Michael, Diana, John and Yoko

we were most definitely peaceful, happy, loving ... content.

we were most definitely peaceful, happy, loving ... content. and we still can be...everything, anything is possible. xoxoxoxox

I was struck by the spiritual aspect of the MJ memorial. Eleven thousand souls in the Staple Center being as quiet, reflecttive and respectful as can be. They had come to praise God and the God was Michael Jackson. The God that lives in him. The same God that lives in all of us. We are spirit beings living a human experience.

Michael Jackson through his powerful music, through the content of his poetry and his amazing example of caring about the least of these in our world showed us what it is to be in touch with our inner, child-like, loving, giving spirit selves.

For that fleeting moment he showed us that We Are The World. We are a single spirit unified with the universe.

The beat of those spiritual teachers, who have gone too soon, goes on...Martin, Malcolm, Bobby, JFK, Gandhi, Diana, John, Jesus, Michael Jackson.

The beat goes on.

 "If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later years, the sterile preoccupations with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength."

 I can't listen to the song "Smile" without thinking of the countless commercials it's been used in.  Chaplin  (coincidently the second most famous person to be accused of child molestations) wasn't savy when it came to holding onto licensing for commercials; and, it was Michael Jackson who quickly released his Beatles catalog  to the likes of NIKE.   And speaking of commercials, who made the most famous one for 'Pepsi?"  Yep.  Michael and Jermaine (with all the brothers).  They re-wrote the lyrics for "Beat It" and "Billy Jean" to tell us we were "the Pepsi Generation."  For years Michael Jackson accepted big bucks to be a living commercial for Disneyland and the Disney Corporation.  So please tell me the Jackson connection to Peace?

Well of course I feel the way you do about Consumerism.  Corporate sponsorship has led to impactlessness in the arts.  We have gigantic institutions here in New York that have disappeared from our communities, and yet they have their massive momentum inside their gray pillared buildings, taking advertising money from corporations to continue, but utterly depoliticized. 

These five people I mention did seek money and fame, but were clearly beyond the control of their investors.  Don't call Charlie Chaplin a child molester - he was hounded by puritans in the way that Americans have used the Scarlet Letter to chase away the Lenny Bruces in their midst.  Like Michael, he combined wealth and innocence.  He welcomed people through his door who were soon on the phone to the lawyer.  

Of these five, only Diana was not taken to court in cases that were ultimately dismissed but were a hell for the accused.  Her minders may have felt that the paparazzi were adequate to the job.

Siema the relish you bring to your easy cynicism...  Well, I'm trying to honor brave public figures who worked for Peace.  Pursuing the end of violence had a child-like quality in their lives, and the same thing that made it possible for them to defend Peace so bravely may have left them vulnerable to us.

I wouldnt characterize Siemas comments as cynical; what she describes is factual. Singing 'We are the World' and whatnot does not qualify MJ as a peace worker. Perhaps you can answer Siemas question more directly, and tell us why you believe MJ was an agent of peace? It seems to me that while MJ was super talented, he was debauched and spent extravagent amounts of money on himself.
While saying he was a living commercial may be a bit harsh, he obviously embraced commercial culture and profited from it. True, he did some good things in his life, but giving away a few hundred thousand dollars every year when you are a near-billionaire seems less like charity and more like a PR stunt.

 I never called Charlie Chaplain a child molester!  I would think (though I am not certain) that those 15 and 16 year old girls and their families knew what they were getting (marrying) into.  Beside, Charlie Chaplain was heterosexual; and, in our culture heterosexual men do not often face the same kind of criticism a gay or transgender person would face when dating a teen.  The fact that the two most famous men in Hollywood to be accused of child molestation would share the same song is merely coincidence, or irony, perhaps. Charlie Chaplain was (in my opinion) a genius.  Michael Jackson was a great entertainer.  Diana had her charities, but she was hardly a "Peace radical".  Lennon, on the other hand, promoted peace. Yes, Lennon imagined!

Go and hug your “Michael” by Maya Angelou…

Yesterday I cried watching the Michael Jackson memorial. I cried for a little black boy who felt the world didn't understand him. I cried for a little black boy who spent his adulthood chasing his childhood. And I thought about all the young black boys out there who may too feel that the world doesn't understand them. The ones who feel that the world does not understand their baggy jeans, their swagger, their music, their anger, their struggles, their fears or the chip on their shoulder. I worry that my son, may too, one day will feel lonely in a wide, wide world. I cried for the young children of all colors who may live their life feeling like a misfit, feeling like no one understands their perspective, or their soul. What a burden to carry.

As a mother, I cried for Katherine Jackson because no mother should ever bury a child. Period. And I think about all the pain, tears and sleepless nights that she must have endured seeing her baby boy in inner pain, seeing him struggle with his self-esteem, and his insecurities and to know he often felt unloved even while the world loved him deeply. How does it feel to think that the unconditional love we give as mothers just isn't enough to make our children feel whole? I wonder if she still suffers thinking, "what more could I have done?" Even moms of music legends aren't immune to mommy guilt, I suppose.

When Rev.. Al Sharpton ("who always delivers one" awesome "funeral speech") said to Michael's children, "Your daddy was not strange...It was strange what your Daddy had to deal with," I thought of all the "strange" things of the world that my children will have to deal with. Better yet, the things I hope they won't ever have to deal with anymore.

And as a mother raising a young black boy, I feel recommitted and yet a little confused as to how to make sure my son is sure enough within himself to take on the world. Especially a "strange" one. To love himself enough to know that even when the world doesn't understand you, tries to force you into its mold or treats you unkindly, you are still beautiful, strong and Black. How do I do that?

Today, I am taking back "childhood" as an inalienable right for every brown little one. In a world, that makes children into booty shaking, mini-adults long before their time, I'm reclaiming the playful, innocent, run-around-outside, childhood as the key ingredient in raising confident adults. Second, I will not rest until my little black boy, MY Michael, knows that his broad nose is beautiful, his chocolately brown skin is beautiful, and his thick hair is beautiful.

And nothing or no one can ever take that away from him.

"Now aint we bad? And ain't we black? And ain't we fine?
---Maya Angelou

Great article.  Great tribute to some amazing musicians. I've been thinking about using MJ music as background music in bowling how to videos.

we were most definitely peaceful, happy, loving ... content. and we still can be...everything, anything is possible. xoxoxoxox

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