Bishop Eddie Long dead at 63

Goodnight, Sweet Prince...and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

 

Wow, y'all ain't even pretending to be sad. SMH For those that believe in God, he gone get CA real good.

 

Can't speak for Nick and Ock, obviously, but I think the whole situation is sad.

In August, Ock wrote:
"Regardless if it is or isn't, you know how many Black men / Black gay men get ill or die from causes that aren't HIV/AIDs related?

Sad this is still the mental go to default illness when a Black man appears or becomes ill."

I'm not casting aspersions but the while hush hush nature of his demise makes me wonder if he had an AIDS related illness. Pretending that it was dieting then finally cryptically acknowledging illness at the end.

Religion fucks up peoples' heads in maturely dealing with life and death. Compare the duplicitous foolishness behind Long and family in relaying his condition with that of gay neurologist Oliver Sacks (played by Robin Williams in "Awakenings"). Sacks knew he had a terminal illness and strived to give his readers and followers a blow by blow account of his status even as it progressed, so that they might learn what someone with his illness experiences to better understand. Scientifically fascinating and emotionally moving as opposed to usual puerile church foolishness of avoidance, regret and denial:
Oliver Sacks: My Periodic Table

 

Tis the black 'way'. If it aint about the lord Jesus bringing u a miracle, keep it in the closet. It's perfectly ok that uncle Joe is touchin lil Tanya n Tyrell...cus we're black.

 

Reminds us that though we have come a long way in regards to dealing with AIDS (assuming that is the case here) since the early days of the epidemic when so many simply disappeared to all but those who knew them, when people did not speak of the illness, there is still a long way to go.
I agree with @Rico in his general point that people do not deal with death forthrightly. I recall that when I returned to my home after my father died, I ran into a friend who asked where I'd been. I said that my father had died. He replied, he did not die, he passed. No, I said, he died. I was pissed. I did not need the euphemism - that was his problem, not mine. It was 25 years ago and I still hold on to the anger.

 

Despite anything else he did, his death is sort of tragic-he either died of AIDS/AIDS related thing, or some cancer that probably could have been caught early-but wasn't. Men often overlook getting needed checkups, exams, routine checks for things like colon cancer, prostate cancer, high blood pressure, etc. as they get older. I wonder if one of the reasons that older married men live longer is because they have wives to nag them into getting these needed things done.

Lesson being-watch out for your health, sexual and otherwise. RIP.

 

At least for my generation, those of us who survived the first decade of the epidemic, I have noticed that we pay more attention not just to our health, but also to the health of our friends. We became much more conscious of how others were doing both physically and mentally, and also more willing to say something if we were concerned. It may well be true for younger men and women as well, but it did mark a noticeable change in our behavior.

@ColumbusGuy final lesson is right on - watch out for your health!

 

Like most things with me, I had to learn the lessons the hard way. And most of us are single as well-that is just the way it is. For many of us, nobody is going to look out for our health except us-ourselves, and anyone who has someone, whether it be a partner, friends, family, etc. who is also looking out for their health, should feel grateful for that-they are blessed for having that.

Gay men are at higher risk for a number of health issues, some of that related to stress, lifestyle, higher rates of substance abuse and depression/anxiety. For gay black men, I would imagine the stresses and risks are even higher-having to deal with racism and homophobia, being a double minority, having a double burden heaped on. Take care of yourselves.

 

Sad that he's gone. And it's unfortunate that he won't be remembered by most as a respectful and honorable pastor. The only thing I'll say is this: don't let your personal life affect your professional life. God bless that man soul though.