For tons of Whitney Houston fans, August 9 was definitely a bittersweet day. It would have been Whitney’s 55th birthday. But despite her tragic death, her spirit and legacy will live on. In fact, one of the highlights of the day centered on Starbucks’ tribute to the late, legendary singer. For those who missed it, Starbucks paid homage to Whitney in honor of her birthday and fans, everywhere, have applauded the coffeehouse chain for makin’ Whitney’s day even more special.

8,500 Starbucks Locations:

If you walked into Starbucks on Thursday, August 9, 2018, you may have noticed the beautiful sound of Whitney Houston’s voice playing. Song after song, 8,500 Starbucks locations across the United States played Whitney’s music all day long in honor of her 55th birthday. On Wednesday, August 8, a special announcement was posted to Whitney Houston’s official Instagram page. It has been reported that the playlist consisted of 55 Whitney Houston hits including, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “I Will Always Love You,” and the “Greatest Love of All.” The playlist was created by Whitney’s former music director Rickey Minor.

With an iconic photo of Whitney, the caption included details about the special playlist for her big day. The post read, “We are excited and honored to announce that in honor of what would have been Whitney’s 55th birthday (tomorrow, August 9) our friends at @Starbucks will be playing her music in 8,500 of their stores across the United States throughout the day with a special playlist of 55 songs assembled by @RickeyMinor, Whitney’s former music director!! Visit Starbucks tomorrow and help us honor Whitney’s birthday!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmOUf4tHwrB

To hear Whitney’s Spotify playlist, click here.

An Interesting Day At Starbucks:

Starbucks definitely turned a lot of heads with the beautiful gesture and fans took to social media with comments about the tribute. Many have thanked Starbucks for paying homage to Whitney in such a creative way. In fact, some even admitted they were drawn to Starbucks just to hear Whitney’s voice. “Thank you @Starbucks for playing Whitney Houston music while I get my third coffee of the day,” one fan said via Twitter. Another fan wrote, “I came to Starbucks to read some plays and they’re blasting Whitney Houston and giving away free caramel macchiatos, I am LIVING.”

https://twitter.com/XoAnnaFoti/status/1027675010004078592

The first thing I witnessed when I walked into Starbucks was a woman lip-syncing to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” whilst she applied chapstick. My new life-goal is to live every moment with as much verve as that woman.

— Kenny Youch (@kennyyouch) August 6, 2018

I’m sitting outside a Starbucks where Whitney Houston is blasting & it smells like donair.

Life is good. pic.twitter.com/NlsP9bZxEA

— Lindsay Bissett (@LindsayBissett) August 11, 2018

Others noted just how different the vibe was with Whitney’s voice blaring in the background. To most fans, it made their day so much better. “The first thing I witnessed when I walked into Starbucks was a woman lip-syncing to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” whilst she applied chapstick. My new life goal is to live every moment with as much verve as that woman.”

And The Beat Goes On:

Although Whitney’s birthday was August 9, apparently, the party is still going, because social media users from different cities all over the U.S., have revealed quite a few Starbucks locations are still blaring Whitney’s music, days after her birthday.

This Starbucks is playing all Whitney Houston songs and I completely approve. Happy Saturday ☺️

— ree (@reee_suhh) August 11, 2018

https://twitter.com/AmonteMartin/status/1028337230610354176

https://twitter.com/Cater2Liz/status/1028273943705206785

But for others, the day was still a bittersweet reminder of the fact that Whitney is really gone. “The Starbucks I’m in is currently playing Whitney Houston songs (It’s her birthday, yall) and I’m tryna keep my face together. Lawd. The effects her music had on me growing up can’t be overstated. She left an amazing body of work. May she rest in peace.”

In honor of Whitney’s birthday, many celebrities also took to social media to wish the late singer a happy birthday. Mariah Carey, Kelly Price, Ledisi, Missy Elliot and a few others all reflected on their relationships with Whitney.

https://twitter.com/MissyElliott/status/1027531777513062400

This was definitely a cool attempt to make up for that racist disaster the chain experienced thanks to the hiring (and probably the firing) of that one ex-employee who had two Black male college students arrested for sitting in Starbucks. But I digress. Nonetheless, cool points earned by Starbucks for the Whitney salute. Happy belated birthday to Whitney “Nippy” Houston!

The post Fans Applaud Starbucks For How They Paid Homage To Whitney Houston On Her Birthday appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

As most of us have heard by now, two young Black men were sitting in Starbucks, minding their own business, when all of a sudden they found themselves handcuffed and taken to the Philly police station. As they were handcuffed, for seemingly doing nothing other than being enriched with an abundance of melanin, even the White customers were confused, pissed off, and questioning the cops about why they were arresting those young brothas.

https://twitter.com/missydepino/status/984539713016094721

Watch John Witherspoon’s Response To Starbucks

Check out what Witherspoon had to say about this below.

What Starbucks Is Doing To Right Their Wrongs

Can’t believe I’m saying this, following such outright racist actions that were taken at that Philly Starbucks location, but I gotta give it to the corporation, they seem to be steppin’ up appropriately…so far. Now, if that changes, I’ll definitely be calling them out on it. However, based on the the swift actions Starbucks has taken, to attempt to right their wrongs, they at least deserve a C+. That C+ grade will only be bumped up after Starbucks proves it’s consistency in un-biasing any further biased employees’ actions going forward.

H&M could have learned a lil’ something from what Starbucks is doing. Or maybe, Starbucks learned a thing or two from H&M, about what NOT to do amid a racial conflict involving their brand. It’s only been about a week since those two brothas were arrested for simply sitting in a Philly Starbucks, waiting for their friend -the exact same thing millions of White people have done on the regular. But already, the corporation has taken a slew of actions to try to resolve the matter.

https://www.facebook.com/GoodMorningAmerica/videos/vb.59306617060/10155575576302061/?type=2&theater

First came an official wack apology from Starbucks on the following day after the incident. Then after gathering further info about the fiasco, they got to the gist of the matter and the new CEO, Kevin Johnson- who just started his new position on April 1, 2018- stepped in the line of fire to apologize to the men publicly and also privately. As protestors bombarded the Philly Starbucks, where a whopping SIX cops showed up to arrest the 2 Black men for doing absolutely nothing, Johnson went to Philly, where he interviewed with “Good Morning America” and further apologized for the Starbucks’ manager’s actions.

Soon after CEO Johnson’s interview, word surfaced that the Starbucks manager who called the cops on those men was no longer with the company.

To put the cherry on top Starbucks then announced that it will be closing 8000 of their locations to put employees through extensive ‘racial bias training,’ to ensure that what happened to those two brothas never happens again.

In addition to their current actions, Starbucks does have a history of speaking out against racism. Also, the former longtime CEO was a supported of Pres. Obama and has openly bashed Donald Trump on more than one occasion. In January 2017, when Trump issued an executive order, banning immigrants from the U.S., former Starbucks CEO defiantly vowed to hire 10,000 refugees within the next 5 years for their Starbucks locations worldwide. None of that justifies their employee’s racist action, but just a lil’ random food for thought.

What’s Missing From Starbucks’ Solutions:

2 black men arrested at Starbucks get an apology from police https://t.co/1pJqeJkLxV

— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) April 19, 2018

Only TWO things missing from these ‘resolutions’:
1. What about the SIX officers who used horrible and seemingly equally racially biased judgement when they decided to arrest the innocent Black men.? They need to be penalized a ‘racial biased’ trained too.

2. A HEFTY COMPENSATION for the humiliation and degradation that Starbuck’s manager caused the two men on that fateful day in Philly. If they are NOT compensated well for their troubles, then I’m with John Witherspoon when he says they should definitely sue the brakes of ’em.

The post John Witherspoon Has Very Choice Words For Starbucks & Their Racial Bias Employee Training Plan appeared first on I Love Old School Music.