By Dianna Hobbs // Opinion // EEW Magazine Online

When I learned from my EEW Magazine Online team that legendary gospel vocalist, Vickie Winans, has become the latest viral butt of an Internet joke for singing while hoarse – and during Black Music Month no less — I thought, now, wait!

Where is the respect?

Social media, which has emboldened a generation to disrespect our elders that deserve our love and reverence, has struck again – this time zoning in on the Stellar Award-winner’s performance of the classic hit, “Safe in His Arms.”

In fairness, those laughing at the 30-second clip likely did not know that Winans, 68, had undergone two vocal surgeries and was returning to ministry after more than a year of being sidelined by the pandemic.

According to Winans’ response post, her voice doctor was “livid” over her decision to place strain on her vocal cords. She was put on “speech and vocal therapy,” but explained, “there is no permanent damage.”

Winans, known as the "hardest working woman in gospel music” and one of the genre's most beloved figures, is soliciting our prayers and is thankfully expected to make a full recovery.

The social media chatter surrounding this multiple award-winning trailblazer is a stark reminder that public figures receiving public ridicule is par for the course. Even so, we can collectively work to normalize public respect for those that have positively influenced the world and paved the way for the next generation.

This is me doing my part.

I had the honor of meeting the producer, director, songwriter, actress and comedian for the first time in 2011, when I was scheduled to interview her for EEW Magazine in her backstage dressing room at Kleinhans Music Hall in my hometown of Buffalo, NY.

Perched on a bright orange sofa, wearing a Black sequined suit, she flashed her megawatt smile. At the time, Winans was preparing to take the stage for a holiday performance which I stayed to enjoy. Her set featured side-splitting anecdotes, tear-jerking stories and of course, her melodious vocals. After watching her in action, I was impressed by her ability to connect with and uplift an audience. Anyone who can carry a large group of people from being doubled over in laughter, to wiping away emotional tears, to sending up praise to God in the span of five minutes has an undeniable gift.

That year, Winans was everywhere, performing 200 shows per year and gushing about her 13,000+ followers on Twitter – now more than 100,000 – that called her “Aunt Vickie.” She was intentional about cultivating loving relationships with members of her social media family which makes the cruelty she is now experiencing online sad and ironic.

Winans, the seventh of twelve children, was raised in Detroit, MI, by her late parents, Aaron and Mattie Bowman. Her father, who worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, taught his daughter diligence. Remarkably, Winans told me during our exclusive sit-down that she manages and books herself without the help of a management team – something that taught me, a then up-and-coming, 36-year-old journalist and web publisher, that it is possible to do more with less.

She mentored me in that interview without even knowing it.

One of the most impactful moments during our conversation – that felt more like two friends laughing than an interviewer and interviewee preparing a story – came when Winans got emotional.

“For years, I flunked one test,” she said, speaking metaphorically. “And one day, finally, I made up in my mind that I’m not flunking this test no more. It brought so many tears, so many hurtful days. I’m getting welled up just talking about it.”

As she fought back the waterworks, with a quiver in her voice, she continued, “One day, I finally got my cap and gown of life and walked across the stage, and I got my diploma rolled up in a scroll. I released what people think. I don’t care anymore.”

Winans’ figurative graduation from CWPSU, Care What People Say University, is especially useful today.

As folks are currently laughing at this beautiful woman on social media, her words resonate with me even more. She said, “When I cared what people thought about me, they kept me crying. And when you don’t care, they can’t hurt your feelings. I don’t care about comments. They can say what they want to say. I let my ways please the Lord and let the chips fall where they may. And that’s why I’m so happy.”

In 2011, as I sat gazing up at her on stage, our dressing room conversation lingered in my mind.

“I don’t have a college education,” she told me, as she revealed that her parents did not have money for that. “None of our brothers and sisters have a college education. They just couldn’t afford it. And so, they told us, y’all get everything y’all gonna learn, y’all get it in the free school, honey!”

More than a decade later, as I watch from a distance, preparing to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of EEW Magazine next month, a memory came back to me.

After our team published my article about Winans in 2011, she found me on my (now defunct) Twitter page, told me my words brought her to tears, and publicly expressed her deep gratitude for the feature. I saw her humility and understood the reason for her longevity and greatness.

Vickie Winans will always have my respect.

Rather than laughing at her, we should be learning from her and expressing our appreciation for the gift that “Aunt Vickie” has given to the gospel community, to Black entrepreneurs, to independent recording artists, and to millions of people globally who have been reached and refreshed by her ministry.

She is a legend. The blueprint. And I love to hear her sing – hoarse or not – any day of the week. If you’re reading this article, find her on social media, and say something kind. We must do better by our elders and give them their flowers.

Dianna Hobbs is President and Founder of EEW Magazine. The award-winning online publication geared toward Black Christian women was founded in 2007. Follow Dianna on Facebook.