 "Photo: Courtesy of MCT")
The entertainment world has suffered another loss: the death of the incomparable Whitney Houston. After her many struggles with sobriety and confrontations with the media, the singer was found dead in her room on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., Saturday.
Despite Houston's uphill battle with addiction, she is noted to be one of the greatest entertainers of all time. The singer and actress shattered the charts with her ground-breaking hits such as "The Greatest Love of All," "I Will Always Love You" and her own rendition of the nation anthem, prompting many to dub her the "queen of pop music."
With the news of her passing, many took to the web. "R.I.P. Whitney Houston" and "#IWillAlwaysLoveYou" became trending topics on Twitter and people began paying their respects to the late entertainer and her family. Sadly, the level of grief could not overpower the ignorance that was developing.
People began to make jokes about her death and her addiction problems. People belittled her passing with thoughts of, "Another addict gone," and, "Who cares, people die every day," in their tweets.
I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and that's not my issue. My issue is the lack of respect a person can have for the deceased. Granted, Houston has been in the public eye for her fight with addiction and has sometimes made herself an object of ridicule with her outlandish behavior and comments during award shows, or her interview with Diane Sawyer in which she coined the phrase, "Crack is whack."
It deeply bothers me to know that there are people who have no respect for her or her grieving family.
Oftentimes, when superstars pass away, the public only focuses on their flaws and never celebrates their achievements. It's like some people only care about Houston's shortcomings, forgetting the fact that she was human, that she made mistakes and had to deal with those internal issues every day.
It's disgusting to me to see people are making a parody out of someone's death. Death is not a fun matter whether the person is a celebrity or not. Why make a mockery of a death? Is it entertaining? Is it easy to hate someone you don't even know, or is that a way for you to feel powerful over your own insecurities? If you don't want to share your condolences to her family and pay your respects that's fine, but don't be completely heartless and ignorant.
Houston was more than an entertainer to the black community and to the entertainment world. She was, to many, our princess. Her grace, style, charisma and timeless beauty gave us all a reason to love and emulate her. She set the bar of excellence high and paved the way for many popular female artists of today. Regardless of her misfortunes, she was a very gifted woman and her legacy will continue to grow and live through her fans.