Yesterday, I heard the news that Don Cornelius had died. WOW!!! Another great one is gone. Don Cornelius was the founder and creator of Soul Train. I remember watching Soul Train when I was very young. Yes, we watched Soul Train in Nigeria, every weekend. We watched all the same music videos as people did here in the US as well.

Don Cornelius went from being just a radio personality to founding the longest nationally syndicated show in America. His creation of Soul Train helped break down racial barriers and broaden the reach of black culture with funky music, groovy dance steps and cutting edge style, died early Wednesday of an apparent suicide. He was 75.

“Soul Train” had arrived on the scene at a time when the country was still reeling from the civil rights movement, political upheaval and cultural swings. It also arrived when black faces on TV were an event, not a regular occurrence.

“Soul Train” was seen by some at first as the black “American Bandstand,” the mainstay TV music show hosted by Dick Clark. While “American Bandstand” featured black artists, it was more of a showcase for white artists and very mainstream black performers.

Music mogul Russell Simmons posted a blog about Cornelius, calling him “one of the greatest music legends there was.”

“Don Cornelius gave artists who had been segregated from most mainstream vehicles of expression a chance to perform in front of a huge national audience,” Simmons wrote. “It was a tremendous opportunity that changed their careers and the whole music industry. To win a Soul Train Music Award meant that the most sophisticated taste makers in the world loved your work.”

While I read all the articles written about Don Cornelius and I just wonder what drove him to suicide. What drives people to suicide? I think of all that and I just wonder whether I could kill myself…The resounding answer is NO!!!! I definitely couldn’t shoot myself in the face. I read stories of people killing themselves by jumping out of windows, jumping in front of moving cars and trains, taking pills to mention just a few. There have a huge rise in suicides caused by bulying. I was bulied as a kid, but killing myself never entered my mind. I would always fight back. I lost most of those fights back then because I was so skinny and weak, but I fought just the same. I always that there would more suicides in the modeling business because of the all the body issues, but that’s not the case. I guess male models and female models love themselves to too much..wink..wink..to do that.

Studies have shown that right before a person takes their life, they are overcome by a feeling of euphoria. They are so relied that they don’t have to continue their unhappy existence  So sad. Life must look so grim that the feeling of helplessness takes over. It’s rare for me to hear stories about older people committing  suicide. I usually hear about younger people doing it. I would think that the older a person get’s, the more they understand themselves and indeed life, therefore would be less likely to kill themselves.

Regardless of whether the person is young or older, when I hear that someone did take their life, it saddens me deeply because the process does not happen over night. It usually takes place after a long battle with unhappiness. Outside of suicide-for-a-cause, I believe that the taking of one’s life is strongly connected with sadness and unhappiness. May all their souls rest in peace.

by

Ngo Okafor

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