Goodbye Don Cornelius

Wasn’t Don Cornelius Already Dead?

           

So I woke up this morning feeling good. I’ve started a new morning and night meditation routine. It’s wonderful! (Ask me about it later.)

            I made my breakfast and sat down to get caught up on Facebook. I heard Don Cornelius was dead from an apparent suicide…

Wait…

…Don Cornelius was alive? I needed to do some research.

            So what I came up with was an obvious conspiracy to keep us hooked on Soul Train by dangling Don Cornelius in front of us for nearly twenty years. I gave a sigh of relief. It was over. I was off the hook. No more wondering. No more WTF moments as a tall gay zombie ambled across a stage in another attempt to display “life”. SMH [Don Cornelius Zombie ‘Old Train’]

As I sat and reminisced on the iconic figures and images from Soul Train, I was amazed at how long it’s actually been. I was even more amazed at how long it had been since Soul Train was over for me. It’s been almost twenty years since Don Cornelius stepped down as host. It wasn’t much longer after that when I gave up trying to watch Soul Train. A couple of friends got approached to dance and they didn’t make it. I still don’t know who Mystro Clark and Dorian Gregory are. I only heard about Shemar Moore in 2008, two years after soul Train ended its 35 year run, the longest in syndication.

            I was remembering Lou Ski and Cheryl Song, thinking I was remembering the 90s. It was in fact the 80s I was remembering and it made it all that much longer since I had really cared about Soul Train. What happened?

            There are many shows I wish would have lasted forever. There aren’t many I actually thought would last forever. Soul Train was one. And then I started seeing things like this:

In 1987, I didn’t even get it. I was born with hip-hop in 1978. How could anyone not like rap music? Maybe Don Cornelius could see the future of rap way back then:

Don Cornelius had a knack for seeing the future. From the day in 1970 when he saw how big an urban dance show could be, to the day when I thought he was just swaying to the beat. He knew he was about to fall down soon so he sat down behind the scenes.

            Don Cornelius was truly a pioneer. I’m not sad he’s gone. He left a brilliant legacy. We don’t celebrate death. We celebrate life and he lived. Though some have tried, you can’t even list all he’s done. What’s sad is that other’s haven’t followed his lead and created more. What’s really sad is the way he passed. What’s saddest is the trend we have taken. Hip Hop has changed. Institutions like BET have gotten dumber and dumber.

            The saddest thing was him being drug around while in all the pain, psychologically as well as physically, he must have been in this past decade. That’s right! I said decade. When was the last time Don Cornelius was anywhere looking coherent? The man was a genius who had already given us so much and we wanted more from him. Why?

            He was so much more than an icon, so much more than an image. He was a true leader. I don’t even want to say pioneer. He showed us the way and did it well for longer than anyone of ANY race. He showed us what is possible in this country and the world. A few have followed. Very few…

It’s up to the rest of us to catch up. Being a pioneer is meaningless if no one follows the path. It’s there to follow, along with many others.

            Many people were even sadder that he passed today. Today is a perfect time for us to begin looking at the lives our many, many pioneers. Let’s rediscover the many trails that have been blazed, the doors that are still open, the opportunities that are still available because of these leaders.

            Thank for living Don Cornelius. Thank you for leading. Thank God for your influence in our lives. We will carry on. We will follow your lead and lead others. Good Bye Don Cornelius…

The Soul Train line will never end because of you!