Author Rashod D. Ollison

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Rashod D. Ollison
Rashod Ollison is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas and a 2000 graduate of the University of Arkansas, where he studied creative writing and journalism. He has been a staff pop and fine arts critic at the Dallas Morning News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Journal News in Westchester, NY, and The Baltimore Sun. He's currently the pop music and entertainment writer at The Virginian-Pilot. Rashod's columns and commentary have appeared in Essence, Jet and on theroot.com and popeater.com. His crate dig music blog, Behind the Groove (www.hamptonroads.com/behindthegroove), placed second in the blogging competition in 2010 national writing competiton at Society of Professional Journalists.
Aretha Franklin

‘The Fan Who Knew Too Much: Aretha Franklin, the Rise of the Soap Opera, Children of the Gospel Church, and Other Meditations’ by Anthony Heilbut

Rashod D. Ollison
NonfictionReviews
3 min read
The lingo heard in gay circles today (“the children,” for instance, as code for not-so-covertly gay members of the church) derived decades ago from the gospel underground, where drug and sexual abuse, promiscuity, and perhaps mental illness were prevalent. Lots of backstabbing and cut-throat showmanship went down, too, and Heilbut tells it all. Read More