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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=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. [/quote]

nice story.  Whitney seemed different from the other pop stars of that time -- Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner.  Whitney seemed like someone you would have known, a normal person with an amazing talent and charm.  I think it's sad the way her life turned out.[/quote]

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