Whitney Houston was the first black woman I wanted to be like....

[Anonymous]

Another black woman here who wasn't insulted. I feel bad for Whitney and her family. I think that the majority of the posters in this and the other thread that just dismiss her as a crackhead have been blessed to have noone in their life who struggles with addiction.

However you feel about her personal life, it's a damn shame when anyone throws their life away like that, but it seems even worse when they are as young and talented as Whitney was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope people come to realize that this is what domestic violence can be like. Self-medicating to dull the pain that someone in inflicting on you and then look, you're a drug addict! You must be crazy and a terrible mother to boot! This is happening all over the country, where domestic violence has such a ripple effect on someone's life, and then it becomes easy to just label them a drug abuser/mentally ill/alcoholic, whatever.

she was messed up (drugs, outlook on life, attitude) well before she married BB, and has downward spiraled since they divorced. hard to pin this on BB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope people come to realize that this is what domestic violence can be like. Self-medicating to dull the pain that someone in inflicting on you and then look, you're a drug addict! You must be crazy and a terrible mother to boot! This is happening all over the country, where domestic violence has such a ripple effect on someone's life, and then it becomes easy to just label them a drug abuser/mentally ill/alcoholic, whatever.

If you're insinuating that Bobby Brown drove Whitney to addiction, it's not true. In fact, it's said that it was Whitney who introduced Bobby (who was initially only into marijuana and alcohol) to harder drugs.

Many people who grew up in New Jersey, where Whitney is from, affirm that Whitney was into drugs and heavy partying since she was a teen. Her relationship with Bobby was toxic, of course, but it was bad for both of them. And it wasn't the start of addiction issues for either of them.

[Anonymous]

Same old song and dance here. fame+money+drugs=death

not sure why anyone is surprised. sure it is sad though.

[Anonymous]

13.29 here. We're not. In fact the only snark I've had is over the whole *unknown causes* of death. But I agree it IS sad.

[Anonymous]

Another person who's not surprised, but sad.

[Anonymous]

Me, too, not totally surprised but very sad. Very grateful for that beautiful vocal gift of hers that was shared with the world.

[Anonymous]

In middle school, in the 80's, our little ass backwards town was still somewhat socially segregated. I had strictly white kids for friends, although my school was probably 60/40 in favor of black kids. Most of my relatives, with the exception of my mom, were well-meaning people but really ignorant and racist in the way that spawns the "eloquent for a black person" type statements (shudder). Whitney was a HUGE moment for me. I was in the locker room singing to myself, thinking that nobody was around for some reason I can't even remember now. I was softly singing "Greatest Love of All" to myself, but probably got a bit loud because I liked the acoustics of the room. Suddenly I realized several of my classmates had walked in. They were kind of laughing at me, but one of the girls was like "keep singing, you sound nice." I was WAY too embarrassed to do that, of course, my 13 year old self was the shyest person ever. So one of the girls started singing it with me. She had gone to elementary school with me and middle school and we barely ever talked, but she picked up the song where I"d left off, and then I joined her, and the two of us just belted it out, both of us knew every word, and obviously loved the song. It was a defining moment in my life, in my girlhood. We stayed friends and are still friends today. She was my first black friend, but not my last. I like to think of myself as a progressive person, I can hardly reconcile my current self with the insular, mildly racist kid I was on a path to be. Whitney was criticized back then for being "too white." I don't know about that. She was certainly "black" to me, and I didn't care. I LOVED her. I was obsessed. Whitney was a bridge. I get what you are saying, OP, I really do. Younger posters on these boards, even 10 years younger, probably just do not know what it was like to go to school in the years just following desegregation, where there were still race riots going on (as there were in my middle school - literally, white and black kids would fight en masse - rough little neighborhood). Whitney was a bridge, a glimpse of the "other side" and a connection. She was the first "no duh" moment where we realized we had so much in common with one another. Whitney's music, looks, stature, and my gosh, that voice, was transcendent. Whatever private demons she was fighting, she has left MUCH more in her wake than tragedy. I really feel that she changed my life for the better and am so sad to hear of her passing.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing your story, 15:06. Really sweet.

[Anonymous]

As a foreign who comes from an extremely white country, I remember how awed we all were by Whitney Houston when "The Bodyguard" first came out. No one knew Diana Ross, very few had heard about Tina Turner, so Whitney Houston was pretty much the one and only black diva for us. Her songs were everywhere, I mean, everywhere.

I'm really sad to hear about her death.

Oh, and today is the first time I've ever heard that she is considered 'too white' in the AA community. Live and learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Oh, and today is the first time I've ever heard that she is considered 'too white' in the AA community. Live and learn.

Isn't that crazy? No matter what, you just can't win, whatever race you might be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a foreign who comes from an extremely white country, I remember how awed we all were by Whitney Houston when "The Bodyguard" first came out. No one knew Diana Ross, very few had heard about Tina Turner, so Whitney Houston was pretty much the one and only black diva for us. Her songs were everywhere, I mean, everywhere.

I'm really sad to hear about her death.

Oh, and today is the first time I've ever heard that she is considered 'too white' in the AA community. Live and learn.

When she first came out, she was considered "too white" because her songs were super pop. In later years, she wasn't considered as such.

Silly either way, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a foreign who comes from an extremely white country, I remember how awed we all were by Whitney Houston when "The Bodyguard" first came out. No one knew Diana Ross, very few had heard about Tina Turner, so Whitney Houston was pretty much the one and only black diva for us. Her songs were everywhere, I mean, everywhere.

I'm really sad to hear about her death.

Oh, and today is the first time I've ever heard that she is considered 'too white' in the AA community. Live and learn.

well, hopefully now she has more street cred? RIP.

[Anonymous]

^Unfunny.

[Anonymous]

Marrying Bobby was the street cred. As an AA woman who has also been called out for actiNg white I have no doubts that she was tortured by those sentiments.