Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone to fulfill my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me


I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity 

(**Wanna bet they're not gonna give it a shot, Whitney?**)

Whitney Houston was an pop star, and perhaps she was even THE pop star, but she is not a pop star that I've terribly enjoyed at any point in her career.   Still, she was the prototype for the modern pop/R&B diva, an immense talent, and her re-recording of the minor hit (#2 on the Billboard R&B Chart) written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed, and originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 movie, The Greatest, was the 7th (SEVENTH!!) top 40 single from her eponymous debut album, and the 3rd (THIRD!!) #1 single from the same album.  At the time, she was the only female artist ever to achieve that mark, as well as the only artist ever reach that milestone (those milestones...) on their debut release.

She has sold more media than I have sloughed dead skin cells, and has received more honors than I have pairs of socks (and, I got a lot of socks). 

In the end, though, she was just an entertainer (like Barry Bonds), and for the throngs who adored her (again, of which, I am not one...I can't even think of a single song she has recorded that I've enjoyed), she was one of the greatest of all time.

Yet, with  everything she's accomplished, been through and come out the other end of, her many great accomplishments will be the lead-in to the hour long " expose' " pieces about her failed marriage to Bobby Brown, recent affair(s) with Ray-J and her issues with drug abuse that will dominate the 24 hour news networks over the next two months...ESPECIALLY if she died because of a drug overdose (like Elvis did).

Yep...same Ray J (also happens to be Brandy's, of Moesha fame, brother...)

And, sure, those were parts of who she was, but when Muhammed Ali dies, are you gonna remember his many instances of infidelity, how he turned his back on Malcolm X at the time Malcolm needed him the most, how poorly he managed  his money and the gruesome fight with Ernie Terrell where he nearly killed Terrell simply because Terrell refused to acknowledge his name as Ali, or are you going to remember the fun-loving, soft spoken, freedom fighting, most outstanding man ever to put on a pair of boxing gloves?

Then, why would you remember Houston in any lesser manner?  If she fucked up in life, that's her perrogative, and yapping about it as they drop her remains six feet under is your issue, not hers.

Hell, when Eazy E died, it was like he had  lived the life of a saint and everybody completely forgot what a giant asshole Eric was, especially to his bandmates, Dre and Cube.

This is misogyny, plain and simple, and we will all get a chance to see how misogynistic our society still is as the weeks progress and Whitney is being mourned by her family and mocked by the rest of the country.

There is one thing that Whitney sang that's always kinda stuck with me, incidentally, from the tune I quoted above - 

I believe the children are our future...

I believe that as well.  I also believe Whitney has one.  Remember that as you become the 200 millionth person to make an attempt to sully her name that little extra bit now that she is dead.

Epilogue - Ali v. Terrell

This was Ali's worst moment in the legendary boxing career he gave all of us, in my opinion, and what makes it so hard to swallow is that it was also one of his most honest.  When faced with the accusations of cruelty after the fight, Ali noted, "Boxing is cruel.  He was out to get me and I was out to get him...".  But, if you watch the fight, or just the bit I have posted above, you see that Ali had Terrell completely neutralized and that he was landing blows virtually at will to Terrell's left side, due to the cut on Terrell's left eye which had him nearly blind.

Angelo Dundee predicted that the eight round of that fight would be the last one, and he should have been correct in this prediction.  By all rights, Ali should have knocked Terrell out, or scored a TKO in the eighth round.

Contrary to Dundee's prediction, however, and in a very calculated manner, just like when he executed the famous 'rope-a-dope' so skillfully and artfully, Ali kept Terrell propped up enough such that he knew the ref wouldn't stop the fight (I even think he let Terrell land a few punches he could have avoided, but that is pure speculation on my part) but refused to land enough blows, or enough punishing blows, to knock Terrell out.   Instead, he tortured Terrell and beat him to within an inch of his life.

This isn't something that's really discussed a lot about the "gentle" champ we've all come to love so much (and, I love him as much as anyone...believe me).  

Just sayin'...