AS WE MOURN!

Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, both dead the same weekend; does anybody out there still need proof of the vanity of life? Both icons just gone and forever; all their fame and wealth not enough to ward off their deaths? According to the reports, Bernie Mac was fanatically pleading with doctors treating him not to let him die as he does not want to die. Regrettably, he forgot that doctors do not create life and hence cannot stop its taking! Bernie Mac died Saturday August 9th, 2008 at the age of 50years from complications of pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital. Bernie Mac, prior to contracting the pneumonia infection that eventually killed him, suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs.

A day after Bernie Mac died, another black entertainment icon Isaac Hayes aka Black Moses also died, August 10th 2008, at age 65years in Memphis, Tennessee. Relatives found his unconscious body in his home next to a still-running treadmill suggestive that he may have died following a work-out from possibly a pulmonary embolism (heart-attack) or of a stroke of the brain related causes; an autopsy will eventually reveal the cause of death. Arriving paramedics tried in vain to revive him through CPR (cardiac pulmonary resuscitation aka mouth to mouth) and later took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m. Isaac Hayes embodied everything that is soul music, blazing into the scene forcefully with a theme song for the 1971 movie "Shaft" titled "Theme from Shaft," which made him an instant pop music's icon.

Anyway the world, especially the black American community will miss both men sorely! As we mourn both deaths - Bernie for being such a terrific comedian and Isaac for giving the world plenty of soul riveting ballads, Icheoku says rest in peace both of you- your journey of life has now come a full circle. Adieu!