Posts Tagged ‘death’

Grief is a hard thing to cope with and we all do it differently. But sometimes I worry about Whitney Houston’s family. First there was that of a reality series featuring many family memebers, now Cissy Houston has announced plans to write a book. According to The Hollywood Reporter the late singer’s mother has signed a deal with Harper Collins—and it’s coming out next February (for those of you who don’t that’s a quick turnaround in the world of books). That means it will hit the shelves (or our Kindle’s) about a year after the singer died. Is that…

Every year we lose a little part of our history when legendary people of color pass on. In 2008 we lost so many talented folks: Miriam Makeba, Odetta, Bo Diddley, Bernie Mac, Isaac and Hayes have all left us. On Christmas Day one legend made the list when Eartha Kitt lost her battle with colon cancer. Depending on your age you’ll know Miss Kitt as either the oversexed cosmetic mogul in “Boomerang” or as Batman’s felonious feline foe, Catwoman. But these roles were part of Miss Kitt’s second act she did so much more before most of us were born.

I’m a little late on this but I figured I’d share this anyway. Sister and folk singer, Odetta (nee Odetta Holmes), made her transition a few days ago at the age of 77. Heart disease claimed her life before she could realize her dream of singing at President-Elect Barack Obama’s Inauguration. Her presence in Washington would have been fitting since she rendered “O Freedom” at The March on Washington in 1963. (more…)