Editing Tracy Chapman (section)

==Early life and education==
Chapman was born in [[Cleveland]] and was raised by her mother, who bought her a [[ukulele]] at age three.<ref name=biog>{{cite web |url=http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/biography-by-nigel-williamson-2001/ |last=Williamson |first=Nigel |author-link=Nigel Williamson |title=Tracy Chapman's Biography |website=About-Tracy-Chapman.net |date=March 11, 2008 |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819151933/http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/biography-by-nigel-williamson-2001/ |archive-date=August 19, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Her parents divorced when she was four years old.<ref name="auto">{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tracy-chapman-on-her-own-terms-60993/ |title=Tracy Chapman: On Her Own Terms |first=Steve |last=Pond |date=September 22, 1988 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=March 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015233243/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tracy-chapman-on-her-own-terms-60993/ |archive-date=October 15, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> She began playing guitar and writing songs at age eight. She says that she may have been first inspired to play the guitar by the television show ''[[Hee Haw]]''.<ref name=Ado>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Michel |url=https://www.npr.org/2009/08/20/112056043/without-further-ado-songstress-tracy-chapman-returns?ft=1&f=1003 |title=Without Further Ado, Songster Tracy Chapman Returns |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=August 20, 2009 |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101095505/https://www.npr.org/2009/08/20/112056043/without-further-ado-songstress-tracy-chapman-returns?ft=1&f=1003 |archive-date=November 1, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> In her native Cleveland, she experienced frequent bullying and [[Racism in the United States|racially motivated assaults]] as a child.<ref name="Fleming">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/31/tracy-chapman-women-pop-usa |title=Amy Fleming on Tracy Chapman, the quiet revolutionary |first=Amy |last=Fleming |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=October 31, 2008 |access-date=March 13, 2020 |via=www.theguardian.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415173340/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/31/tracy-chapman-women-pop-usa |archive-date=April 15, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Raised a [[Baptist]], she attended an [[Anglicanism|Episcopal]] high school<ref name=Ado/> and was accepted into the program [[A Better Chance]], which sponsors students at [[University-preparatory school|college preparatory high school]]s away from their home communities. She graduated from [[Wooster School]] in [[Connecticut]] then attended [[Tufts University]], majoring in [[anthropology]].<ref name=biog /><ref name="auto"/><ref name=ambio>{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tracy-chapman-mn0000016281#biography|title=Tracy Chapman |work=[[AllMusic|All Music Guide]] |access-date=January 25, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.spin.com/2019/08/tracy-chapman-self-titled-july-1988-interview/|title=Tracy Chapman: Our 1988 Interview|work=Spin|date=August 18, 2019|access-date=July 7, 2023}}</ref> While a student at Tufts, she [[Busking|busked]] in nearby spots, including [[Harvard Square]] and on [[Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority|MBTA]] [[Red Line (MBTA)|Red Line]] platforms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-02-23 |title=Tracy Chapman: On snakes, faith and busking for food |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/tracy-chapman-on-snakes-faith-and-busking-for-food-120277.html |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenwald |first=Michael S. |title=To Chapman, underground music is pure performance |date=November 26, 2003 |url=https://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/11/26/to_chapman_underground_music_is_pure_performance/ |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=2022-06-13 |language=en}}</ref> Chapman recorded demos of songs at the Tufts University radio station, [[WMFO]], for copyright purposes while she was a student at Tufts, in exchange for the station's right to play her songs.<ref name="rollingstone">{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-20110418/tracy-chapman-tracy-chapman-19691231 |title=100 Best Albums of the Eighties: Tracy Chapman, 'Tracy Chapman' |publisher=Rolling Stone |date= November 16, 1989|access-date=January 25, 2024}}</ref>