#aaliyah.com

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August 25th, 2022 ✨🕊 A beautiful poem written by Rashad Haughton, posted via Aaliyah.com ❤️

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Aaliyah (w/ Damon Dash) during the "Jay-Z Gives Back to His Community for Mother's Day" event at New City Bar & Grill in Brooklyn, New York, Saturday May 12, 2001

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Aaliyah by David LaChapelle

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A Very Special Poem Dedication titled “Tower” by Rashad Haughton: Tower The many were once as one By way of mind and tongue Hands intertwined Reached out for heaven Atop a thing that was built When it fell upon itself The words descended Upon cold earth and became Brittle, colorless and crumbled Beneath our feet …

Aaliyah’s birthday tribute via Aaliyah.com

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August 29th 2001 The Aaliyah Memorial Fund was established. The Aaliyah Memorial Fund was created as a vehicle whereby her fans, friends and family can contribute to and support causes that Aaliyah found important {to continue to reach out and give to others}. Charities such as: Hofstra University {the University Rashad attended}, American Heart Association, Harlem Breast Cancer Center, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and many more....

To donate to the fund....

Aaliyah Memorial Fund 888c 8th Ave #502 New York, NY 10019

For more information, please visit: http://www.aaliyah.com/memorial-fund/

With Aaliyah, Keeth, Christopher, Eric, Doug, Gina, Scott, Anthony and Luis In Our Hearts!

{credit: http://www.mtv.com/news/1448510/aaliyah-memorial-fund-established/}

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Rashad Haughton’s Sibling Chivalry: The Story of Aaliyah’s Perfect Love

Written by Rashad Haughton 

(As featured in the Official Aaliyah.com 2005 Calendar)

As clouds of despair threaten to engulf our world during the aftermath of September 11th, human hope is something that I believe is diminishing everyday. A few weeks before that fateful day, I lost my beloved sister Aaliyah in a plane accident; and more than ever my faith was tested. I went to the brink of losing all hope as well. Nevertheless, as I was about to give up, I realised that the life and love that we shared was a gift that could still live on through me - that did not have to be lost. That affirmation gave me new hope and I want to share that possibility with the world. Aaliyah realised her dreams and wanted me to do the same. 

Aaliyah was more than a young female R&B/Hip Hop singer. She was a dancer, an actress, an artist, a daughter and a little sister. Throughout her career she set trends, broke boundaries, and opened doors in the entertainment industry that far surpassed the expectations of one so young. What is so impressive is that while making these accomplishments, Aaliyah maintained an integrity and humility that most people cannot grasp in every day life, let alone in the public eye. There are countless instances of how she connected with her fans. It was mind boggling to see how well she handled a crowd. As far back as I can remember, no matter how many eager fans surrounded her, she never turned down a picture or an autograph. Nonetheless, Aaliyah was more than just a congenial celebrity - she was much more. To understand, one must start from the beginning. 

As a young boy I sat on the sidelines and watched my sister’s amazing talent develop from singing nursery rhymes at age three to singing on stage at the Academy Awards. The evolution she underwent was amazing, and my mother, father, and I evolved with her. We all worked together as a unit, and we all experienced the grandeur of every moment: For when she sang we all sang, and that was a gift. 

I believe Aaliyah’s life was destined to be special. From the day she was born in Brooklyn, she scurried around the carpeted floor of the brownstone entertaining my family with a charismatic smile and already beautiful coos and cries. Accordingly, it is not a far-fetched reality that she would go on to record three multi-platinum albums, several platinum soundtracks, and star in the major motion pictures Romeo Must Die and Queen of The Damned; including landing a role in the Matrix sequels along with 4 other film projects. My mother and father always believed that Aaliyah and I could do anything we dreamed of doing, and if one believes hard enough, dreams come true.  

Although many perceive show-business as a fantastic glamour-filled lifestyle, they do not understand that there is equal peril and hardship at the other end of the spectrum. In all walks of life obstacles may not be avoided, and there is a necessity to overcome them in order to reach your goals. 

Aaliyah’s story is a modern day fairytale. It is the story of a young girl who wanted to sing her heart out to the world and simply make people happy with her art. It is the story of a family that embarks on a journey that will change them forever, and all those who loved her. It is the story of how we can be whatever we dream - thus so can the world. 

[aaliyahalways]

Aaliyah.com

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On This Day (May 27th 2015) Rashad responds to a fellow Aaliyah fan to “hold this L” lol. 😄

At this time, 2015 was still a trying time for Aaliyah fans.

After much petitioning by the fans, MAC makeup wasn't released until 2018, 

Aaliyah APP also started up in 2018 (which is garbage IMO and ONLY caters to fans with Apple/IPhone). 

Fans didn’t get a WAX figure until 2019, 

There was NO MUSIC in sight until 2021, 

...and the only official pages online at that time (2015) was the main Aaliyah.com website and a Twitter account (with tweets as far back as January 2010); the IG and FB page have start up posts that only go as far back as October 2017.

The “official” youtube channel was deemed FAN ran and didn’t officially become “official” until 2021. 

.. and many high followership fan-pages even came forward that the estate reached out to them to take over their already established fan-page I guess to give the illusion they’ve always been around or because the Estate didn’t want to start from the ground up -- Can you imagine going to an OFFCIAL blue checkmark page that only has 1K followers? Background 2.0 wasn’t scared and they started from the ground up and right now today they have roughly 15K followers since 2021. 

  Fans were just overall frustrated that they were the only ones keeping her memory alive, starting petitions and overall banning together to get things done – however the family was also frustrated in their own way that they were very limited in what power and abilities they could control with regards to her image (and music).

  With all this said, do you think Aaliyah fans were too harsh and demanding towards the family? Or do you think Rashad was out of line and rude to a fan who was just asking a simple question? ... and, do you think there is still much work to be done for Aaliyah's legacy or do you think the family has done enough?

Leave your thoughts...