The Purple Rain Reign
I’ll never forget wanting to watch Purple Rain and my mom not letting me because I was too young! So, like the little curious bee I was, I snuck and watched it one day while she was at work. Though I had to cover my eyes on a lot of parts, I absolutely loved it! I believe this was the moment I recognized who Prince was and why he was the Prince. The Prince of Music, Prince of fashion, but the King of Shade. His talent, the fashion statement he made whenever he stepped out, and his facial expressions are all things that I will personally miss. My all time favorite song is When Doves Cry and it will be on repeat for the next week–maybe month! Prince is a true legend and will definitely be missed! — Erikka
When Time Stood Still
I remember the first time I watched Purple Rain. It really hit home for me because I grew up in the projects and I’ve seen domestic violence and alcoholism, and it was just like, Wow, this is something different to see on film. I could understand some of the things Prince’s character was going through. I didn’t know how much of the story was true in regard to Prince’s real life, but you can very much relate to the story and how what your parents did or how your father treated you can affect how you treat women and things of that nature.
What I also liked about the movie was the message. And every time I watched it, as I got older, the movie meant something different to me, I got a different message from it. Any time Purple Rain comes on now–I don’t care how many times I’ve seen it–I’ll watch it.
I can remember where I was and what I was doing when TMZ broke the news that Michael Jackson had died. I was thinking, This is not life. Y’all play too much. And I just sat there and watched it unfold. And then Whitney Houston dies and I’m like, Really, though? And so with Prince, I was literally in the middle of an activation. I’m working, I’m going like usual, and Fonzworth Bentley comes to the stage and says, “Y’all … breaking news. TMZ just reported that Prince has died.” And a hush just fell over the room. We were in the student center at Hampton University and a hush just fell over everybody.
And so here I am, still not believing what I’m hearing and I’m thinking to myself, Until another news organization confirms this, it ain’t real. So I’m on Twitter trying to refresh and refresh, and no one is confirming it yet. Remember when we used to have to wait until the five o’clock news to find stuff out? Or you’d be watching your stories and then a breaking news bulletin would come up on the screen? Now we get our news from social media.
So I’m still thinking that someone is playing a bad joke and I just keep refreshing and refreshing and refreshing. I just stood there, I couldn’t even move. And finally another organization confirmed it and I was heartbroken.
–Aniesia
(Page 3 of 4)
