Whitney Houston dead at the age of 48. This is the sad news that sparked the radio airwaves yesterday evening. One of the greatest singers of this generation had "gone on." She leaves behind a young daughter, a host of relatives, friends and fans to grieve. Unfortunately, a piece of her is left to be ground up by the rumor mill.
When tragedy strikes a celebrity as it has Ms. Houston there is, undoubtedly,a burning desire to "know." Fans, media types and gossip mags want to know how this thing could have happened. There is no human being on the face of the earth who will avoid the part of the life cycle that includes death. The disappointing part of that is everyone will look for reasons why, but forget those reasons effect the loved one's Houston left behind; most notably her 18 year old child.
It is time for Americans' to ask ourselves why the presence of money or power is a license to harass, defame, scandalize or abuse a person or their memory. It's as if a person's bank account ties them to a public right to accept any type of treatment no matter its affect on that person. I have already heard commentary about drug use, marriage to Bobby Brown, a shot career and an anxiety riddled daughter in shock at the loss of her mother.
The coming Presidential election will be a showdown about the 99% vs. Wall Street; the dream vs. the reality. An answer to the question that wonders if America is truly the land of opportunity. And this question is a legitimate one. The 99% protests were a much needed spotlight on the growing income inequality raging through American cities,suburbs and rural outliers. Not that everyone has to attain wealth, but that everyone in a country this rich has an opportunity to make a living or more. However, those legitimate issues do not make it okay for our country to treat people with money or celebrity as objects without a soul.
My wish is that Whitney Houston and her family will not be fodder for aggressive rumors, scandal-laced innuendo or outright untruth's in spite of the iconic status she holds in American culture, because, ultimately Whitney Houston's status was human being.
