Casa Atabex Aché - House of Womyn's Power

Remembering Whitney: The Stigmatization of WOC & Addiction

This past weekend, the beautiful and talented Whitney Houston died suddenly. The immediate news shocked the world, drawing warm memories of remembrance muddled with the shaming of her addictions.

It has been interesting to see how many media outlets praise her illustrious voice & career while also highlighting her well-known struggles with addiction and ongoing attempts at sobriety. In many ways, Whitney Houston’s presence as a well-loved superstar is still marred by her reality as a woman of color suffering from addiction. 

Her death begs the question of what our society is doing for women of color struggling with addiction?

Society ultimately continues to ignore the huge disparities that women of color face while also failing to recognize that our existing models of health and treatment fail to support brown bodies towards holistic well-being.

The deep seated issues of trauma and abuse that drive many women of color to addiction will be ignored as our society will continue to believe Whitney simply should have chosen not to be an addict. Her weaknesses and her vulnerability like many women of color will not be acknowledged. 

Despite this, Whitney’s amazing presence and energy will live on in spite of the current and ongoing negativity. And hopefully, her death will act as a wake- up call to support the hundreds and hundreds of women of color battling their addictions on a daily basis all around us.