Tracy "Bird" Van Adams

Tracy Lynn Van Adams (born Tracy Lynn Joseph), better known by her childhood nickname "Bird", is a fictional character from the Showtime television series Soul Food. The character first appeared in the 1997 film Soul Food as Robyn Joseph, and was portrayed by Nia Long. In the television series, her name was changed to Tracy Joseph Van Adams, and the role was assumed by Malinda Williams. The nickname "Bird" was retained.

Character Background

A lifelong resident of Chicago, Bird is the youngest of three daughters born to Jeremiah and Josephine Joseph. In high school, she was the victim of statutory rape, having had a consensual relationship with her algebra teacher Michael King (Kent Faulcon), who was in his twenties. When the affair was exposed, King was fired and later assaulted by Bird's father Jeremiah (along with several of his friends). Upon reaching adulthood, Bird was involved with the self-absorbed Simuel St. James (Mel Jackson) before marrying an ex-convict named Lem Van Adams (Mekhi Phifer, Darrin Dewitt Henson). Almost immediately, Bird became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Jeremiah (who is named after Bird's father).

Bird briefly served as hairstylist for Canadian R&B singer Deborah Cox, but the job required her to tour with Cox for months, and she soon quit. Already the owner of a successful beauty salon called "Cut It Up",^[1] Bird entered a contest for local hair stylists. Tying for first place, she won a guest segment on a fictional local television news program, Chicago Update. Bird turned out to be a "natural" on-air personality, and was such a hit that she accepted an offer to air a weekly segment on hair care. During her stint on the show, she formed a friendship with producer Eva Holly (Terri J. Vaughn), who happened to be a lesbian. At one point, the line between friendship and romance became blurred, and the two shared a kiss. Soon, it became impossible to keep their professional and personal relationships separate. Matters were further complicated by the fact that Bird was a married heterosexual woman who was apparently "experimenting". Eventually, Eva ended their friendship.

The following year, Bird's marriage to Lem almost ended when she had a one-night stand with Malik Todd (Terrell Tilford), who supervised her sister Maxine (Vivica A. Fox, Vanessa A. Williams) at her place of business. Shocked and enraged, Lem wanted to beat Malik without mercy, but knew that he would be sent back to prison if he did. When Maxine's husband Kenny Chadway (Jeffrey D. Sams, Rockmond Dunbar) learned that Malik had slept with Bird, he hit Malik himself. However, the incident took place at Maxine's job, and soon both Maxine and Malik were fired. Amazingly, Bird and Lem's marriage survived.

During the fourth year of her marriage to Lem, Bird became pregnant. Though initially excited, she changed her mind about having a second child after having a talk with another mom who did, and had to undergo several life changes for it. After much conflict with what to do, she decided to put off having more children for the time being, and had an abortion over Lem's strong objections. The following year, however, she became pregnant again, and eventually gave birth to a girl.

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