A coworker came by my desk to give me the news.
Hey Peacemaker, have you heard?
Heard what?
Farrah Fawcett died today.
Oh yeah, I heard about it a little while ago when I was listening to NPR.
So did you hear the other part?
The other part? What’s that?
Michael Jackson had a heart attack and stopped breathing.
Over Farrah Fawcett???
And then I noticed other people in the office were having their own version of the same conversation in the cubes nearby and throughout the office. Michael Jackson was dead. Farrah picked a hell of a day to kick the bucket. The last thing a self important person like Ms. Fawcett needed was to be upstaged by the death of Michael Jackson. I went back to work.
It might be sad to say but I really could not care any less. Michael Jackson was the very worst example of a black person who really hated being black. While most self hating black people would be content to simply say that they have transcended race, Michael Jackson was the one black person that actually decided to do something about it. Michael Jackson stared at the man in the mirror and decided he didn’t like what he saw enough to buy a new white skin tone, a keen nose that stayed on his face most of the time, thin lips, and a drippy jerry curl to exorcise the kinkiness of his natural hair and eventually just had it permed straight and long. This was not a person happy about being black or who wanted to embrace his blackness. Mr. Jackson ran from being black in front of the entire world to see. Being black was much too painful for him to live with.
What is sad for me is that I loved Michael Jackson just as much as anyone else. Who didn’t? Who didn’t love to hear Michael Jackson sing? And I’m sure there were people who didn’t, but to hell with them. Everybody knew this was a seriously talented young black boy. The dude was crooning like a troubadour at five years old. Who shows that kind of natural talent just months after kicking their diapers to the curb? What was there not to like and admire? No doubt the boy was singing about things he truly didn’t understand. But his voice was so strong, so controlled, with such a good range, and so full of emotion that he could give you the impression that he knew exactly what he was singing about when he was singing songs like Got To Be There and Mama’s Pearl and I’ll Be There.
When Michael broke the stranglehold grip of Berry Gordy and Motown, he truly hit the stratosphere of stardom. Off the Wall, produced under the talented tutelage of Quincy Jones and released under the Epic label, was a phenomenal success for a debut album. And although the cracks were beginning to form in his blackness, his Motown roots were shining through. The songs were soulful modern interpretations of the songs Michael Jackson grew up singing with his brothers. And we all would be talking about Off the Wall to this day if it wasn’t for the even more spectacular success of his follow up album Thriller. Thriller broke just about every record when it was released. But by now Michael’s true colors began to show and black was not one of them.
On a daily basis Michael Jackson got weirder and weirder. And his music started to suffer as well. You use to be able to sing to a Michael Jackson tune. You could snap your fingers and bob your head as you sang Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough or Rock With You. But I couldn’t sing some of his latest stuff if you held a gun to my head. Michael stopped making the kind of music you wanted to hear and focused on the kind of music that had to be performed with a killer iconic dance move. For sure Michael Jackson’s name is associated with some of the most famous dance moves of all time. Everybody remembers the moonwalk and the robot associated with the song Dancing Machine. Everybody liked to see him spin in place like an ice skater doing a pirouette. But the new music began to take a backseat to the new dance moves on the stage and the songs became impossible to simply listen to or sing with over the radio.
The music that made Michael Jackson famous evaporated along with his blackness. The new hybrid Michael Jackson that looked more like a scarecrow from a Japanese anime and his accompanying music could never compete with the older version. And instead of being content to let his greatness lie in the past the King of Pop kept trying to recreate a new phenomenon based on superficial glitz and glamour instead of what really drove his initial success, the raw talent and the music.
Yes it is sad to hear that Michael Jackson died. But the fact of the matter is that to me, the Michael Jackson I came to know and love died a long time ago. The caricature that took the talented Michael Jackson’s place has finally died as well. Maybe in his death he’ll get the peace he appeared to never have had in life. I will miss the Michael Jackson I fell in love with. I will miss the Michael Jackson that I thought I could identify with as an obvious member of the black community. However, I will confess that I will not miss the man that became better known as the King of Pop.
Rest in peace Michael Jackson.
I agree with you.He was a very toubled man. I am surprised that he lasted this long.
I had already seen this coming. When I heard the news about his death yesterday, I decided not to listen or watch.It made me sad and a bit angry. I had to get a grip of myself.
It is only today I was able read more about it and watch the news.
Watching all this outpouring of love when the person who died was obviously suffering and crying out for help when they were alive is something I just cannot understand.
It is sad that Michael Jackson was loved by so many people and not one of them was able to help him.
I was not able to relate to the new and transformed Michael.
I preferred the adorable talented little boy and then the young man up to when he was still black.
When he started to change his image, he lost me.
It was even more sad to see how he used a white donor to impregnate a white woman, his wife , and then called the offsprings his children.
Michael did not even love and cherish his own genes.Michael was very proud of having full blooded white children.
I can tell you that Michael Jackson has been used mockingly as an example by many racists to say that many black people hate being black.
Michael Jackson represented the quintessential self loathing in a black person.
But the God of Creation loves us with all our faults.
May God grant Michael Jackson the perfect peace and love.
Saludos,
Ana
Before there was MJ, there was Bert Williams.
http://hnn.us/roundup/58.html#95026
MICHAEL WAS SO CUTE WHEN HE WAS JUST A BLACK BOY. I CANT IMAGINE THATHE CHANGED HIMSEELF INTO SOMEONE I DIDN’T KNOW. I HOPE HE DID LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND SAW WHATHE DID TO HIMSELF.
Michael jackson did not hate his race he didnt he had a disease called vitiligo before you go off talking he did not love his race do some research and then reply on what you thing dont just go off saying he didnt like his race and Michael Jackson is the same inside he may of chaged on the out side but he is still Michael Joe Jackson in the inside
I have family members who have suffered with vitiligo. It never made anyone I know of go completely white. It never straightened their hair, keened their nose, deflated their lips, put a cleft in anyone’s chin, or resulted in white children. I have seen vitiligo happen and so I fail to understand how it can explain Mr. Jackson’s appearance. If you would be so kind as to provide a reputable source of your own research then I may be convinced to see a different perspective. But until then, I must admit that I find the idea that a skin disease can explain away Mr. Jackson’s behavior is rather ridiculous.
Peace
I am a full blooded African young woman and I love MJ for the person he was…a creation of God. He was a truobled man who had issues with so many things that everyone goes through luckily he had money…which most who have issues dont.
The whole vitiligo thing is a joke…i mean please people…
I could say a lot about this topic but the truth is MJ ( bless his soul) was a lost cause who hated being black.
I heard during his last years he was regretting what he did to himself and how he had insulted God and became the first and only person in history to openly defy the design of the Lord.
It is said he would cry whenever he saw the likes of Omar Epps.50 Cent ,Jammie foxx.Kobie Bryant and Obama.
he was a truobled man…but who doesnt have troubles in this world…hope the Lord recognizes his white soul.
Need i say more.
I have the disorder vitiligo. I can’t change that, even though my skin has change hues. One day it jus was there, and bit by bit it creeps all over my body. With this disorder you do look in the mirror, for longtime and u don’t cry ever time. But still…you wonder.
Black is/was Beautiful, and when I started to change it was a very difficult time. And Michael had it no different! Just because my skin changed hues it didn’t change the essence of me. I was still me. Also still a Black American! In the same regard I believe Michael was still him. Identity of self is an ongoing process. We should be empathic to all in its throws.
I LOVED Michael Jackson growing up as a little black girl in America. I was convinced that we would marry someday
….like many little girls I suppose.
And I continued to enjoy his music after the drastic physical transformation, even though I understood the metamorphosis represented that sentiment that I find intolerable among those of my race who hate themselves. As he lost his pigment so did I lose that special connection that I felt for Michael Jackson for so many years.
The author of this article is right that his music lost something after Thriller, the album where he last appeared black.
But I still loved to see him perform. All the while wishing God would help him wake up from his twisted funk about being black and black people.
He never did. And that is why he left this planet so early.
Strangely, this may have been God’s way of using Michael as a tragic example and cautionary tale for generations to come of what not to do.
He was broke. He was physically mutilated. Had he lived to see old age, he would have been an even scarier sight to witness after all the surgeries.
May you rest in peace Michael Jackson. I hope your eyes are finally opened in the after life.
GOD BLESS YOU MICHAEL JACKSON!!
I will not comment on anything Michael did in his life, because who am I to talk or judge him?
I am sure he hurt every time he saw some comedian on tv making fun of him.
And I also think giving him a tribute in death is being hypercritical!!
why not in life when he would have enjoy it?
instead of hating him and making fun of all his surgeries and him wanting to be white. Really who cares? was he hurting anyone of us???
God bless you Michael!!
Michael Jackson was great and is a legend, he obviously had personal issues to deal but so do a lot of other people even if it is not so obvious .I don’t know whether he had Vitiligo or not , but people should try not to be ignorant , just because Vitiligo is rare and you have never come across it does not mean it does not exist. and just because you may have come across with someone with vitiligo does not mean they are the definition of it , vitiligo varies , the way I have mild asthma and my cousin has severe asthma.
when it comes to hair ,A lot of male artist in the 40s ,50s and 60s permed their hair . in the 80s they got Jeri curls . A lot of women have their hair straighten it is not because they hate themselves its just because its a trend that they are used to, its fASHION, A personally think it is a bad trend,I am going of topic but lord knows I love the look of afros, and feel it is a shame that other races are aloud to wear their hair natural but we cant because it’s “unmanageable” as if god made a mistake on us, Bring back the AFRO. Anyway s I think a person that concentrates on negative stuff when a person dies it reflects badly of them THOU SHALL NOT JUDGE. He did not kill or harm any. Michael Jackson is in the Guinness book of records for giving the most amount of money to charity, he also has given the most amount to the united fund for Negros .From when michael jackson was light to white he still worked with black people and had black people in his videos throught out his career such as, whoopi goldberg,eddie murphy , Naiomi Campbell,Michael Jordan, Chris Tucker, Iman and so many more. he had a black nanny for 10 years , a black doctor. and who else knows how many other black staff .He wants his children raised by either his mother or Diana Ross, two black women.The last people that I have heard him working with where akon and neyo, I seriously doubt he hated being black that much. Berry gordy said in an interview that he does have vitiligo in an interview , so has other celebrities as well as a doctor. Not that it proves he does have it, but try not to be ignorant . I can’t recall him ever saying anything negative about black people or disrespecting us. As far as plastic surgery, a lot of black stars have had their nose jobs and other surgeries, its sad but im sure someone like janet jackson properly regrets the decision now and properly wished she never done it, I know when i was younger I wanted to get surgery if I had the means to do it then I properly would of done it then, knowing better now and being more secure I would never do anything to alter my look or body .White people do not own narrow noses, all races do, including black people so I do not see desiring a narrow nose as strictly as wanting to be white.
Michael Jackson evolved and made his music current as well as versatile, His music transcended all races and all ages . Yes I would prefer he still had his beautiful black skin, And I would of preferred his children coming out looking like they have a bit of pre thriller Michael Jackson, That is my biggest issue over everything else that his children seem to be a 100% white and he has convinced himself that he is the biological father or feels he has to lie and thinks the world is completely stupid . Whether he had vitiligo or not or had 30 operations done to his face ,or if he really did not like being black, then he obviously had the wrong family, firends and just people in general around him, no one bothered to tell him that his beautiful or to stop what his doing, or forced him to seek medical help, lets not forget that his father constantly made fun of his nose and the way he looked, made michael call him by his name name instead of dad,His dad allegedly abused him, look at his comments about Michael on BET and the news he does not come across as someone that is distraught over losing a son ,when he refers to his son as a great entertainer and nothing more and was not even personal with his comments it makes you think. is it any wonder he ended up the way he did, he did not have a normal upbringing, His dad exploited him and he saw him and his brothers as money making machines, so I am not going to prosecute him for what he may have or may not have done because there are by far worst crimes.
Michael Jackson was extremely talented , he wrote most of his songs , which is rare nowadays for artist, actually choreographed most of the moves you see in his videos and and performances . Changed the music video .was a natural dancer a great singer. 100% original. A Humanitarian that really cared about people . It is a shame that people just tried to exploit, ridicule and damage his career, It obviously did not work , Look at they way he sold 50 dates in hours in London , look at the reactions of MJ death and coverage of Michael Jackson all over the world .I AM talking from a UK perspective I don’t know about America, I’m only 20 but besides princess diana I have never seen a reaction over somebody’s death like this before.
Whether you like it or not he his the most influential and most successful BLACK artist we have to date .His been holding that best selling album for 29 years now, it is impossible for anyone to beat it.I love when black people are breaking records and coming on top whatever profession. and he has influenced a variety of artists that I like so I have to give him credit .
His bodyguard of ten year was on the news saying he had a girlfriend for the past months and he had known her for some time in different capacitys but would not say who it is and that the family know about her ,another bodyguard of Michael jackson said in the newspaper it was his BLACK nanny that was he office assistant who latter became his nanny for 10 years , it maybe a rumour but you never know
Michael was the best entertainer no one even comes close and no one will ever come close , just respect that
I agree with you Eliza, completely! It’s hard to counter-argue these truths.
Michael Jackson would be revered without as many questions to his credibility if his skin wasn’t the thing that changed. Facial features aren’t white or black. Rhinoplasty is one of the most common procedures in the states and (minus the vitiligo) if Michael was trying to reach “white” ideals, then so are the majority of white folks themselves (the main recipients of said surgeries).
The only thing I can’t defend are his children…but, I don’t condemn it either (I don’t know any facts concerning it and really to me he IS their father since he raised them). I’m more disappointed with the fact that we’ll never get to see the beauty that probably would result if Michael had actually procreated.
Sorry, but although you have a right to your opinion, Michael Jackson did not hate being black. Mike knew exactly who and what he was, a back man.
It is bothersome that so many black folks like to spread rumors that they know nothing about. You write him off as being nothing.
Do you know how many Black people that Michael helped in his short lifetime?
Do you know how many other races of human beings he helped? Even now in his will he has left 20% of his wealth to charities to help other people!
It was not all about the music for Mike, it was about reaching out to others.
One fault he had was trusting and being too good to others, and unfortunately he learned that lesson too late. Even then, still he rose!
Mike had some issues about himself, but not wanting to be a black man was not one of them. Mike had Vitiligo. It was spreading rapidly and causing large shiny white spots all over his body. You may have seen him with make up on to cover and fill in the white spots. What he went through was hell for him personally with his skin condition.
We are so quick to condemn when we have not walked one mile in his shoes.
The man is dead!
Let him rest in peace~
Sorry, but although you have your opinion and want to deny the obvious, Michael Jackson withdrew from being black and the black community like a vampire withdraws from the sun. What is bothersome are black people who cling so strongly to self delusions about people who could not care any less about the black community. I don’t think I can recall writing him off as nothing. Another one of your opinions. I must confess that I don’t know who Michael Jackson has helped or how much he has given to the black community or anyone else. The subject of the article is Michael Jackson’s relationship with his own black community. The idea that Michael Jackson spent his life selflessly giving to others is a more than just a bit farfetched. It is bothersome that so many black people want to use his condition of vitiligo to justify his love of plastic surgery. It is not rare and is quite common. So many black people are quick to condemn anything that might enlighten them from their stupor. It’s like the Matrix and nobody is willing to tear down the facade built around us. The man is dead. He was just a man. And contrary to what people might believe he was not a saint. People should really grow up and stop trying to make excuses for him.
Peace
@brotherpeacemaker, if you watched Michael’s interviews from as early as 1987, for example, a great video interview he did with Ebony/Jet for the Bad album, you will see that Michael was far from being ashamed of being black.
He said it in numerous interviews that he is black and proud of where he comes from.
What Quincy Jones and other two-faced people are saying against him is disgusting when people like Quincy don’t practice what they preach by putting black girls on their arm.
At least Michael kept it real in most of his music videos and had women of colour.
He had a skin disease, he is deeply misunderstood and a credit to our race.
PS/ No one is making excuses for him! He deserves praise and criticism. He’s a human being.
But what he doesn’t deserve is people making their opinions based on misinformation. He had a skin disease. Vitiligo is NO JOKE.
Aulelia,
And if I said I was a millionaire wouldn’t make me one. Being black and proud is more than just saying so. I’ve seen Michael Jackson in interviews from two decades ago. I have also seen glimpses of his life from two months ago as well. And you are very correct, he deserves praise and criticism.
I have had family members and friends with vitiligo. Of course it’s no joke. No one said it was. And it’s no excuse either. A skin disease doesn’t change your hair, lips, eyes, nose, chin, or drive a black man to marry only white women or have only white children.
People are entitled to their praise of Michael Jackson if that is how they wish to remember him. I am entitled to my criticism. You have criticism of Quincy Jones for not having a black woman on his arm. I find this criticism interesting considering Mr. Jackson didn’t have a black woman on his arm either and yet you appear to defend him. Mr. Jones has made numerous contributions to the world of music and deserves praise and criticism as well. What human isn’t? However you wish to formulate your opinion you are entitled.
Peace
@brotherpeacemaker, my criticism for Quincy Jones comes from his hypocrisy over Michael’s vitiligo. He’s more than happy to make disparaging comments about how ”white” Michael’s kids are — pot, kettle, BLACK anyone?
Anyhoo, Michael has contributed enormously to music as well.
I just think it is important to look deeper at the issue because it is always easy to slag people off without finding out why they did certain things.
And for the record, Michael did date a black woman called Stephanie Mills. That’s one more than Quincy ever did in his life.
I don’t have anything against Jones. He’s contributed a lot — but the way he talked smack about Michael so soon after his death and admitted in the Men’s Style interview that he never confronted him over his vitiligo made me lose a great deal of respect for him.
I’m not saying you have to like Michael or respect him whatever. My issue is people saying he was ashamed of being black, when it is clear that he was not.
Aulelia,
Michael Jackson’s kids are white. From what I understand, there is some doubt that Mr. Jackson is the biological father. and a great deal of suspicion that Mr. Jackson wanted white children, and had the money to get them. No, there is no proof that Mr. Jones ever dated a black woman, but he did raise children who look like they are a product of a black man’s genes.
While you may call his affinity for the black community clear, I say it is as clear as mud. Yes Mr. Jackson said he was proud of his blackness twenty years ago and may have dated Stephanie Mills for a hot minute. But that was also back at a time he had an afro and strong black facial features common to his Jackson family brothers and sisters. Since then, Mr. Jackson voluntarily made some serious changes in his appearance and his black loving lifestyle. More recently, he looked more white than his original blackness, dated and married white women, and raised what some suspect are all white children void of his own black genes.
But none of this means anything because twenty years ago he said he was proud of being black and dated a black girl. The depth of his love for the black community is very clear indeed.
Peace
I’m shocked by all of this- wow. Who knows how any one of us would melt in the public eye, given a fragile, shy foundation to start with? Vitiligo didn’t make Jackson white. It made him patchy. Black makeup only works so well. Re-pigmentation doesn’t work, so most people choose de-pigmentation to even things out.
Add to this the beginning of the surgical obsession. Jackson went practically bald during the Pepsi fire, and he had to have reconstructive surgery on his SCALP AND FACE. What would this do to a man’s esteem, when he is the world’s sex symbol, to become a bald dalmation with a plastic head?
Add to that the fact that vitiligo is an immune disease, that he also had lupus, a serious immunity condition, and related fallout illnesses. Jackson told us over and over that he had these conditions. But no one was listening. We were so busy judging a man by the colour of his skin.
“I’m not gonna spend my life being a colour.”
Maybe you wouldn’t melt down? Add to that the most heinous allegations just because people don’t understand why you look like a freak…and the end would be nigh for anyone.
Shame on all of you.
My god! What was I thinking? I guess we aren’t qualified to be passing judgment on Michael Jackson. Thank you for judging us as shameful and showing us the error of our ways.
The last time I checked, the vast majority of black people in America are under some kind of pressure. And yes we all handle it differently. But the pressures we face shouldn’t be seen as an excuse to play the “get out of being black” card. I’m under pressures too. It doesn’t stop people from calling me shameful.
I think it’s pretty shameful when black people make excuses for black people who obviously don’t want to be black any more.
Peace
@thegirlwhocanwrite, you better preach because you were 100% correct.
I was defending Michael because the man was under ridiculous amount of pressure.
I think Michael did the best he could and did not receive from the world the compassion we all want from others. Deepa Chokra says that he had a lot of shame and psychological problems in addition to his physical problems (lupus, vitiligo – Chokra says there is a study that links these immune system diseases to child abuse). I hope we all stop for a minute and just feel pure compassion and love for him. Despite his problems, the “jacko” label (I could scream at those who say that word), his isolation due to the persecution from the mediocre media (to say the least), he was an extraordinary artist, he was a humanitarian, read poetry (Sufi poetry according to Chokra), got married, and had three children who adore him. That is a fighter!!! and deserves our respect. I am a latin woman and being latin or being black is not just a color or an accent. It is an energy. Michael always had the black energy, a flowing energy, alive an beautiful. And he was unique, he was Michael and no matter what, we all know that he will be remembered with a smile.
Rumina, I like how you defined one’s cultural self as “an energy.”
Who ever mentioned the resurgance of the Afro, I agree.
I must say that after nearly two months since Michael’s death, I am still sadden. I enjoyed his music. “Rock with you” is my joint. I still have the full album. No doubt, he was the greatest entertainer ever. I don’t think that this will ever change. But I am so disappointed that he, like so many black male celebs don’t have wives that look like their mothers. But tragically, we don’t really know what sistahs look like today. So maybe instead of getting real black women, they choose the oringinal version of the women that sistahs try to duplicate. My father told me this. bigups daddy!!!
Anyway Michael, being the largest star ever, makes me mad to know that he paid for “those children.” I’m sorry for the way he thought about himself. The Brotha was gorgeous!!!
Seriously, the entire Jackson family was beautiful at one point. I guess hollywood definitely changes people. And papa Joe was not a good example (from what we have been told).
Remembering the Jacksons were the first black, pop, teen superstars allows me to understand that it must have been difficult to navigate the white world of Hollywood (false). I’m sure he wanted to fit in like all of us at one point wanted to.
In Michael’s attempt to find love from his fans, we put him in the circus and allowed him to further isolate himself. he didn’t now who to trust. I read that he was afraid of the roaring crowd of fans when he wasn’t on stage. Vintiligo and lupus must have messed him up. Thus, his most current looks.
I wish that he would have known real love with a real Sistah!
Nothing against other races, but you have got to understand the black collective experience in the Americas. Not playing the victim, just realizing the truth.
In death from this life
RIP MICHAEL
It is my hope that by now more people know the real truth about Michael Jackson. Truth he continued to speak about himself and what he believed until he was worn down and silenced in the end by his ignorant detractors.
Here’s what he said publicly [paraphrased] and I believe what he says about himself. You can find it all on YouTube.
I’m proud of being black and I’m honored of it
I have a skin disorder called vitiligo; it’s in the family
I love people of all races
I’m not gay
I’m not a pedophile
I will be found innocent of these charges
I love my children
I love my family
I put my heart into my music
I’m thankful for my talent
I’m honored that the fans love what I do
I love my fans from the bottom of my heart
And he said much, much more.
Pray God forgiveness for those who — like me through ignorance — had believed the lies about Michel Jackson.
He was just beloved beyond belief, regardless of his very human flaws, because no matter, he gave all that he had to give.
“I’m not gonna spend my life being a color”
Especially if that color’s black!
There are many “colored” (non-white) people who suffer from virtiligo. This disease never turns the entire skin completely white because it only affects patches of the skin .
Any dermatologist can prepare the right makeup foundation to make the skin especially the face appears as if there is no problem.
There are latinos,blacks, Asians, Native Americans, whites, East Indians, Arabs and people of every ethnic group who suffer from virtiligo.
With the exception of whites of Nordic stock(this is not the same for dark skinned whites ) , it is hardly noticeable.
Most non- whites and dark skinned whites suffering from virtiligo apply make up and cover the white patchy areas affected. Their entire skin does not turn white overnight.
Saludos,
Ana
Only God will judge us all. Michael Joseph Jackson lived HIS life, what we written for him. He loved us, we loved him and now he sits with GOD.
We are all but human. hear your heart and let him Rest In Peace.
I will always love you Michael, and my heart is with your children,your family and with YOU always.
xxxxx
To me is pretty simple. Obviously he had vitiligo (and Deepa Chokra confirmed that). But hello!!!! He was a performer!!! If he wanted to continue performing he had to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. His dermatologist said to Larry King that because of the type of vitiligo he had, he did not have other choice than to become white – words from the dermatologist!!!
He could have hide and never perform again. I am very glad he continued because he was so amazing.
He did the best he could under the circumstances and I am sure he loved the fact that he was black. I hear that from Spike Lee and Stevie Wonder who loves him very much.
Peace on earth and all of us should celebrate him and thank him and treasure him.