The pioneering media mogul, Don Cornelius,75, was found dead in his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home Wednesday morning. He was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at 4:56 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
As host of Soul Train, Don Cornelius invited the world to a multicultural dance party and introduced his audience to new talent that would become legendary R&B stars e.g., Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, James Brown, Jerry Butler, and Marvin Gaye,.
As a teen in Chicago, I watched Dick Clark's American Bandstand from Philadelphia every afternoon when I came home from school. I knew the names of all the young white couples, e.g., Arlene and Kenny or Justine and Bob. I even got the chance to appear on the local Chicago version hosted by Jim Lonsberry. But, nothing prepared the public for the gyrations and fashion style of the Soul Train dancers that Don Cornelius presented. Even in 2011, my family has watched tapes from old "Soul Train" episodes, enjoying the dancing and chuckling a bit at the fashion.
