I have Tammye Nash to thank for reminding me about this video.
R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius takes on the subject of bullying and suicide in her video for “Far Away” from her album Late Nights & Early Mornings, which came out in March. The song is actually the second single from the album that debuted in late December. The video garnered much attention because even with the topic of suicide, the video depicts the issues affecting an African-American gay couple, an image hardly seen in music videos by non-gay artists. The video premiered back in January.
The video ends with a message by Ambrosius that relates her to the topic and strives for an end to bullying. But one person sees it differently. Blogger Sandra Rose figures that kids don’t commit suicide because they are bullied, but for deeper reasons.
Gay teens are not committing suicide because they are the targets of homophobic bullying; they are committing suicide due to their undiagnosed mental issues (depression being one of them).
If, as Marsha suggests, society succeeded in eliminating homophobic bullying, the suicide rate among gay teens would stay the same. That’s because the core issue (depression) is not being addressed properly.
Interesting point. What do you think?
As for the video below, just think of this more as an “in case you missed it” post.
