Luther Vandross--The King of Gentleman Soul
Long live Luther.
I was slightly taken aback at the death of Luther Vandross. It knocked me down a bit because Luther has been my background music for much of my adult life.
I loved his music when he was heavy and I love his music when he was slim and all of the weight swings in between.
What I will always love about Luther is the way he honored the women who influenced his musical stylings. He always treated their work with the greatest respect that showed a real love for the music and their work. Luther Vandross was the king of gentleman soul, he never degraded or villified women instead he put them on a pedestal.
Luther's music also had a spiritual twinge for me that often surpassed the sensual. His So Amazing reminded me of God's precious and overwhelming love for me in spite of my manifold sins and weaknesses. His Here and Now (a wonderful wedding song) also had a way of turning my thoughts to the goodness of God and his love.
Luther as you dance with your father, I give praise to the Father for endowing you with a wonderful gift, I give honor to the Father for allowing Roberta Flack to compel you to use your gift and give thanks to the Father for allowing me to be touched over and over again by the beauty of your music.
AMEN.
posted by Harold Gibson @ 5:36 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
hello mr. gibson,
i am the one known as "black bacchus". i believe that you left me an opine of sorts on my blog: http://blackbacchus.blogspot.com
the comment went as such: "This is not the kind of post you want to read when your child is considering a school like Howard.
Alcohol is a serious problem in our community and your lightweight treatment is not evidence of intellectual growth or artistic expression.
Thanks for this revealing inside look at the Mecca."
well, firstly i believe that "intellectual growth" is apparent, because, well i do attend college, i actually go to georgetown now. and "artistic expression" is also apparent being that i actually took the time to retell the story in a very concise, accurate and humorous way. now what one considers to be "good" concerning the "artistic expression" of another can be debated. i read through your blog and wasn't necessarily entertained. but this is all relative, and opinions are like various body parts. we have one.
true, alcohol is a very serious issue in our community. however, if you actually went to college (ibelieve that you did) and depending on exectly how christian you were at the time, i am sure that you are familiar with, or possibly have even engaged in said parties before. i was not making light of anything. what i did was to give you a story as it was lived. i understand that many supposedly pious people cannot deal with the fact that not everyone lives like them. some of us do party. and some of us do have a bit of fun. and on occasion, usually more so than not, some sort of inebriatorial device will be in the equation. we were not on the corner, hanging out all day asking passers by "hey main main, you gotta dollar?" no we were students at the premier black college in the world, relaxing after busting our chops all week and remaining on the dean's list. y'nahamean? i am particularly surprised that this is shocking to you. what do you think college students do when they are studying? we party. and quite frankly, would you rather your child having a drink or having sex? which does happen on the howard campus. if you think this is a revealing look inside the mecca of black schools, maybe we should do coffee sometime and i can tell you how meridian got nick named "the sex palace". or maybe i can tell you about how the weed man lives comfortably off of the student population via funds from parents such as yourself. maybe we could get into various teams and the young ladies that are willing to do anything for them. but i am sure that you are far too gone in your convenient, but one faceted christian bubble to even entertain such a thing. i've got news for you, and you can remove this post if you'd like, but the fact is: not everyone is christian, not everyone believes what you do, not everyone is lame like you, and yes, college kids do party and have premarital sex. get a grip and face reality. some of the biggest sinners at howard are the ones that sit in service sunday morning and smell of saturday night's debauchery. it leaves a taint on the fingers, the soul, the mind and the genetalia...i did not create the black bacchus, i merely assumed the role from someone in your generation...peace...alpha onasuss maximus
mr. gibson,
i love that you actually have taken the time out of what i am sure is an extremely busy schedule to create discourse with a heathen like me. thanks. regardless of our disagreements, i want you to know that i can tell that you are a man of high repute. a true human being.
that being said, let me tear into you like a sabertooth tiger into an in and out burger with animal fries. firstly, i do not "love" alcohol. "love" is an extremely powerful word, and i never claimed that i love it, or need it to survive on a day to day basis. to think that based from what i wrote is asinine. does a drink make a man corrupt? or can and man love God, be responsible to all that calls him, and still have a nightcap? i don't know. i am not christian. you tell me how a christian may feel about this.
i believe that willpower is what differentiates a fiend from a responsible human being. anything can be used as a tool or a weapon. take a swiss army knife. i can choose to stab someone with it, or tighten a screw with it. one destructive, one productive. it's like van gogh creating beautiful portraits off of absinthe, or like van gogh chopping off his ear, over a lost love, off of absinthe. even religion can be used properly or abused. to this day, i see the outbursts of some, "catching the holy ghost", i believe it is called, as nothing more than the adrenaline surge of a religious zealot who at some point was probably a junkie of some sort, be it sex, drugs, or alcohol, or some other addictive substance. religion too, can be an additive substance. it has been known to blind people to the viewpoints of others and can commonly result in the fallacious opine that one is always right.
i also have no idea how you got from my scribings that i am an advocate of the "i gots mine...so that is all that matters" philosophy. i have never felt that way. i am always trying to overcome this ongoing, yet impending, classism problem that we have going on within the black community. (i wonder your opinion on what bill cosby said-i'd guess, but that would be unfair) i try to relate to all and through my actions hopefully others, firstly my family, especially the younger generation, secondly, my friends, third, those in my community, and lastly, the entire human race. i have to start small and focus upon mine and then the family and loved ones because my influence is small.
Howard is not more Sodom than Mecca. let's not be foolish. this is school that has produced david dinkens, debbie allen, toni morrison, roberta flack, phylicia rashad, angela winbush, ed bradley, ralph bunche, andrew young, anthony anderson, and even p. diddy (even though he didn't graduate). it is a great university, like no other. it as such a beautiful experience to go to an all black college and see the diversity of our people. the professors are incredible and care more than most at other universities. trust me on that. the opportunities of being at the premier black university in the world are limitless. the library could be better, as could the procedures to enroll in classes, and the women in the administration building (the "A" building") are hella rude, and it is most definitly a fashion show, but all in all it is an excellent institution.
that's all i have to say about howard.
lastly, i will focus on what seems to be a trend among christians. to look at the title or a synopsis of something and judge its entirety from that. kinda like was done with the movies "dogma" and "the passion of the christ" and the book "the davinci code". had you read my piece on "n.i.g.g.a." you would have known that i am against the term and am trying to reprogram myself. it was very honest. i also pointed out the idiocy of nelly trying to rationalize the acronym p.i.m.p. gee whiz...did you even read it? i mean good lord, how could you ahve come to that conclusion had you read it? i read your piece. at least give me the respect of reading what i do. whether you are offended by it or not, i do take time and put alot of love and honesty into it.
you see grand pa, i maybe a man of sin (like everyone) buti ain't blind to the church. i have spent some time studing the bible, the kaballah, and the koran. i tend to come to the conclusion that if everyone would sit down and listen, actually listen, and not think that if someone believes something contrary to what they themselves think, then the one with the contrary thought is going to burn in an eternal hellfire, then we'd all be alot better off. i have yet to meet a person that came back from the dead and tell me who is God's favorite gangsta rapper is. so i guess we will one day find find out. till then...
peace be unto you brother. this discourse was truly a blessing. stay cool and feel free to check in on my blog at anytime...cause i'll be checking on yours. you never know when the black bacchus will strike.
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