Whitney and I!

I’m writing this with a broken heart. Whitney is gone, and it’s hard to explain what this means to me: An African American woman born in 1960.  She was born in 1963 into a musical family, middle class by all reports.  I, too, was born between the have and have nots, to a mother who was educated and eventually got her Ph.D.  We were born on the eve of the I Have a Dream speech, before African Americans were successfully woven into the American fabric, but during a period when America was filled with hope.  We were the generation of hope for a people who had been down trodden for hundreds of years.  It was understood that whatever you did, you would represent those who went before you in the finest fashion.  You would be refined, beautiful, classy, dressed to the hilt, and well spoken.  You knew where you came from.  You knew the secrets and the hearts of the"'have nots;" you understood their broken dreams and would always be grounded, down-to earth, as “But by the Grace of God go I” was seared into your heart. You would live your dreams. 

The thing I remember hearing most from my Mom was "You can do it!"  Be a Doctor, I considered until I got Ds in science at UCLA and accepted that this was not my calling.  You can do it when –after a spell of depression – I was called to write.  I wasn't surprised that a princess who had seen it all with so much on her shoulders would escape from the world with drugs and alcohol.  You can do it, I always imagined Cissy saying to Whitney as she slipped from Grace, knowing that soaring can exhaust the soul.  She would rest and rise again.  I waited.  We waited.  I remember staring at photos of Cissy and Whitney and thinking that I, intrinsically, was a part of their story althought I didn't know them. Today I listened to the 17 magazine editor as she talked about how Cissy came to New York and worked out the lay-out and plan for her little girl, Whitney, to be the first African American on the front cover.  "You Can Do It" I imagined Cissy said to Whitney.  The editor went on to say that Whitney insisted on doing the cover with her best friend.  "But by the Grace of God go I," I’m sure was seared into her heart. She was every African American woman rising above the clearly drawn line between the haves and the have nots to soar.  Soar Whitney did in the movies. Soar she did selling album after album. Soar to pick up seven (7) Grammys. Soar with phenomenal grace and style, dressed to the hilt, always well spoken.  She was a Princess, then a Queen. 

Up until the time of the self made stars of the new millennium, it was understood that your  song, the story in written words, were gifts from God to be accepted with open arms as seen so often with Whitney on the stage. After I had penned the first book and was invited to do a book signing at Eso Won, the notable African American book store in Los Angeles, I would not go alone.  I would take Whitney with me in the form of two gospel singers.  They would sing Acapella, raising their voice to the heavens, and I would stretch out my arms like Whitney to those listening to me read. I would be impeccably dressed, crispy, fitting grey slacks with a white crisp shirt. I would be classy like Whitney. I would speak well.  I would be every woman.  Thank You, Whitney, for showing me the way.

I’m Every Woman

Whatever you want
Whatever you need
Anything you want done baby
I do it naturally
'Cause I'm every woman (Every woman)
It's all in me
It's all in me
Yeah

I'm every woman
It's all in me
Anything you want done baby
I do it naturally

I'm every woman
It's all in me
I can read your thoughts right now
Every woman, whoever made ya say...
Whoa whoa whoa
Whoa (oh) whoa (oh) whoa

I can cast a spell
See, but you can't tell
Mix a special groove
Put fire inside of you
Anytime you feel danger or fear
Then instantly
I will appear
Yeah oh

I'm every woman
It's all in me
Anything you want done baby
I do it naturally

\