who also performed that evening). Mr. and Mrs. Gene Simmons (KISS) and Mr. and Mrs. Scott Borchetta (Big Machine Records) sat on the other. President Bill Clinton arrived later in the evening.
“My performance followed President Bush’s introductory speech; President Bush graciously greeted me backstage before my performance. Bill Clinton complimented me with a hug and Paul Williams downloaded my song that very evening. THIS was the dream that I had when I was a child. THIS was a dream come true.”
References
- "From Zambia shack to Perth penthouse". PerthNow. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- "Gene Simmons' special KISS for Perth bride". The West Australian. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
Sources
- "Portia Clark launches song of Hope".
- "Portia Clark performs with Curtis Young".
- "Portia Clark journey from Zambian Shack to Perth Penthouse".
- "Portia Clark spotted in Minneapolis with all these celebrities".
- "Portia Clark marries Perth millionaire Brendan Clark with the legendary Gene Simmons as their marriage celebrant".
- "KISS Rocker signs on as fan of WA Charity chief =".