I Lost My First Crush Yesterday

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, but I also lost my first crush yesterday

Lena Horne, the silky-voiced singing legend who shattered Hollywood stereotypes of African Americans on screen in the 1940s as a symbol of glamour whose signature song was "Stormy Weather," died Sunday in New York City. She was 92

Horne died at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, a spokeswoman said. No cause of death was given.

I have a list of women I would just love to date if I have a time machine.

5. Brandy and Monica in the 90s and I transformed into a teenager (don’t front fellaz, we all wanted to.)

4. Irene Cara in the 80s.

3. Vanity in 1984

2. Pam Grier in the 70s

……and

Lena Horne from the 40s-60s.

Now Lena Horne was a different type of woman. Although Ertha Kitt brought out generations of fantasies (Some of them old and a few of new players use to tell how Ertha Kitt was the type of woman that …..well you know), Lena Horne brought out boy and man crushes for generations to come. Lena was a smile that you can see coming from a mile. She was what Black Hollywood was all about (It is not just the talent, but the eye of the beholder). My first sight at Lena Horne was when I was five looking in those Jet magazines in the barber. She was that woman that if she smiled, I would literally faint because she was that pretty and that genuine. She was an actress, a singer, a vocal part of the civil rights movement. At that time, entertainers meant more than these entertainers now. She paved the way for those who are good in the sound stage just as well as the acting scene (Diana Ross (who is also a triple threat like Lena), Whitney Houston (circa 90s), Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Brandy (circa 90s), Janet, and Jill Scott). She was the reason I really got into black and white films. I remember the episode of “A Different World” where the kids were meddling and saying that Mr Gaines about his old day’s memories. The students and the dean was trying to pamper Lena when she came in but she was unimpressed. She went to The Pit, asked Mr. Gaines to whip her up some of that good ole’ soul food and they were reminiscing about the time at the war where she was performing. She was real on that situation. I guess you can although I mean guy my age that was young was feeling Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, and Janet Jackson, I was stuck in an old soul with an old soul crush on Lena.

You will be missed Miss Horne.

-SA

What are your memories of the late, great, and beautiful Lena Horne?

Lena Horne Dies at 92.