The man MJ is dead. What's the meaning? This is a time where I would rather be asking myself if I want to live in a world without the man that made me want to learn how to sing, the man that made me moonwalk and break-dance, the man that made me want to knife fight in an abandoned parking lot... the man that made me believe that I could seduce Naomi Camble. Instead of being able to morn this event selfishly I have to look at his passing through the eyes of disgust.
Think about it...every celebrity that can reach a mic or a tv camera is singing the praises of "the king of pop" and every channel wants to be the first to laud this "pioneer." We are singing his praises to the high heavens and this is an enduring and ubiquitous phenomenon. WHY? The last ten years of his life were consumed with ridicule, all manners of vultures trying to poach his success and an American fan base forced to appreciate him from the shadows.
He was never convicted of any crime yet his name became synonymous with child molestation, he was the most successful entertainer of all time and we forgot about him. He led, he gave of himself and his wealth and we forgot about him. He showed much of the world their first black man who wasn't talkin that jive turkey stuff... and we forgot him.
When we talked about black shame we remembered him. When we talked about loosing our gender identity we remembered then blamed him. When we talk about black people we rather forget we remembered him.
I'll say it here, Michael Jackson was martyred. He reached the zenith of his world and realized his dream while making it look easy. Instead of basking in his success from a provincial ivory tower he continued to urge not only Black people but all people to better themselves from a black perspective. Think about some of his singles, "Heal the World" "Man in the Mirror" and "Earth Song" to name a few. He gave us his all as long as he could and when he started to break, where were we? Where were they? We ridiculed him we mocked and tore him down. The saddest part may be that in doing so, we tore ourselves down. MJ may have been the last generations Malcolm X if someone could have prevented his decline. Think about the pressure of being the best of the best as a child, a teenager a young man, a man, always getting better always improving never needing to. He was his only competition and he was a fierce competitor so of course he hated himself, he had to.
We were pawns of the machine that cast doubt upon all the great Black men that this country has ever known and we took it hook, line and sinker. When was the last time you heard someone in a group of mixed company say, "I think MJ is 100% innocent."?
I derived many of my social, ecological and psychological values from the power of his music and expression. I even based some of my masculine ideals off of MJ's ability to smack a dude up and take his girl when necessary.
Think about it...every celebrity that can reach a mic or a tv camera is singing the praises of "the king of pop" and every channel wants to be the first to laud this "pioneer." We are singing his praises to the high heavens and this is an enduring and ubiquitous phenomenon. WHY? The last ten years of his life were consumed with ridicule, all manners of vultures trying to poach his success and an American fan base forced to appreciate him from the shadows.
He was never convicted of any crime yet his name became synonymous with child molestation, he was the most successful entertainer of all time and we forgot about him. He led, he gave of himself and his wealth and we forgot about him. He showed much of the world their first black man who wasn't talkin that jive turkey stuff... and we forgot him.
When we talked about black shame we remembered him. When we talked about loosing our gender identity we remembered then blamed him. When we talk about black people we rather forget we remembered him.
I'll say it here, Michael Jackson was martyred. He reached the zenith of his world and realized his dream while making it look easy. Instead of basking in his success from a provincial ivory tower he continued to urge not only Black people but all people to better themselves from a black perspective. Think about some of his singles, "Heal the World" "Man in the Mirror" and "Earth Song" to name a few. He gave us his all as long as he could and when he started to break, where were we? Where were they? We ridiculed him we mocked and tore him down. The saddest part may be that in doing so, we tore ourselves down. MJ may have been the last generations Malcolm X if someone could have prevented his decline. Think about the pressure of being the best of the best as a child, a teenager a young man, a man, always getting better always improving never needing to. He was his only competition and he was a fierce competitor so of course he hated himself, he had to.
We were pawns of the machine that cast doubt upon all the great Black men that this country has ever known and we took it hook, line and sinker. When was the last time you heard someone in a group of mixed company say, "I think MJ is 100% innocent."?
I derived many of my social, ecological and psychological values from the power of his music and expression. I even based some of my masculine ideals off of MJ's ability to smack a dude up and take his girl when necessary.
