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VOL 3. NO. 33 Monday, August 27 - Sunday, September 2, 2001
AFRICA
AGAINST THE GRAIN
BUSINESS/NETWORKING
CARIBBEAN CONNECTION
CONSCIOUSLY SPEAKING
FOR THE FAMILY
GALLERIES/MUSEUMS
GET YOUR LAUGH ON
GO GO GROOVES
HEALTH/LIVING WHOLE
HIP HOP/R&B
JAZZ/CLASSICAL
JUST CLUBBING
MORE MUSIC
PRAISE & WORSHIP
SOULFUL CUISINE
SPORTING ACTION
STAGE
THE WORD
HIP HOP/R&B
Gone Too Soon
By Avonie BROWN

Aaliyah, courtesy photo

I'm cruising home from the Jill Scott concert, vibing in the afterglow of the sister-soul of the Philly songstress, when the radio DJ brings me down from my high with a heavy thud. He informs that singer/actress Aaliyah is confirmed dead on a flight enroute from the Bahamian Island of Abaco to Opa-Locka, Florida. Wire service reports confirm that the 22-year-old was on the island to film a video for an upcoming single from her self-titled CD released in July.

She was one of eight people to die when the twin-engine plane, a Cessna 402B, exploded on impact just 200 feet beyond the end of a runway at Marsh Harbour International Airport on Abaco Island at 6:45 p.m. A ninth individual was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami with serious injuries. While the cause of the crash is still to be jointly investigated by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Civil Aviation Department of the Bahamas, airport workers it is reported, said the plane was overloaded with luggage and equipment that the group did not want left behind.

The news put me in my own personal tailspin not because I was an active fan of work, but because it forced me to reflect on my own life and priorities. I am a procrastinator, guilty of not taking full advantage of all that my life now holds. If you are like me, you may have also deferred experiences or opportunities for one or some variation of these reasons: I will get to it when I am thinner, have more money, have a better job, meet the right mate, my child is older, I get a bigger house, a better car. . . Life as we have it now just never seems to be enough for us to truly enjoy the moment.

At only 22 Aaliyah had accomplished much in the entertainment industry. She released her first album, "Age Ain't Nothing But Number," in 1994; "One In a Million" in 1996 and her third "Aaliyah" in July. She added motion picture actress to her resume when she co-starred in the Y2K action flick "Romeo Must Die" with martial arts expert Jet Li. She also has the lead in the film adaptation of the Anne Rice novel "Queen of the Damned" and joined the Keanu Reaves et al for the "The Matrix 2." Both films are scheduled to be released in 2002.

Another creative voice has been silenced too soon. But as nature proves the dead can nourish new life. The key now is for us the living to wake up from our inertia and boldly add our voice to the mix today because tomorrow offers no guarantees.

To comment on this or any other article email editor@metroconnection.info.

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