Hello People!
How the heck are you doing? I hope this writing finds you well!
It's been a while since I have been on here and a lot has happened since I was on here since I last talked about Scott's passing. Still sad that he is gone but I know that he is a better place with no pain. BUT since his passing another friend died, and the one time I turn on the news the first thing I hear is 'The Voice' took her last breath too. The Voice being Whitney Houston and everybody and their grandma seems to have something to say about her death. Not that I am a follower but I do have something to say about her passing. I think it's an absolute tragedy that she is gone and left so abruptly. But we all know that she had many 'demons' she was fighting and not to say that the demons won, only to say that God wanted her to be at rest so He called her to come home. I have heard many people since her passing trying to pay tribute to her by singing her songs, but no one can sing them like she did, especially when she sang I LOVE THE LORD! Yolanda Adams sang it for her at the NAACP Awards...I like Yolanda Adams, she has a gifted voice but she didn't even come close.
I have read some of the old articles and stories that were brought back up after Ms. Houston died and the one that struck me as truly sad was the one with excerpts from an interview she did with Katie Couric:, " Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers
like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her
black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would
become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed
during the “Soul Train Awards” in 1989. “Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?” she told Katie Couric in
1996. “You’re not black enough for them. I don’t know. You’re not
R&B enough. You’re very pop. The white audience has taken you away
from them.”
That is sad all the way around. Speaking as a person of 'Color' it amazes me how often that comment is made, by other people of Color regarding someone who is doing well for themselves or who chooses to use proper grammar and 'good' English. Instead of being applauded for their achievements they are talked about and ridiculed as 'trying to be white'. Instead of being held up as someone to aspire to be like, they are instead looked down at as someone who is trying to be something they are not. I've been told it's called the 'crab mentality'. How apropos. I am sure it is found in every race but I can only speak about mine. In light of Ms. Houston's passing one would hope that this race would get a clue and figure out that this mentality is something we don't need. I could go on and on with the Black/White difference and make comments about racism in America, but that is another blog and another story. Ms. Houston lived a tormented life of sorts, now there is talk of her being a lesbian and that because she was not able to love freely her one true love it hastened her death. 'Because she couldn't be with her soul mate, her one true love, she indulged in narcotics to dull the pain'. Whatever the reason...whatever the cause of her death....in my opinion she left way too soon BUT she will never be forgotten. RIP Whitney Houston.
*** The term “crab mentality”
is used to describe a kind of selfish, short-sighted thinking which
runs along the lines of “if I can't have it, neither can you.” This term
is especially widely used among Filipinos, who use it specifically to
refer to people who pull other people down, denigrating them rather than
letting them get ahead or pursue their dreams. As a general rule, an
accusation of having a crab mentality is a poor reflection on someone's personality.***
See ya when I see ya!
Peace! Mattie
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