Entertainment

Sandra Varner Sits Down with Tika Sumpter

Published

12 years ago

December 12, 2013

Celebrity Profiles by Sandra Varner/Talk2SV

Tyler Perry’s latest film offering, A Madea’s Christmas, features Tika Sumpter, in this holiday comedy, set in a struggling Midwest community hit by hard economic times yet bound together by dedication and faith.

The synopsis describes the fast-paced, 90-minute romp thusly; Madea accompanies her niece, Eileen (inveterate funny lady Anna Maria Horsford), to pay a surprise visit to Eileen’s daughter, Lacy (the attractive and insightful Sumpter), who has mysteriously informed her that she is not coming home for Christmas.

Not hearing any of that, Madea and Eileen head to Buck Tussel, the small town where Lacy teaches grade school and lives on a farm with hubby, Connor (Eric Lively). The marriage has also been kept a secret from Eileen for fear of judgmental backlash.

The funny is sandwiched between the comedic antics of Larry the Cable Guy and Kathy Najimy as Buddy and Kim, Connor’s parents, straight from good-hearted, ol’ boy central casting, joined with Horsford and Perry for a barrage of quips, one-liners and signature Madea-isms.

During press interviews in New York, I sat with Sumpter–who centers The Haves and The Have Nots, Perry’s arrestingly good primetime drama on the OWN channel–to discuss the film and the future.

Your character in A MADEA’S CHRISTMAS is a very caring teacher with affinity for Bailey, a young male student torn between family commitments and his love of learning. What type of student were you?

T. Sumpter: I was a very happy student; friends with everyone; every group, whether they were the black jackets, or wore the long black trench coats to the cheerleaders, to the really smart people. I was just friends with everyone. Pretty much a B student but I was also president of my class for three years and the first black cheerleader on the squad. I was probably the glue that sort of brought people together if somebody didn’t like someone. I always felt people shouldn’t put down anyone else because they’re just like you.

It sounds as if Bailey, the student, could easily have grown into Lacy, the teacher.

T. Sumpter: Yes! That’s a good connection. That totally could be Lacy. Lacy is just trying to help people out, a school that she loves, the students that she loves and the town that she’s grown to love with her husband. She just wants things to be right but sometimes she goes about it in ways that are not the direct path to doing the right thing.

When we talk about choosing paths let’s talk about the path to love. You’re the perfect package: beauty, brains, successful and for some, they may find the whole of you a bit hard to get their arms around. Have you had a problem in that regard…getting the right relationship?

T. Sumpter: Well, thank you so much for thinking of me so highly. You know, it’s funny because I don’t want to say people are intimidated because I think that’s silly but I do think that I give off an, “I’m taken” kind of vibe, maybe. Maybe people think I’m not single because they’re thinking, ‘how could you not be single?’ To that, I go to bed by myself every night. Yeah, I mean, it would be great to share all of this with someone but, of course, they have to be the right person. They have to come correct as we may say. I would love to be able to share all of this with someone.

You do have a glossy veneer, I mean, you were a model. Did you feel any connection to Lacy and farm life?

T. Sumpter: It’s so weird because ‘you say’ a model but I modeled for K-Mart. I wasn’t like Naomi Campbell (laughter). When I think of model I think of Naomi, Cindy, and that whole era. My family is from North and South Carolina so I love being in the dirt. I love just wearing boots and hanging out, playing and laughing in the fields—that was how it was. We were laughing the whole time on set and it was easy, no pretentious vibe, nothing. That’s my kind of people and I like that.

Eileen and Lacy didn’t always agree on how she was living and who she chose to marry. Describe the relationship with your mother and advice she gave that seems to go along with you every step of the way?

T. Sumpter: My mom is like my backbone, she’s my best friend. You know, it was the things that she didn’t say, it was her actions that spoke way louder to me, she persevered through a lot; she didn’t complain about it, she did what she had to do for us, for her kids. I think that stuck with me. Times seeing the car break down and she had to make another way; when we didn’t have much food, she had to make a way; every time that she had to make a way, she kept going and that spoke volumes to me. I was a little girl and remember seeing it over and again so it was what she didn’t say.

With her example in front of you, what imprint are you making?

T. Sumpter: I’m still trying to make an imprint and trying to figure out what I am here to do? I know it’s a higher calling than anything I could ever dream of and I’m not just talking about money and success. I feel there’s a bigger reason why I am here and I get inspiration from women everywhere. Sometimes there’s a lot of negativity amongst women and sometimes we tear each other down or there’s even other people tearing us down, making us think we don’t deserve what we should get but, I want to inspire women across the world to be the best. You are your only ‘you’ and your only competition. Nobody else has your DNA, unless you’re a twin. I want to inspire others to just live their best life.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026

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January 2, 2026

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Alameda County

Bling It On: Holiday Lights Brighten Dark Nights All Around the Bay

On the block where I grew up in the 1960s, it was an unwritten agreement among the owners of those row homes to put up holiday lights: around the front window and door, along the porch banister, etc. Some put the Christmas tree in the window, and you could see it through the open slats of the blinds.

Published

2 weeks ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

Christmas lights on a house near the writer’s residence in Oakland. Photo by Joseph Shangosola.

By Wanda Ravernell

I have always liked Christmas lights.

From my desk at my front window, I feel a quiet joy when the lights on the house across the street come on just as night falls.

My father, the renegade of the block, made no effort with lights, so my mother hung a wreath with two bells in the window. Just enough to let you know someone was at home.

Two doors down was a different story. Mr. King, the overachiever of the block, went all out for Christmas: The tree in the window, the lights along the roof and a Santa on his sleigh on the porch roof.

There are a few ‘Mr. Kings’ in my neighborhood.

In particular is the gentleman down the street. For Halloween, they erected a 10-foot skeleton in the yard, placed ‘shrunken heads’ on fence poles, pumpkins on steps and swooping bat wings from the porch roof. They have not held back for Christmas.

The skeleton stayed up this year, this time swathed in lights, as is every other inch of the house front. It is a light show that rivals the one in the old Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia.

I would hate to see their light bill…

As the shortest day of the year approaches, make Mr. King’s spirit happy and get out and see the lights in your own neighborhood, shopping plazas and merchant areas.

Here are some places recommended by 510 Families and Johnny FunCheap.

Oakland

Oakland’s Temple Hill Holiday Lights and Gardens is the place to go for a drive-by or a leisurely stroll for a religious holiday experience. Wear a jacket, because it’s chilly outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at 4220 Lincoln Ave., particularly after dark. The gardens are open all day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the lights on from dusk until closing.

Alameda

Just across the High Street Bridge from Oakland, you’ll find Christmas Tree Lane in Alameda.

On Thompson Avenue between High Street and Fernside drive, displays range from classic trees and blow-ups to a comedic response to the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Lights turn on at dusk and can be seen through the first week in January.

Berkeley

The Fourth Street business district from University Avenue to Virginia Street in Berkeley comes alive with lights beginning at 5 p.m. through Jan. 1, 2026.

There’s also a display at one house at 928 Arlington St., and, for children, the Tilden Park Carousel Winter Wonderland runs through Jan. 4, 2026. Closed Christmas Day. For more information and tickets, call (510) 559-1004.

Richmond

The Sundar Shadi Holiday Display, featuring a recreation of the town of Bethlehem with life-size figures, is open through Dec. 26 at 7501 Moeser Lane in El Cerrito.

Marin County

In Marin, the go-to spot for ‘oohs and ahhs’ is the Holiday Light Spectacular from 4-9 p.m. through Jan. 4, 2026, at Marin Center Fairgrounds at 10 Ave of the Flags in San Rafael through Jan. 4. Displays dazzle, with lighted walkways and activities almost daily. For more info, go to: www.marincounty.gov/departments/cultural-services/department-sponsored-events/holiday-light-spectacular

The arches at Marin County Civic Center at 3501 Civic Center Dr. will also be illuminated nightly.

San Francisco

Look for light installations in Golden Gate Park, chocolate and cheer at Ghirardelli Square, and downtown, the ice rink in Union Square and the holiday tree in Civic Center Plaza are enchanting spots day and night. For neighborhoods, you can’t beat the streets in Noe Valley, Pacific Heights, and Bernal Heights. For glee and over-the-top glitz there’s the Castro, particularly at 68 Castro Street.

Livermore

The winner of the 2024 Great Light Flight award, Deacon Dave has set up his display with a group of creative volunteers at 352 Hillcrest Avenue since 1982. See it through Jan. 1, 2026. For more info, go to https://www.casadelpomba.com

Fremont

Crippsmas Place is a community of over 90 decorated homes with candy canes passed out nightly through Dec. 31. A tradition since 1967, the event features visits by Mr. and Mrs. Claus on Dec. 18 and Dec. 23 and entertainment by the Tri-M Honor Society at 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. Chrippsmas Place is located on: Cripps Place, Asquith Place, Nicolet Court, Wellington Place, Perkins Street, and the stretch of Nicolet Avenue between Gibraltar Drive and Perkins Street.