I Believe in You and Me

Originally I was going to blog about something completely different but because of recent events I was moved into another direction. I am just going to go with the flow...
I remember the first time I heard the voice of Whitney Houston, back then I actually thought I was going to be a singer. I would go around the house belting out I Will Always Love You so much so that my family begged me to stop! But I just couldn't, The Bodyguard was and is one of my favorite movies of all time. In a
sense Whitney Houston was an idol to me.
As I grew older and my dreams began to change her life and reputation became tarnished by scandals and drugs. She still had the voice that no other could compare to. With that said I still have parts of that little girl in me who is a die hard Whitney fan and I can't help be disgusted by some of the responses and reactions about the death of an Icon. Yes she struggled for years with substance abuse but she fought and that should not discredit her legacy at all. How dare people make jokes about her death while her family mourns, how dare anyone minimize the impact and or the relevancy of her death, furthermore why is it that the media focuses so much on her substance abuse as her demise and the emotional state of Bobby Christina? Me being involved with media, it is very disheartening to see the industry more specifically the news programs sensationalizing her death and struggles. Why can't we just honor her memory, her music rather than figure out if drugs killed her? Sometimes media is so strategically damaging, forgetting about humanity and being respectful. Why can't we just honor the Icon and graceful woman she was respectfully? It is unfortunate how some don't appreciate something until it is gone. Music has always been something that heals me and I feel like our generation grew up on her and yet I see such a lack of compassion...
It is black history month and whether anyone likes it or not Whitney Houston is a part of history. I was watching 2012 BET Honors the other night and honoree Beverly Kearney's inspiring words resonated with me....

"People always ask me how is it that you succeed in spite of your obstacles...I don't have a choice...because my hero is my history and my history is a legacy of people who have triumphed over tragedy who have succeeded in spite of the oppression how can I fail because they have taught me failure is not an option...And I serve a God who has empowered the magic that makes me understand that we are all as a people destined to succeed."

I challenge everyone to do and be better, life is too short to waste on anything less. Don't focus on the past but never forget it, fall forward to the dreams and goals of your future.Fall forward into the visions that were paved out for us by our history, by our history that was not able to experience it themselves. Are you Ready? To quote one of my favorite Whitney songs I believe in you and me, I believe that we will be be...so much more.