Most people have an icon. That's someone who is their personal walking, talking, living picture of greatness. Maybe you have a singer, entertainer, actor who you think is the absolute best at what they do. This person could be great in one of those areas, but if he or she covers multiple areas, they start to reach icon status. Sure...Will Smith was a good rapper, but when he added TV and movies, he hit icon status. Oprah was doing big things on TV, but when she added movies and books, she hit icon status.
But sometimes, those icons don't always keep the squeaky clean image. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was a great preacher and became the greatest Civil Rights Leader of all time. But when I found out he had extramarital affairs, it was hard to hold him in the same esteem. Jay-Z is one of the greatest hip hop artists of all time...but I was disappointed when I found out he cheated on Beyonce'. Nas could be mentioned in the same breath of great hip hop artists. But when his ex-wife Kelis came out saying that he was physically abusive, I felt pained. After all of the rape allegations levied against him, I had to realize that there's a big difference between Heathcliff Huxtable and Bill Cosby.
The cover was cracked. The shine was smeared. The perfect profile was penetrated. All of these great men that I held in high regard were knocked off their pedestal.
What I'm not going to do is talk about how Bill can be convicted on word of mouth with no physical evidence while there are black men being killed by police officers with video evidence who go home to their families. I won't talk about how Dr. King has done more for this country than some Presidents. I won't even talk about how Nas and Jay-Z have changed the music and entertainment industry. But what I will talk about is what we can do when someone we look up to falls.
Remember that no one is perfect - there was only one perfect person to walk the earth. Anyone that you're putting on a pedestal is going to fall short.
Remember Jesus - the same perfect person that walked the earth is still perfect and still changing lives.
Remember your faults - sometimes when we see other's mistakes we forget our own.
Trust me, I was HURT when all this went down. But those three points helped me get over the fall of the icons.