prodigalfan said:

He used to be the bandleader on Wayne Brady's talk show. He's a cutie pie.

wlcm2thdwn said:

She's actually gained quite a bit of weight in some of the recent pics I've seen of her. Remember when she was a fatty and dressed terribly, with all the torn up clothes and multi colored hair??? Then she went all high fashion on us and developed eating disorders. Sooooo Hollywood. . .

SCNDLS said:

I won't even go into whether Latino is a race or not... that's a hotly debated topic and one of debated/studied by various educational, political and ohter groups etc.

However, since he is Sheila's brother, we know that Peter Michael's parents are (based on Sheila's bios):

Father: Of Mexican or Mexican American heritage

Mother: Of Creole heritage (most likely including some African American)

Thus, Peter Michael is a mix of the above.

GaryMF said:

Well, IMO Latino refers more to a Spanish-speaking culture or background rather than race. It's not necessarily indicative of race. Case in point, I'm a native of a Spanish speaking country, therefore Latina, but racially I'm Black. So I consider myself a Black Latina. So what I meant was that you can't assume that because someone is "Latino" that doesn't mean they're not of another race.

Anyway, I've never seen Sheila's bio (do you have a source for one?) but I remember hearing somewhere that her parents were of Puerto Rican descent, which of course could be wrong. I've seen her mom several times, most recently at an aftershow in Vegas back in March. She's still very pretty and quite obviously of African descent, regardless of whether it's American or Puerto Rican.

SCNDLS said:

I haven't seen pics of Sheila E. I thought she was Puerto Rican/spanish descent, but wasn't her dad at Woodstock with Santana playing percusssions? If so, I can believe that he had some African mix. But you are right, African American is a Black person from America. And Oh Gosh! Here is another sticking my foot in it...
If you are Black and living in South America.... are you an "African American"?
South America is still in the Americas... right.

GaryMF said:

OH, I didn't know that.

SCNDLS said:

SCNDLS, I totally get what you are saying about being Latino and Black at teh same time and agree with you (I had a friend in high school who was Puerto Rican and Black). What I mean in my post is I dind't want to get into that discussion cuz people have different opinions on the matter!

anyway, here is a bio from Sheila's site, although it doesn't comment on her parents' backgrounds.
http://www.sheilae.com/ab...story.html

here is a bio that does confirm what I said, though I never heard of this site before (I dont know where exactly I learned this.... I have been a fan of Sheila's for years so I just have read lots of stuff)

http://biography.jrank.or...ducer.html

Wikipedia also confirms it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_E.

I also remember that after Hurricane Katrina, Sheila had posted on her site how she had many family members in Louisana who were affected by the devastation and were left without their homes or IDs etc and how they were trying to help them.

I would assume this was on her mother's side (i.e. Creole from Louisana/New Orleans but I"m not sure.

Anyway, whatever her background she and her family are very beautiful people! Both inside and out!

prodigalfan said:

Well, I've never thought of that. As I've mentioned before in other threads, people from other countries don't define/identify themselves the way Americans do. They don't do the whole African-American, Italian-American, Irish-American categorization that's done here in the US. Latinos are more nationalistic and identify primarily with their country. Why do you think Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans and Panamanians display their flags EVERYWHERE?

Besides, South America is a continent while "America"/US is a country. So if you wanted to "classify" a black person from South America you'd probably refer to them by their country such as Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Columbian, Afro-Cuban, etc.
[Edited 6/17/07 21:00pm]

SCNDLS said:

Peter Michael and Sheila's mother is African-American and their father is Mexican. You're right "Latino" is not a race, but people are trying to make it so

Janfriend said:

I'm surprised people hadn't already known about her parents, Jan- Sheila's only broken down her ethnic backround a million times over the last 25 years...oh well must be getting old...remembering to many things from the old days, I guess

what i cant believe is that ya'll arguing over this shit

IAintTheOne said:

Um, no one's arguing, it's a discussion. I've been following Sheila and her career since 1984 and I've never heard her "explain" her heritage so I didn't know, and obviously, neither did others. The only thing I'd heard was other people refer to her parents as Puerto Rican so I always assumed that was true.

I've never heard Sheila breakdown her heritage either.

My question is does she speak Spanish? I never really heard her speak in Spanish before.

Nicole calls Brenda and Lionel her mom and dad because her real parents didn't want her and gave her away and I agree, to heck with the other dead beats!

SCNDLS said:

You can never tell a person race by looking at a pic...look at Wentworth Miller. But yes, I cannot recall the source, but Sheila E stated that her father is Mexican and her mother is Creole.
[Edited 6/18/07 15:05pm]

bellanoche said:

Thanks Bellanoche...you saved me alot of trouble...lol :hugs:

preciosa863 said:

Ummm, I know that. But I said that because this is the first time anyone's ever said her mother was Black. I think the general assumption was that she was white, and if I'm not mistaken I believe I've heard Nicole refer to herself as biracial saying that she was half white. And again, Mediatakeout is NOT a reliable source is all I'm saying.

SCNDLS said:

Same here.
I didn't know her mom was Black.
I always thought Sheila was 100% Puerto Rican (of Spanish descent).

prodigalfan said:

why? the woman has said a million times over the last 25 years her dad is mexican and her mom is a louisiana creole. all y'all had to do was start with her trade/industry intervews (where she talks about the cultural influences on her music) or those old interviews in Black Beat and Right On! oh Lawd, I#m really showing my age up in here today

Ottensen said:

For me, I never cared enough about her background to search for past interviews. I just never read or heard her mention anything about what she was.
[Edited 6/19/07 4:07am]

prodigalfan said:

I knew Sheila and her siblings were part Black, but I just figured her mother and father were Puerto Ricans with African descent like most of them are. Alright, Prodigal you know we been schoolin' ya on the whole race/ethnicity/nationality thang so by now you know Puerto Rican is not a race it's a nationality therefore people from Puerto Rico come in all colors. And many have African ancestry because it was a stop along the slave trade route coming to the US so the island was heavily populated with Africans. So 100% Puerto Rican can still be 100% Black depending on who your parents are.

But I know what you mean though cuz Sheila does "look" Puerto Rican but that could be due to the mix of Mexican and Black. And like I said I'd never heard her discuss her heritage and since Puerto Rico has such a rich tradition of percussionists and timbaleros and I'd heard that the late great Tito Puente was her godfather (a Puerto Rican) it seemed a natural to me that Pete, Sheila's father was Puerto Rican too.
[Edited 6/19/07 4:21am]

SCNDLS said:

I know I have been educated... that is why I specifically put those words (in red).... "of spanish descent"...

Sheila is half hispanic and half creole and yes she speaks a litle bit of spanish I've heard her speak few words and she also sings in spanish there is a song in the Knockout cd call Mi casa and she sings in espanol..I never though she looked Puerto Rican.. Her brother is a HUNK !!!! Sheila and Peter look like the father and so Nicole Richie... Sheila exotic looks comes the mixture fo creole and spanish descendant.....Viva la raza>>>

prodigalfan said:

SCNDLS said:

I hope that you don't think that I was being confrontational, I was just speaking in a matter of factly way..

I've heard nicole in a number of interviews refer to herself as Black.

and one day ppl will understand that "latino" isn't a race.
[Edited 6/19/07 12:52pm]

preciosa863 said:

No not at all, just wanted to clarify what I meant.

Rhondab said:

Now that you mention it, you're right I recall her saying this, but I also remember Nicole somewhere saying that she was biracial and her mother was white. But maybe that was Mariah Carey.

SCNDLS said:

thank you!!