The question of why Don Cornelius took his own life in February may never be answered, but the TV and music icon’s son is spearheading a campaign of suicide awareness to prevent others from experiencing the same type of loss that befell him.
The result is the Don Cornelius Foundation, an organization that “not only concentrates on suicide awareness but it also focuses on providing information to people who are in need.”
“This is a huge, huge issue and it’s an issue that has a veil of shame over it. People are still very uncomfortable with who’s talking about suicide, Tony Cornelius said in a recent interview. “Breast cancer at one time was something that was under the table. Women didn’t want to discuss it. AIDS was something that was under the table. No one wanted to discuss it. I mean I think this is an opportunity to bring this to the surface.”
The creation of the foundation comes months after the suicide of Don Cornelius. Tony Cornelius admits to coping with his father’s passing on a day-to-day basis.
“I have good days and I have bad days. I was very, very close to my father. We talked every day. We had a good father and son relationship,” he said. “When I say a good father and son relationship, I mean we covered the gambit. Sometimes we were upset with each other. Many times we were very happy with each other. So I mean that’s life and that’s family. I’m doing fine. I’m doing really well.”
Although the desire to create the foundation was automatic, Cornelius revealed his motivation for quickly forging ahead with the idea came from a legendary source.
“Actually, this idea to move forward as quickly as possible really came from Stevie Wonder,” the activist staid. “I had a conversation with Stevie some three or four days after my father’s death and (he) suggested to me that I do something about it and life is worth living.
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article courtesy of BlackAmericaWeb.com
