Dorinda-Clark-Cole

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to do my third blog for "Women's History Month" and that is honoring the life of Dorinda-Clark-Cole. Last year I honored her sister Karen-Clark-Sheard and if I'm not mistaken I honored her niece Kierra Sheard and they all are Christians and well known gospel artists! But first let's share about Dorinda-Clark-Cole's history. Here we go. She was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1957 her birth name being Dorinda Grace Clark to the late Elbert and the late Mattie-Moss-Clark. Dorinda is the second youngest child in her family and has four older siblings. Their names are Leo Jr, (her only brother and is the oldest of the clan) Jacky-Clark-Chisolm, (birth name Jacqueline) Denise-Clark-Darchell, and Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark-Terrell. She has one younger sister named Karen-Clark-Sheard (birth name Karen Valencia Clark) Dorinda and her four sisters gave their lives to Christ at a young age and grew up singing in their father's church with their mom Mattie who was the music minister and taught all her daughters how to sing. After her parents divorce in 1973, Mattie continued to push her children to sing as well as continue to grow in their walk with the Lord. While many children in the 1960s and 1970s would play outside Dorinda and her sister would spend that time practicing. Dorinda is known as the "jazzy sister" and is known for scatting and rifts as well as her soulful sound in her voice. "The Clark Sisters" released two independent albums called "Jesus Had Alot To Give" and "Dr Mattie Moss Clark Presents The Clark Sisters". In 1974 "The Clark Sisters" were signed to gospel label called "Sound Of Gospel" records and released albums such as "Unworthy", "Count It All Joy", "He Gave Me Nothing To Lose", and "My Living In Vain" topped the gospel music charts. They'd be known for singles such as "Overdose Of The Holy Ghost", "Speak Lord," and "Expect Your Miracle". But their most well known album they released as a group is called "You Brought The Sunshine" and "Sincerely" popular single "Name It Claim It". Those singles and albums topped the gospel music charts but also Billboard charts too! It was rare for gospel artists especially back then to have gospel songs crossover to secular Billboard charts. But they did it by grace of God without compromising their relationship with the Lord. "The Clark Sisters" would win NAACP (national association advancement for colored people) and win two Grammy awards too. "The Clark Sisters" continued to release more chart topping albums as a group, while marrying and having families, and dealing with the loss of their mother Mattie-Moss-Clark. But life continued on and many of the sisters pursued solo projects. Dorinda released her self-titled solo debut album in 2002 which established herself as a solo artist and win two Stellar awards for that. She released more solo albums called "The Rose Of Gospel", (2005) "Take It Back", (2008) "I Survived ", (2011) "Living It", (2015), and rescent project "Determined" (2024). Dorinda in addition to her music career also is known for being an evangelist as well too. She is a licensed evangelist and has preached both in the United States and in many foreign countries such as England, Japan, and France just to name a few. Dorinda in her personal life has been married to Gregory Cole which is where she gets the last name Cole from. They have two adult kids a daughter named Nikkia-Cole-Beach and a son Gregory Cole Jr and they have grandkids too. Dorinda has suffered ups and downs and at one time suffering depression and even attempted suicide! She said she was speeding while driving up to 80 miles an hour about to drive off the cliff. The Lord spoke to her and said "Dorinda, Are you going to let everything you invested go down the drain? Peace be unto you." She grabbed the steering wheel and praised the Lord He stopped her from committing suicide! There you have it ladies. I wanted to honor a woman of color and another woman of faith. Blessings, hope y'all enjoyed the blog, have a good Lord's day, and have a blessed week everyone.









