Today (Aug 16th) all the stops are being pulled out to remember the death of Elvis Presley the so-called King of Rock-N-Roll.. Ever since yesterday we’ve seen national TV crews camp out all out at Graceland.. Special tributes on radio.. Even some urban outlets are giving Elvis his props.. In typical form Elvis like Ronald Reagan and our slave-owning founding fathers has been sanitized..Many forget when he died, he was an obese drug addict.. Contrast the celebrations around Elvis with the lack of tributes, shout outs & honoring we do for iconic figures like a James Brown..The Godfather of Soul, Marvin Gaye or Ray Charles. Sure folks will do a quick plug for Michael Jackson upcoming birthday, Aug 29th..Michael Jackson’s death day June 25th came and went w/o a peep. If these dates were or are mentioned, they’re usually accompanied but not w/o reminding us of all his troubles..Sadly we see similar treatment around all our icons..Many of us were still talking about the Drake/Chris Brown fight which happened a week or so earlier..
From Elvis to the Beatles to Reagan, they are all celebrated, their troubles and misdeeds wiped away while our heroes are either demonized in the mainstream or completely obscured within our own circles. Meaning we have folks with platforms, resources and loud microphones who allow our heroes and sheroes to be overlooked. So while thousands flock to Graceland to talk about the greatness of Elvis, why don’t we start the process of talking up our own.. Where’s the equivalent to Graceland for James Brown?