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A new book about American soul-pop music legend Whitney Houston reveals the frank and inspiring character of the African-American singer, but also her dilemmas that sometimes clashed with Christian religious education, or the social norms with which she grew up. .
This week marks 10 years since the tragic death of the singer.
Author Gerrick Kennedy writes in his book “Didn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney HoustonThat among the many dilemmas of religious education she had received as a child, Whitney had hidden many aspects of her character, even her sexuality.
“Because her music did not match what was expected of a black girl in the ’80s, she was considered’ not black enough ‘. “Some mocked her and some speculated since then about her sexuality,” the author writes.
Growing up in Newark, NJ, Whitney has been under the tutelage of her mother Cissy, a devout Christian and member of the church choir.
In the book the author says that Whitney felt different since she was little, she was like “a boy with dirty clothes and hair cords that were chosen by her mother”. She preferred jeans and often ran with her two brothers Gary and Michael.
Cissy’s mother failed to make a career out of her song even though she was often wanted as a secondary choir singer.
Whitney’s cousin, well-known R&B singer Dionne Wareick, began to encourage Whitney’s talent, which the family saw as an opportunity to escape poverty.
The author writes that in the summer of 1980, when she was 17, she met 19-year-old Robyn Crawford while working at the East Orange Community Center in New York.
“They bonded quickly and were inseparable that summer, where one was and the other was,” Kennedy wrote.
The author writes that Whitney and Robyn were so closely related that they transcended the traditional boundaries of friendship.
They went to the beach and gay clubs in New Jersey together.
The book says Robyn drove Whitney to the bars where he would sing.
“They were partners in the traditional sense and never talked about labels like ‘gay’, lesbian or bisexual, even though they kissed or slept together,” Kennedy wrote.
Robyn Crawford later wrote about her relationship with Whitney Houston: “We were friends, we were lovers, they were everything to each other.”
But the church and the music industry were very homophobic and Whitney knew their relationship had to end when he got the music contract from Clive Davis, the book says.
“You know how I felt about you and we will have it forever,” Kennedy wrote of how Whitney broke the news of her girlfriend’s contract.
Since 1985 Whitney Houston albums have topped the charts.
The love affair with Robyn began to make noise when Whitney appointed her as executive representative – “a role that began to expand over time,” writes Kennedy.
“Was the famous singer gay?”, Everyone wanted to know, writes the author.
The Washington Post asked the singer about the nature of her friendship with Robyn, and she replied angrily, “She works for me but we are still close friends.”
Consequently Whitney teamed up with singer Bobby Brown, and their marriage in 1992 made sense as Bobby had to clean up his ‘bad boy’ image, as did Whitney who had to escape the noise of homosexuality.
For 15 years Robyn continued to stand by Whitney as a wife and executive assistant.
Robyn told the singer’s mother about cocaine addiction in the late ’80s, but Whitney justified that Robyn was exaggerating and had nothing to worry about.
But her addiction was reportedly added out of control and on February 11, 2012, the 48-year-old singer was found dead in the bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The toxicology report said she was “severely intoxicated by cocaine.”
Robyn, now 61, had not spoken for 40 years about her romantic story with Whitney until she published her memoir.
She is already linked to 49-year-old Lisa Hintelmann, director of a talent search company.
Among other things about her time with Whitney, she wrote, “Yes, in the end it was tragic but the dream was wonderful. “I owe it to my friend to share this story with others, in order to be free.”
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