“Fuck 2016!”
“If 2016 takes one more person!”
“Can we just get to 2017 already?”
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, brothas and sistas, but let me be the first to tell you what you refuse to see: You’re old.
*In Rico's Voice* “Niggas die every day, B”.
No, I’m not acting like the intellectual Hotep asking you, “Why aren’t you paying attention to the 60,000,000,000 people dying in Chicago?” Mourn the way you want, people. I understand why it hurts—because you feel like you’re losing your childhood—but the reason this is happening is because you’re far removed from it (your childhood).
Face it: you’re 30ish, 40ish, 50ish. “Black don’t crack,” but it sure does die. Yes, Ali, Prince and George Michael hurt, but remember 2015 and 2014? Robin Williams, Stuart Scott, Leonard Nimoy, BB King, Bobby Womack, Ruby Dee, Seymour Hoffman, Joan Rivers, and Bobbi Christina? Hell, I’m still in mourning about Biggie & Pac, but we can kinda deal with those because “Niggas get shot every day, B,” but now we’re dealing with the “A" word. Yes, “Age”.
Some of these celebs are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, and guess what? That’s when people die. Yeah, Prince dying in his 50s was tough, but in 1979 the world lost Donny Hathaway at 34 years old.
People are dying from heart attacks, strokes, and cancer, going into comas due to epileptic or diabetic seizures. We getting old, ya’ll, and people will keep dying as you get older. I’ma need you to be prepared and stop fooling yourself because 2017 ain't going to give you a break. John Madden, Stevie Wonder and Sidney Poitier are up in age and when ANY member of New Edition passes I’m going to need to use ALL my PTO to mourn. But it’s going to happen.
Remember when you were younger and your parents were tripping off a Temptation or 4 Top dying? Robin Harris? You probably don’t because, just like me, you were too busy living life as if tomorrow were promised, like a teenage or 20-year-old is supposed to. But now...you’re old(er), and shit didn’t JUST get real. It’s BEEN real.
So cherish today. Tweet Stevie randomly and say “I love you." Hell, call yo' mama and daddy because they’re old too. Check your blood pressure, your weight, and your "suga." Love yourself and others who love you because “Niggas die every day, B.”
