Money Doesn't Matter to God!

A lot of people have asked the question why was Jennifer Hudson's family still living in the "hood" after she'd "hit-it-big"? "She's Rich!" some have said. Sometimes when we see people on television we automatically assume that their pockets match the lifestyle it seems they're living. While Jennifer has done a lot in a short period of time. I'm not quite ready to say she's rich or even in a position to support her entire family. Yeah, she's graced the covers of several national magazines, appeared in two blockbuster movies, won an Oscar, has an album at the top of the charts and has even made the gossip mags, (we all know that's the TRUE tell-tale sign that you've hit the big leagues), but is she rolling in dough? No! Although Jennifer has done a lot and we've seen her everywhere when you do the math she really hasn’t made a substantial amount of money. Her Academy Award winning role in Dreamgirls didn't pay well by Hollywood standards and was a labor of love for the A-listers involved. Heck Jamie Foxx initially turned down his role in the film because of the salary and only took the role after Eddie Murphy and Beyonce had signed on. As SJP's assistant, her role in the Sex in the City movie amounted to an extended cameo. Although it paid well, she certainly wasn't rich off it! Her debut CD just dropped a month ago, hardly enough time to reap benefits from it. She is essentially a new artist who's capitalized on some great opportunities. But lets face it she isn't making million's...yet! Some still argue that "she'd made enough to have moved her family by now." How do we know she hadn't offered? Her mother, sister, brother, and nephew, all had their own thoughts and feelings about where THEY wanted to live. Maybe they didn't want to move from the neighborhood they'd called home for years. Maybe her mother felt it was better to hold on to a house she owned rather than move into a house that Jennifer would be financially responsible for, (entertainment is a fickle business). They might've relished their "regular" lives in the "hood" amongst their neighbors, friends, and family. After all, it was the one place that Jennifer said "kept her grounded." There, she was not Jennifer Hudson, the celebrity, with a makeup artist, stylist, hairdresser and assistant, but rather Jennifer Hudson, Jason and Julia's lil sister, Aunt to Julian, who cooked her own breakfast, washed dishes, and played with her nephew. Fellow Chicagoan Kanye West said recently that he wonders "if he and his mother had not moved to Hollywood if she would be alive today?" Many celeb parents and siblings shun Hollywood or change in their personal lives and continue to live as they had before their relative "made it ". If you ask me all the speculating about what Jennifer's money shoulda, woulda, and coulda bought serves only to inadvertently place blame where there is none. This crime should never have happened!!! But Jennifer's money couldn't have prevented it anymore than living in a wealthy exclusive enclave prevented the murders of actress Sharon Tate and her friends who were killed at her home in the Hollywood Hills. No one can "avoid" the will of God and as hard as this is to accept it is the will of God. I just hope that Jennifer and her sister can find the strength to accept his will and move forward. God Bless!
~d-the-vip