Sep 02 2010
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Sunrise
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This is when I fell in love with Michael. I was 12. It wasn’t sexual at all because I knew nothing of that much at the time. It was just pure love, some other kind of ecstasy. That voice! That VOICE! And that charm, such a poised young gentlemen. When I see sunlight streaming through the leaves in the treetops in the morning like veils of sheer golden satin – that’s what Michael’s voice reminds me of. Pure beauty and light. That’s him. Angel. Always was. Always will be.
Sep 01 2010
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Dear Michael - The Eyes of Innocence
Yes. I truly believe that. A cacophony of events leading up to and surrounding Michael’s birthday brought all this together for me and I can make that statement with a great deal of certainty, judging by what I’ve seen regarding the way he was treated in his life, and by what I still see now in the current political, legal, and social landscape.
Besides Michael’s impending birthday, there were other things swirling around, which mixed current political events with our nation’s civil rights history in some very untoward, abusive, disingenuous, putrid, and sneaky ways. It made me realize how very little has changed when it comes to true racial equality and the civil rights movement.
First, there was Glenn Beck and the Tea Party’s rather daft attempt at “reclaiming the civil rights movement” on August 28th, the day before Michael’s birthday. Now, Beck claims he didn’t know that this was the 47th anniversary of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Once he found out he stated that his intent then was to “reclaim” the movement – a movement that he and the Tea Party initially had absolutely nothing to do with (thus “reclaiming” it is daft) and which we are very much not done with, thankyouverymuch. No, Mr. Beck you may not have it and you will not have it. Whether Beck knew or did not know that August 28th was such an anniversary, his ignorance and arrogance is astounding but nonetheless befitting a well-to-do white mouthpiece for a racist movement fomenting the kind of ignorance, hatred and division we’d hoped to be done with by this time in our history – and which Michael Jackson fought against all his life.
I share below a quote from another article about another anniversary on August 28th which many people are not aware of:
What people have not recognized is that Dr. King’s 1963 speech itself fell on another significant anniversary–the August 28, 1955 lynching of Mother Mobley’s son, Emmett Till, who was accused of whistling at a white woman on his visit with relatives in the Mississippi Delta.
. . .
Eight years ago, I visited her on the anniversary of Emmett’s lynching. I brought flowers because, well, it just seemed like the right thing to do. She was despondent and told me that people always called her on the 28th of August. They would say, “You know what day this is, don’t you?” And she looked at me deeply with eyes that long ago had run out of tears and said, “I don’t need reminders. I can never forget this day.”
She would want us to remember, too. Not just the event. But its meaning.
That is why Mother Mobley, a Chicago teacher who mined her grief for a mission in life, would see Saturday’s collision of symbols as a teachable moment. She understood the politics of difference, the politics of place. As an African American whose family had barely escaped Southern atrocities, she recognized the potential pushback when you stepped out of place. Like whistling at a white woman. Or living in the White House.
So she would see parallels between then and now. She could interpret the code, the messages of hate and racism that get embedded in the vocabulary of patriotism. Years ago, she tuned into what we all now recognize, in the parlance of Politico.com, as “dog whistle politics,” that perfect pitch of the rabid right.
-SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-benson/beckapalooza-tramples-on-_b_696715.html
Second, there are the Koch Brothers. These two very rich white guys are major funders of the Tea Party movement, though they don’t like it when their names are mentioned or seen in connection with it. Judging by the blatantly racist signs we’ve seen them waving at their rallys, I guess I don’t blame them for wanting to keep their support a secret. They have been by far one of Obama’s biggest detractors on virtually every issue, having waged a veritable political war against him since he took office. They covertly fund various think tanks such as Americans for Prosperity and the Cato Institute and many others, though their names are difficult if not impossible to find in connection with those organizations – and that is just the way they like it. These guys own oil companies, carpet manufacturers, paper towel brands, and many other corporate interests. Much like the Carlyle Group – they are one of the most influential owners and controllers of our society and political discourse you’ve never heard of. They’ve paid for busses to bus people to Tea Party events such as the one last Saturday, and one of the Koch brothers himself spoke at Beck’s rally along with Americans for Prosperity’s President Tim Phillips. Much more detail on these guys, their background, their covert political tentacles, and their modus operandi can be found here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=all
Third, I watched in horror as Mr. Alan Simpson of the “Deficit Reduction Commission” railed nastily about Social Security and those who depend on the program. His remarks were cruel, ignorant, and sociopathic – and very typical of an out-of-touch well-cared-for politician who will never have to depend on the program for survival. What was worse than what this guy said was what didn’t happen after he said it. It took less than 24 hours for Shirley Sherrod to be ousted from her job within that administration – no questions asked – based upon a chopped-up, taken out-of-context YouTube video created by a notorious racist which was meant to frame and target Ms. Sherrod (and whom she is now rightfully suing). But Mr. Simpson got to keep his job – no questions asked. Racism? Sexism? Or just “politics“? Hmmm…
Fourth, various stories I picked up on during the week: An article I read recently in an independent paper talks about ‘backlash‘ – that seeing a black man in the White House is something that some people simply cannot take. I think there’s a lot to that, unfortunately.
Another story I got wind of was one where a Muslim man helped save some of his neighbors after Katrina in New Orleans. His “reward” for his kindness to his neighbors was being targeted by police, arrested for no reason other than being Muslim, being accused of being a terrorist and working with Al Queda, being put in prison for no reason other than he was Muslim, and denied communication with his wife and children the entire time.
This is just exactly the kind of ignorance, hatred, and fear Michael railed against, sang against, and fought against all his life.
We must learn to live and to love each other before it’s too late. We have to stop the prejudice, we have to stop the hating, we have to stop living in fear of our own neighbors.
-Michael Jackson
And lastly, while threats against a newly elected president usually increase right after an election, Barack Obama was the first black president ever elected. Because of that and because racism is still rampant in the United States, the threats against newly-elected President Obama spiked a shocking %400 percent or so. This is unprecedented in the history of the United States. Anyone harboring the idea that just because we managed to elect a black President, that racism is over, or that things have even improved that much, had better think again. This very obviously is far from the truth.
While there were other factors such as individual and corporate greed, typical corporate parasitism and abuse, and sheer competition for power and money, the destruction of Michael Jackson and his life is also tied inextricably into all this racist mess, past and present. Michael married Elvis’s daughter – a white woman. Emmett Till whistled at a white woman. Both were destroyed – lynched for it (and for other reasons too, in Michael’s particular case of unforgivable blackness).
Emmett Till
Michael Jackson was lynched because he had the talent, money and power to change the world and he tried. He was lynched because he not only whistled at a white woman, he married one – the daughter of a white rock-and-roll icon no less. He was lynched because he had the audacity to buy and own white iconic group The Beatles, and own half of $ony. He was lynched because he had the integrity, the power, the money, the magnetism and the following to change this world and he tried. And those who benefit most from the status quo – those who profit so handsomely from the hatred, ignorance, division, and from the parasitic greed under which we live – weren’t going to have any part of that being changed – especially by some black man who can sing and dance. And as soon as Michel started noticeably selling records singing and dancing in the 1970s, they started on him. And the more famous and rich and powerful he became, the worse the abuse and attempts at control and/or destruction became.
All Michael Jackson was ever ‘guilty‘ of was ‘Unforgivable Blackness‘, of having unprecedented talent, a heart bigger than he was, an innocent mind, and an astute knowledge and unwavering focus on his purpose here on Earth. They didn’t lynch Michael Jackson with a noose but he was damn well lynched nonetheless.
The powers that be which benefit mightily from the status-quo, from things staying just as they are, weren’t going to have any part of allowing him any of this without a fight – without making him pay for what he’d done and was trying to do; for what they saw and evidently still see as an affront to white power and social, political, legal, and economic domination in this society. Thus, the the edict was simply: Destroy Him. And so they did. Our political, legal, propaganda (media), capitalist, and social system was brought to destroy Michael Jackson emotionally, spiritually, professionally, and economically. They can’t use rope anymore or hang them from a tree. Now, they simply use different means to lynch black men these days – and some white people too if they get too close to the truth and/or have too much power to change things from the status quo.
The strange fruit still hangs from the trees in the garden of hatred, division, ignorance and greed. Not that much has changed, except the methods they use.
Martin Luther King’s dream is not realized yet. NO — Glenn Beck, you cannot “reclaim” the civil rights movement because you or this “Tea Party” were never part of it to start with, and because we are not done with it yet! The dream hasn’t yet materialized. Far, far from it.
There is so much work yet to be done. This backlash is backwards and that’s where these pitiable hungry ghosts want to go: Backwards. They want to reverse what little forward progress has been made on this issue, and as we can see it’s much less than we might wish, and much less than we might think.
If MLK’s dream had been realized, Michael Jackson might have been alive today to celebrate his 52nd birthday with his beautiful children. But it hasn’t. And just like Emmett Till, Michael Jackson was lynched – for whistling at a white woman, and then marrying her. The marriage was defined as “fake” and a “publicity stunt” by the largely white-owned and controlled media, which could not deal with the fact that a white woman and a black man could actually love one another in a romantic sense. And just as significantly, it fed their ratings and profits to print and broadcast negative stories about Michael. The fact that he was black just made it that much easier.
Oh yes, they still lynch black people. And nothing has changed except the tools they use to do it.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are not done. We have so much work to do, and on and in between all of Michael Jackson’s birthdays that he isn’t here to celebrate because he was lynched just like Emmett Till only with a different kind of rope and for more reasons, we need to keep that in mind.
Diane, a friend of mine, said “Michael was much more than a man of “song and dance.” Michael was a heart that beat for the love of humanity.”
On Saturday August 28th, I spent 25 minutes talking to someone about these dots and how they all connected. This daft Glenn Beck thing, The Koch Brothers and their covert operation to destroy Barack Obama’s Presidency, the contrast between how Shirley Sherrod and Alan Simpson were treated and the racist and sexist connotations of that, about Emmett Till and MLK and Michael Jackson and what was done to all of them and why; about how when you want to destroy someone you find the one thing that is most near and dear to them – and that’s where you insert the knife. For Michael, that was children. They used what he loved most to destroy him. And it was intentional. And it was because he was a billionaire black man with power and influence who loved (literally and figuratively) all races and owned the music of some of the most prominent white icons of our times – and married one of their daughters. I talked about how ever since Michael bought the $ony/ATV catalog, it seemed that $ony declared war on the entity that was Michael Jackson in order to get and keep control of that catalog of music. He was too powerful, too loved, too loving, too rich, and had too much influence – and he was unforgivably black.
When they blather on about how Michael ‘hated being black‘ and so wanted to bleach his skin: Well, it wasn’t Michael Jackson who hated his blackness or his race. It was the people accusing Michael Jackson of hating his race – who hate his race. They are the one who hated Michael Jackson’s blackness. There was, IMO a whole lotta projection going on there. They wipe their filthy racist feet on Michael Jackson, their projected hatred smeared on his face like so much shit.
By the time I was done with my little rant, someone said to me:
“You know, there was a shadow of doubt in my mind about whether Michael was really innocent of the allegations against him. There was a part of me that still wasn’t sure. But now that I’ve listened to you, I am convinced he was innocent and I can see how all this ties together and it makes sense – what they did to him and why.”
I just smiled. I don’t normally talk that much. Unless I’ve got something to say. Well, I had something to say. And I changed a mind about Michael that day and made someone who was believing a lot of the media crap and propaganda about him – see the truth.
Happy Birthday Michael. It’s not much. But, it’s my gift to you.
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{ NOTE: I am personally and intentionally not a member of any political party and my political views vary depending on the issue. I call it as I see it. Period. If comments on this article become too heated or divisive I will SHUT them down. This is not a political forum. Discussion of racist treatment as pertains to Michael Jackson is allowed. Discussion of political ideologies are not. Also, THANK YOU to Diane and iJay for the awesome videos and support for this piece! -Seven }
Aug 29 2010
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Katherine and Baby Michael (?) - still trying to verify the baby - could be a grandchild - Taj?
Michael, I hope you don’t mind my sharing some loving memories from your family and friends with your fan-mily tonight. Don’t worry, it’s all good!
I hope you understand that although many know about how Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t celebrate birthdays and holidays, some didn’t know that even after you left the church, it still bothered you somewhat to celebrate them for yourself and that you asked Turkle to never say ‘Happy Birthday‘ to you to you because it upset you.
On days like today, it’s important for us to realize that even though you made sure you celebrated your children’s birthdays and they had the most beautiful Christmases, there was deep in your own heart, still a sadness and guilt about celebrating them for yourself. I know that on your first Christmas with Dame Liz Taylor, you went into the bathroom and hid and cried because you felt so guilty. Michael, I’m just sorry you hurt. No matter the reason I never want to see you hurt and my heart aches for all the pain and abuse you endured in your life here. I still feel bad about it. The horrible way you were treated by some people and entities. And, that I didn’t do more to support you – write you letters – send flowers – something! It’s a horrible regret I’ll carry for the rest of my life. I hope that you are free of pain and worldly concerns and are living in bliss and endless love up there with the other angels! One thing that is a comfort to me is to be able to believe that you are no longer suffering. God, I hope it’s true and that you’re OK. I’ve heard from you (I think) so I’m guessing you are doing fine, or you wouldn’t be sending me these little messages. And just so you know, I LOVE them – it’s always so nice to ‘hear‘ from you in the ways you manage to let me know you’re around!
But Michael, please know that I don’t mention this about birthdays and holidays to slam you at all. I just want people to understand you – because they love you and it’s important to understand your heart. It’s not that JH beliefs are wrong and everyone else’s are right – that’s not true! We all should celebrate these things every day and not just on special days. There is sensible logic in that. There’s no wrong or right here and no judgement – only understanding. We love you just the way you were and just the way you are! Nothing changes that!
Know that we celebrate today because we love you so much. Because your life and your work; your talent, music, dance and filmmaking; your humanitarian and philanthropic work was so incredible; because you awakened and inspired so many people; you broke so many barriers and records and opened so many doors and set so many fine examples for the rest of humanity, we want to celebrate the day you arrived in our world. To us, you are one of the most magical, amazing and special human beings who ever lived. You were an angel here, a precious gift to humanity and the world. Now, you have your wings. We are grateful every day and feel blessed to have lived here during the same time that you did. And we feel that way not only on your birthday, but every day, even though we miss you terribly, too.
Katherine tells Taj that your birth certificate says you were born at exactly 7:33 p.m. Central Time, on August 29th, 1958.
Austin, your nephew, tells us:
My Uncle was the most thoughtful person in my life and always managed to bring a little bit of magic into my childhood years. Being Jehovah’s Witness, I never celebrated holidays. One Christmas, when I was 8 years old, my Uncle Michael made sure I came over the day after Christmas. Walking into his house, he brought me over to the Christmas tree where I found 40 gifts with my name on them. I was filled with all the excitement a child could have seeing gift after gift with my name on it, but I asked him,”Why did you do this?” he said, “to make up for all the Christmases you’ve missed.” After this, I felt like Christmas became my holiday. He always managed to make my life a little happier,a little more exciting, and a little more special. You had a rare heart. Happy B-day, I miss you.
-Austin Brown
Omer Bhatti tells us that when he was little, you gave him the nickname “Lil Monkey“, and I thought that was odd because that’s my nickname for you, Michael! Omer also asked that no one else call him that name because it’s special, so people should respect that. You are the only person who can call him that.
But I will still call you my “Lil Monkey“, Michael! And, just so you know, I adore my Lil Monkey!
Your cousin Anthony Jackson remembers:
… when you read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach all the way through in one sitting at Disney World. Thank you for always being there for me and for teaching me to believe in dreams! We miss you..Happy birthday!
-Anthony Jackson
That is one of my favorite books and Richard Bach is one of my favorite authors! I wish we could have talked about this together, and of course many other things too. Maybe some day we still can.
Your brother Jackie says:
I’m so thankful we got to write 2 magical songs together! “Can You Feel It” & “Torture” will always be very special to me! My favorite short film you did is “Ghosts“! Love the choreography &of course your performance of so many different characters. Because of the messages in your music, we all make better choices in our lives today. We have to keep trying to make the world a better place. You would be so proud of your 3 children right now, they carry on your spirit with so much pride… I love and miss you!
-Jackie Jackson
Your sweet nephew Taj says:
There will never be another person who genuinely loved his fans as much as you did. Today, they are showing that love back. I will forever live my life trying to make you proud. You have made me who I am. Love you forever!!!
The day after my mom died, you played Hide and Go Seek with all my school friends at Hayvenhurst.
You grabbed a baseball bat after the ‘94 Northridge earthquake & said “This is when people start acting crazy“. We all hopped into my car after the earthquake and there was no gas in the tank. You climbed our tree when there was an aftershock. We asked what you were doing, you said, “that tree is not going anywhere. It’s been there before we were born.” You had a point.
You told us the importance of visiting children hospitals around the world when we toured.
-Taj Jackson
Brother Jackie also says:
I remember how in the 80’s you turned Hayvenhurst into a mini-zoo, with giant snakes, llamas, tigers, parrots and monkeys.
I remember how one day the snake escaped & we were so scared, especially Toya, Janet & Mother. (Taj thought that was pretty funny!)
-Jackie Jackson
And Ms. Jodi Gomes shares this funny story of an encounter with our little “Funky Monkey“:
I was a young TV producer recording/mixing Voice-over for an animated Nickelodeon series in the early 90’s. We booked a room weeks in advance, but the day of our session were told a client rented the entire facility. Of course, lil miss ambitious, I was beside myself. I pleaded with the management to let us use one room for just an hour, because it was a nightmare rescheduling the child actors. He reluctantly asked the client – and to my surprise the client obliged with two caveats: (1) I had to describe the characters that the kids were voicing – and – I happily did (inaccurately of course because I thought a competitor was in the other room stealing my idea! After all, this is Hollywood!); and (2) we would have to record in the smallest room, of which, the client had equipment and items stored, which we could not touch.
At the end of my rope, I agreed, and got to work. BUT… the room had a smell that we’ll just say, “had the funk of 40,000 years”. There were damp, sweaty, musty, funky, moldy T-shirts & clothes hidden behind a couch in the room. Piled high. Well – this was just too much! I carried on like a fool with the manager, who snickered with laughter. I went on & on about hygiene, “we’re a paying customer too” type stuff – and “you have the nerve to have a large client’s equipment stored in here with this nasty sh*t”.
GOD’S INTERVENTION: Bruce Swedien walks by. Then Michael Jackson walks by during my rant – of course I shut the heck up and showed respect because I was clearly enamored. We’d met previously and he recognized my face, gave me a huge flirtatious hug and mischievous smile. We exchanged a “where do I know you from” story and had a big laugh about something I can barely remember now.
SIDE NOTE: MJ had a way of making you feel like you knew him for 100 years, and eased your nerves about how HUGE he was.
He said, “so you’re the one recording the animation project?” I said yes and exchanged, “so you’re the big client keeping me out of this joint”. Again, we laughed. He was soooo curious about the animation project and voice over. With the ice broken, I called myself giving the King of Pop a heads up. I informed him that there were DISGUSTING, STANKY clothes in the room where he was storing equipment. He was shocked. He was embarrassed. He wanted to see it.Again, the management smiled a funny smirk and led us to the room. I was being over dramatic covering my nose, preparing for the stench, and of course still carrying on. MJ kept teasing me & laughing, “oh girl stop, it’s can’t be that bad”… and before I could show him where the clothes were hidden, he went right over to the pile!!! He pulled them out and instructed manager to take HIS clothes away! Apparently, Michael liked to dance his little skinny butt off in between recording, and be drenched with sweat. He’d change clothes, and go back to recording…this went on for days! There was no equipment stored in the room – just his clothing. After complete embarrassment and a million apologies from me, he burst out with this huge laugh and said, “my brothers and I used to say, if it don’t stink – it aint funky”. He gave me a big hug and whispered to me, just don’t tell my Mother. I think that album went on to be “Dangerous” – and it definitely was funky!
I wrote earlier about how your sweetheart nephew Taj asked fans, friends and family to use the hashtag #MessageToMJ on Twitter to express their feelings about you, Michael. It has been a wonderful tribute to your Birthday to see that over 14 months after you left Earth, you are still alive in so many hearts! Below is a screen shot taken of what ‘trended‘ on Twitter on your birthday. As you can see #MessageToMJ was right on top!
#MessageToMJ Trended all Day August 29th, 2010
Michael Jackson, I just hope that wherever you are, that you know (I think you do!) how very loved and missed you are here on Earth by your family, friends, and fan-mily every day.
Aug 28 2010
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Thumbs Up!
Once again, I glanced at blog stats and the number ‘77′ appears, this time in reference to my post about Taj Jackson’s request for his uncle Michael. Once again, I remind that these numbers change constantly as people visit the site, so my viewing these stats just at the moment these ’77’s appear is strangely “coincidental” (though I don’t really believe in coincidence – things happen for a reason).
Also appearing (and this happens sometimes too) is the number ‘111′, which some believe (not sure I do) is a number which signifies the gateway to the spiritual realm.
Approval?
Now, I don’t want to get all off into a bunch of really weird speculating here. I’m a spiritual person, not necessarily religious. I do believe there are higher forces at work in the Universe. Most people call that ‘God‘ and that’s OK with me. I’m not threatened by that. Too many things in my life have happened for me to disbelieve there is a ‘God‘, who or whatever anyone believes her/him to be. Thus, I do believe in ‘God‘. And, that Michael was an angel or agent of this entity. Of course it could be said that we all are – but I believe that Michael had special influence and significance and that this was intentional on ‘God’s‘ part. I believe like many do, that Michael was sent here for a reason, which he became aware of early on in his life. And we can see that he carried out his mission beautifully, in spite of those who endeavored to destroy him and his efforts.
It is said that the best ‘revenge‘ is living well. Michael didn’t believe in the concept of revenge. However, I assert that the best response (if you will) to those who endeavored to destroy Michael Jackson and all he lived and stood for is to continue his work as best we can – and by that I mean his humanitarian and environmental work.
His music, performance art, and incredible talent were the tools used to get our attention. Once he had it, he showed us how one can use their talents (whatever those may be) for good in the world. While brilliant and stunning, don’t just stop at listening to his music or watching his performances – or buying up everything with his name on it. If you stop there, you’re missing part of the message, part of what he lived for and died trying to do. And, you’re missing a chance to respond unequivocally to those who would destroy him and his legacy – which now must live with and be carried out by us.
We can’t reproduce his music and performance though some will try. We can buy it, which (just in my own opinion-to each his/her own) helps large corporate entities who need help the least and some of whom abused him horribly in life to get their hands on his assets (his music catalogs or his money ). They likely won’t use the profits to help anyone but themselves.
Michael said it himself: “Why you wanna trip on me?”
Personally, I believe that this was a message not only to the abusive press and media to get beyond the petty distractions of gossip and heresay about Michael’s life, appearance, etc. and to talk about more important issues — but I think it was also a message to the rest of us too – to get beyond the fascination with his appearance and fame and to help him work on the REALLY important stuff – bringing attention to it, doing something about it. It’s what he tried to do through his music.
Of course, you can’t separate Michael’s incredible music, performance and filmmaking from the issues he brought to light with them, or from the work, effort and money he put into dealing with those issues – money obtained from music sales. But you can think beyond his incredible performance art and fame and really endeavor to continue working on those issues: child abuse and neglect, poverty, environmental destruction, social injustice. That would be, I believe, one of the the best responses to those who sought to destroy Michael and all he lived for. Besides of course exposing the truth about those people and entities involved, which will happen in time. As Mom always told me: “It’ll all come out in the wash.”
Don’t let his dreams die. If Michael dreamed of fame and fortune, he only dreamed of it not for himself, but so that he could use it to teach, and to help others, to try to save the planet, and to heal the world. It’s a vision worth checking in with once in a while, to be sure we are reconciling ourselves with it.
Remember what he told Frank Dileo when visiting terminally ill children in an orphanage:
“You have to understand Frank, this is our job, not on the stage. Our job is to make somebody feel good.”
Consider the lyrics to Earth Song:
Hey, what about yesterday
What about the seas
The heavens are falling down
I can’t even breathe
What about apathy
I need you
What about nature’s worth
It’s our planet’s womb
What about animals
We’ve turned kingdoms to dust
What about elephants
Have we lost their trust
What about crying whales
We’re ravaging the seas
What about forest trails
Burnt despite our pleas
What about the holy land
Torn apart by greed
What about the common man
Can’t we set him free
What about children dying
Can’t you hear them cry
Where did we go wrong
Someone tell me why
What about baby boy
What about the days
What about all their joy
What about the man
What about the crying man
What about Abraham
What about death again
Do we give a damn . . .
Anyway, just sharing this “coincidence” again because I thought it was interesting. It isn’t a photoshop “trick” or a joke – it really happened. Again. Much love to all of you and of course to our beloved Michael and his family – and The Great Creator who gifted us (and who evidently continues to gift us) with his presence and spirit.
Aug 26 2010
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Taj Jackson: Dee-Dee's Kid and Michael's Nephew who loves his Uncle Mike very much!
On his blog and on Twitter, Michael’s sweet nephew Taj, who loves his Uncle Michael very much, made a request of fan-mily for Michael’s birthday. Taj says:
On August 29th, I will be tweeting some of my fondest memories of my uncle Michael. Some tweets will be funny stories, others will be about how he both inspired and changed my life.
I need your help making “#MessageToMJ” a trending topic on Twitter on Aug 29th. Please tweet with your memories of MJ. Also make sure to use the hash(#)symbol followed by MessageToMJ so that we are all on the same page.
Some quick examples.
#MessageToMJ Thank You uncle Michael for always teaching me the importance of humility. I love you.
or
#MessageToMJ Thank You Michael for Smooth Criminal. It’s still one of my favorite songs and videos.
Those are just off the top of my head. Don’t forget to Include yours this sunday on Twitter.
Together let’s show the world how loved my uncle Michael is and will always be.
Thanks,
-Taj
Aug 26 2010
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I was looking at blog stats today and saw this. Now, these stats change moment by moment. Is it coincidence that I just happened to be looking at this moment? Maybe so. But something similar happened a week or so ago as well. And, many times before that.
Maybe I’m crazy, but in response to that particular post, I’ll take it as a sign. He KNOWS. Also, myself and a few others posted some things yesterday on Facebook regarding Michael and the significance of the number ‘7′ for him.
Michael Responds?
Immediately after seeing this, someone had posted a comment under “Lost” that they also receive communications and signs from Michael that are simply too frequent to be coincidence. I receive them often as well, such as this one. And he is often in my dreams and there are many other things that let me know his spirit is near. I believe his brilliant spirit will go where it feels safe and loved, and that he feels our love for him and he knows.
I want YOU to know this too, if you believe in such things. Somehow I feel it important to share it just now because I want so strongly for you to know he knows. I have to believe that. These things just happen too often for me to believe otherwise. And they happen to others too, in the same ways.
I know that the circle of love between Michael and his fan-mily has always been very strong. And, I don’t believe that just because he’s physically gone from this Earth that this thread needs to be broken — and I don’t believe it is.
We love him. He loves us. His body ended. His love did not. We are One.
Michael Is LOVE
THIS hasn’t changed:
I love all of you So So Much. I’m very lonely without you, you are my life, always, please love me always. Burn all Tabloids.
-Love, Michael Jackson
Aug 25 2010
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Precious Michael
When children listen to music, they don’t just listen. They melt into the melody and flow with the rhythm. Something inside starts to unfold its wings – soon the child and the music are one. Do you feel the music? – Michael Jackson
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{ Thanks to my friend Helena for the beautiful video! -Seven }
Aug 23 2010
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Michael at a Florida House
My friend Justice4MJJ sent me some information she had compiled on Michael’s past eating habits. I always knew he had never been a big eater, but when I read all she’d sent me, all comments from either Michael himself, his mother Katherine, or close friends or family, I was shocked. Shocked that Kenny Ortega, Randy Phillips, et al somehow thought Michael was OK to tour in 2009? Or maybe they just didn’t give a damn.
Did they really think they didn’t need to be concerned about his weight? Or that he wasn’t eating or sleeping? That he had said in the past that he could not tour anymore or it would kill him? And on top of that the added stress and pressure of them arbitrarily adding 50 shows and nothing being prepared in time. And Randy Phillips raising Hell with Michael and pressuring him (via Ortega if not in person)?
Hello?
Does the prospect of money make people that blind and deaf? Or, does it just make them not give a damn? Michael Jackson was a human being. Human beings need food and water and sleep to survive. Even Michael Jackson. My God, how could they not have been aware of this or concerned about it, especially Kenny Ortega who had been on tour with Michael before?
The following is from ‘My Family, The Jacksons‘, written by Katherine Jackson:
On pg. 145, Katherine speaks about Michael’s diet & weight, even though he’s said that food was the only thing in his whole life that he had control over, everything else was controlled:
The other key to his good health, I believe, had been his diet. Before Michael had left on tour, his doctor had insisted that he go on a high protein diet, including fish, so that he’d be able to keep his stamina up. Michael had reluctantly agreed. Even before Michael became a vegetarian in the late seventies, I’d worried about his lack of interest in food. When the family would go out for hot-fudge sundaes, he’d be the only one who wouldn’t want one. “I’m not hungry“, he’d say. Now what kid turns down a hot fudge sundae? I’m ashamed to admit that sometimes La Toya and I would eat two of them a day. After Michael took Jermaine’s lead and decided to forgo meat, he became even less interested in eating then before. He employed a full time chef, but I dont know why he bothered. When she took him his food, he’d eat two tablespoons then leave the rest. “If I didnt eat to live, I’d never eat“, he told me. One day a week Michael fasted, “I’m cleaning my body out, which is a healthy thing to do“, he explained. But instead of laying low that day to conserve his energy, Micheal would dance non-stop for two hours on his portable dance floor. Michael enjoyed having the last word in our arguments about his diet. “You’re always worrying about me being too skinny”, he’d say, “but you know what? My doctor told me I was in number one shape. So stop worrying about me. I should be worried about you. You’re the one who keeps putting all the bad stuff into your body.” But the Victory tour had gotten the better of Michael physically. He suffered from exhaustion and dehydration. The memory of his illness was still fresh in his mind when his doctor laid down the law about his diet for his solo tour. I of course, hoped that after a year of eating three square meals a day, Michael had developed a permanent interest in food. But my hope was dashed the first time we talked after I joined him overseas. Happy as he was with the way the tour had gone to that point, he told me, “I’ll be glad when it’s all over, so I can start eating the way I want to again. I’m tired of forcing myself to eat.”
Michael on the cover of Vegetarian Times
More quotes from Michael himself:
When I get upset, I stop eating, sometimes until I’m unconscious. I’m a great believer in holistic natural foods and eating and herbs and things, you know, God’s medicine, instead of Western chemicals, not those things, you know.
-Michael Jackson, 2005, in an interview with Jesse Jackson
I go through these serious food crises when I could go weeks without eating. I take stuff to keep weight on. What turns me off is that I don’t like eating anything that used to be alive and now it’s dead on my plate. I want to be a strict vegetarian, but my doctors keep trying to throw in chicken and fish.
-Michael Jackson, between August 2000, and April 2001, on tape with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Dick Gregory Took Care Of Michael’s Health
Dick Gregory, a nutritionist and former comedian, said in an interview to US tv show ‘Extra‘ that during the trial Michael Jackson’s weight had fallen to just 43 kilograms (94 pounds). Due to the stress and emotional strains the entertainer didn’t eat and drink enough. Because Michael’s family was very much worried, they turned to Gregory for help.
When he arrived to counsel Michael, Gregory was shocked to see how much the dehydration and not eating enough had effected the entertainer:
I got this strange call from Joe Jackson one day. He said, ‘You gotta fly out here. Michael’s been in his room for 30 days, drinking nothing but water.‘ I was shocked when they gave him four IV drips. That’s how dehydrated he was.
Gregory then trained Michael Jackson’s personal cooks so they can mix vitamins and herbs into his food to help stabilize and build up Michael’s strength. “I took about three hours training them how to cook.”
Gregory also admitted that his client kinda collapsed after days in court when he returned to his Neverland Valley Ranch:
He was stronger at the trial than he was when he got home in the evening. That’s when he was able to collapse and deal with the pain and feel the hurt of his body. He was a zombie… He just didn’t have an appetite and he wasn’t eating. There was nothing he could do to get his appetite back.
-Dick Gregory, on Michael during the 2005 trial
Michael, from Moonwalk, page 227 – 230
When I first became well known, I had a lot of baby fat and a very round, chubby face. That roundness stayed with me until several years ago when I changed my diet and stopped eating beef, chicken, pork and fish, as well as certain fattening foods. I just wanted to look better, live better, and be healthier. Gradually, as I lost weight, my face took on its present shape and the press started accusing me of surgically altering my appearance, beyond the nose job I freely admitted I had, like many performers and film stars.
. . .I’d like to set the record straight right now. I have never had my cheeks altered or my eyes altered. I have not had my lips thinned, not have I had dermabrasion or a skin peel. All of these chargers are ridiculous. If they were true, I would say so, but they aren’t. I have had my nose altered twice and I recently added a cleft to my chin, but that is it. Period. I don’t care what anyone else says – it’s my face and I know.
I’m a vegetarian now and I’m so much thinner. I’ve been on a strict diet for years. I feel better than I ever have, healthier and more energetic. I don’t understand why the press is so interested in speculating about my appearance anyway. What does my face have to do with my music or my dancing?
Corey Rooney and Chris Apostle, former $ony Executives, talk about Michael not eating, drinking or sleeping when he toured:
This was years ago. I’m going to go back probably eight years ago and Michael told me, ‘Cory, I can’t tour anymore. I’m not gonna tour anymore. Ok?’ I said, ‘why Mike?’ He said, ‘Because it will kill me.’ That’s what he said to me. He said, ‘It will kill me.’ Why would you say something like that? He said, ‘Well, remember when I was preparing for my concert and I passed out at the Sony Studio?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s because when I get ready for a tour I get dehydrated. I don’t eat. I don’t drink. I don’t sleep. I put so much of myself into preparing for a tour.’
He said, ‘I’m not doing it on purpose. This is just something I don’t think about anymore. You understand? I’ve just become so driven that I can’t even think about these things anymore. They made me walk around with an IV last time’. He said, ‘So I just decided, my doctors decided that maybe you shouldn’t do this anymore’. He said he wanted to make the Invincible album work to the point where that was it. He’s done with the tour. He’s gonna do this Invincible album. He wanted to continue to put out albums. He said, ‘I’ll do albums till I can’t do it anymore, but I just can’t tour.’”
Remi Vila Real and MJ
1984 – Brazilian Chef Remi Vila Real and Michael Jackson. Chef Remi shares her memories of Michael:
I met Quincy once at a dinner I cooked for some other musician. He loved my food and asked me if he could come and do something very important. He told me that he wanted to be Michael Jackson’s producer but every time he invited Michael to his house, Michael would never eat. He asked me if he could get Michael to eat some of my food. He said that Michael was a vegetarian and very picky about what he ate. I said I would try.
I went to Quincy’s house and there I met Michael for the first time. I took him aside and told him, “let me make you something very special. I know how to cook very healthy food from Brazil. All natural, all vegetarian. You will like it.” He agreed. I made him some black beans, collard greens, farofa and some other things and he ate four plates full!
Quincy was kissing me all night long and from that time, he has called me many times to cook for him.
I was living in West Los Angeles in a small apartment when I got a phone call. The person on the phone asked me to look outside. He said: “See the limousine? Get in it, now!” I told him I could not because I was taking care of a person off the street and could not leave him. They said that they would send someone to look after the person right away and for me to get into the car. I told them I had to change my clothes because I all dirty from cleaning. They didn’t care. Finally I agreed when the man arrived to take care of my guest and I was taken to a big building in Beverly Hills and up to the very top penthouse. It was very luxurious.
The man on the other side of the desk handed me a ticket and said “you are going to the airport right now. Here is your ticket.” I asked him why. He explained to me that Michael Jackson was having stomach aches and specifically requested me to be his “nutritionist” on the “Victory” tour. He was feeling sick to his stomach and refused to go on stage until they sent me to be his private cook. They were all very nervous. They said they were losing millions of dollars in canceled shows and I had to go right then.
I told them I could not and could only go in the morning. After a lot of arguing, the agreed to let me go home and they picked me up early in the morning and I was off to Birmingham Alabama.
I spent 8 weeks with Michael and his family on the road during the tour. It was an incredible trip I will never forget.
Michael and I became friends and I saw him number of times after that. I visited him in the hospital when his hair caught on fire and I saw him once in a while at an award’s show or party. I even cooked cooked for Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor alone in Michael’s house. That was very special.
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