Dear Editor,
For my generation and indeed, for the generations following mine, and. as a matter of fact, in a thousand years, the world will always remember, listen to, and record the music of Michael Jackson. As friends of mine would testify, I have always said that I would only pay good money for one performer in show business, and that was MJ. I have seen many performers over my years in the USA but the singing and dancing of MJ with his fantastic lighting effects, dancers, costumes and special effects placed him above all others in the history of show-biz.
Many great artists have had idiosyncrasies but that did not inhibit their genius and originality as regards their music. Beethoven, Bach, and many other great artists stood out and still are revered throughout the world, even though there were dark sides to their personalities. Their music made them universal. To the ranks of the greatest musical artists in the history of this planet, the name, Michael Jackson, must be added. All those who would like to speculate on his private life and his private affairs of parentage, his estate and who gets this and that, his so-called drug dependency etc, are barking up the wrong tree because MJ was loved by the majority of the human race from China to Chile.
But what people need to understand is that Michael Jackson represented the whole concept of social evolution in the USA; he took the dancing of the Fred Astaires and the James Browns and the singing and glitz of the Elvis Presleys of yesteryear to whole new heights to become the greatest entertainer of all time. In his lonely path to new heights, MJ broke down musical race barriers and ‘crossed’ over to white audiences and then to a truly worldwide acceptance. He became the greatest ambassador to the world for the USA because of his musical art, and in the eyes of the world, made America a place where genius could be uncovered for anyone, anyplace and anytime – especially if one discovered it in little remote Gary, Indiana where MJ was born. The social evolution which Michael Jackson was a part of and in which he played a leading role has led to great changes in the USA, but was mirrored by Jackson himself as he transformed his features to evolve into a new personality in order to shape the world of music in his own way. His changing look in no way changed the man himself; he still gave generously to 39 charities worldwide and still inhabits the records as the greatest contributor in the music world; he still loved his children and the rest of his family immensely; he still gave his most to his fans at all times; he still encouraged young musicians in their careers; he still sang songs which will live forever and his message in his songs mirrored serious social issues like his song Billy Jean which in the 1980s was against “one night stands” and unwanted pregnancies and was way ahead of its time.
Everyone who loves music has to cherish the songs MJ sang and be mesmerized by the footwork and body movements of this greatest of the great entertainers. His energy on stage was incredible and we all should understand what it took out of him physically to sing and dance with that level of intensity; it took professionalism, sheer energy born from loving fans and a disposition to make people happy the whole world over.
The golden coffin in which Michael Jackson was carried, was the one singular symbol of this great musical genius which impressed me the most at the end of his life, for it said it all. It said to me that here lay a man who was a true king in the modern sense that a kingdom is not defined by borders and compressed space, but by the love of the world and by the infinite diminsions of time and space which will lift him to heights none of us can ever imagine, Michael Jackson lives on. God bless him and keep him well.
Yours faithfully,
Cheddi (Joey) Jagan (Jr)
What a load of utter 100% B%^&*!. You would equate Michael Jackson with Beethoven, Bach, Mozart!!! That is beyond laughable and shows u know nothing about those great composers whose works have endured and are played, and crtiqued 400 years after their deaths. Do you honestly believe that in 500 years people will still sing the simplistic naive sappy words “Heal the world make it a better place” and other corny turns of phrase? Get a grip.
Given enough time all the tyrants of the world can be rehabilitated?
A man who was filled with so much self hate that he endured and suffered multiple surgeries and bleached himself to escape his ancestry is not worthy of my adulation. I’ll admit he used to have it at one period in time.
BS detector and BoraP. Your utterances tell me you do not have the ability to detect musical talent. Being a musician myself, like Joey, I do “equate Michael Jackson with Beethoven, Bach, Mozart!!!”. Matter of fact the great Berry Gordy said the same thing at the memorial. He declared that MJ was the greatest entertainer that ever lived and he is qualified to make that statement. Hope you two know who Berry Gordy is.
Porky and undetected, Michael Jackson transcended race, national boundaries and your assinine reasoning. Before he died, America was expecting Farrah Fawcett to die, and when he died a few hours after her, it was like: Farrah who? And for close to two weeks, it was Michael Jackson from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn; 24-7! Not just American media but media houses all over the world were into Michael Jackson’s death, life and music. There is no other private figure in my life time who received such wall to wall coverage in their death for so long. Sorry that you guys are in the minority on this, but you are entitled to your opinion as the majority is entitled to its opinion that is largely favourable of MJ; his flaws notwithstanding.
DANDY ANDY: If he transcended race let’s go to Philadelphia, Mississippi or some parts of Louisiana where people still drive around with nooses on their pick ups and see if we don’t swing from the same tree. If wall to wall coverage and popularity are your criteria for quality then I guess bars and liquor stores are more elevating than a public library. Not wanting to sound elitist but do you know most black people with a post secondary education are embarrassed by this weird character?
GREG: I do know who Berry Gordy is and his contribution to the Motown sound. He however was no different than Leonard and Phil Chess of Chess records or Sam Phillips of Sun Records. Do you know the people just mentioned? They all signed black entertainers to contracts that were inimical to their interests. Have you ever worked at the Apollo Theatre? I did. I saw the best of them free and don’t need lessons about black entertainment from you.
Varsha: There is an excuse for every wart but without Joe Jackson’s insistence and motivational tactics there would be no Michael Jackson,Janet Jackson or the Jacksons. Stop demonizing the man. The boy got weirder after Thriller.
What did Beethoven, Bach and Mozart have that Jackson didn’t have. Is it that he lived in this age and his death yet is not 400 years old?
He is a genius and so are they. What makes them more genius that Michael is?
Good one there Joey.
Believe it or not there are actually people out there who don’t find Michael Jackson’s music entertaining and intriguing. And who don’t think he was the greatest that ever lived. I have just two words for those people “Beat it!”
Michael healed the world, when you listen to his music..you feel good.now that he’s physically gone, every time i see his face or listen to his music, I feel sad; because i know we will never get anything new or unique from his talent anymore. MJ was truly a sweet,charitable, genuine, and funny person. what the scrutiny media put him through was totally unnecessary and disrespectful…i feel bad for him, for all the pain he was put through. However, he is surely a legend and will never be forgotten because of the good he has done for humanity in many ways…Its sad how many people look at the negative side of his life (which mostly isn’t true) rather than the positive side of what he had done. I PRAY For his family,children, and close friends. RIP MICHAEL JACKSON…THE ONE AND ONLY MOONWALKIN’ KING OF POP…
Hi there Joey, this is a great letter you wrote for MJ, I could not have said it better. He will forever live on, just like your Dad and Mom who did a great lot for our country.
Peace Out
MJ did not bleach himself, he had Virtigilo, which is a skin disease that lightens the skin.
MJ did not hate himself, he has an extremly abusive father, which as a result led to low self esteem, everyone knows that child abuse leads to and create low self esteem. His father also ridicled his nose and facial features when he was a child.
His plastic surgery was to remove family resemblances, as rebellous act against his abusive father.
Great Letter Joey. Your mom and dad also made great contributions to making the world a better place, and are also memorialized in history. Thank you for this well written peice on MJ
In my Child Education and Child Development classes I learnt that our simple act such as slapping of a child for making marks on a wall, for example, can affect the child for the rest of its life. Child psychology states that instead we should give that child a large sheet of paper in a loving way.
I don’t think many of us understand what Michael endured from his early childhood of five. Why the abuse impacted on him so much? He was the youngest.
There is one incident whereby he threw a shoe at his father after he beat him. It didn’t stop there. In response his father gave him another beating.
Can you imagine how many persons’ lives we as adults might have ‘destroyed’ – as parents, teachers, etc.simply because we do not know the ‘know how’ – child psychology? I only hope that parents, generally, saw what abusive home did to the life of the talented MJ.
Great letter, Joey. He was the greatest to have touched the world stage. In death he is now larger than life. MJ is the greatest..
MJ is indeed a genius, the greatest entertainer to ever live, and Bora Pork, I see you have not researched Vitiligo as yet. Would facts ever inform your opinion of MJ?
How many Caucasians get this disease and decide to get surgeries to give them African features and see a dermatologist to get pigmentation to match their new identity? I have not heard of or seen any.
Michael Jackson was one of the greatest entertainers who benefited immensely from advances in audio technology, visual effects, the arrival of the digital world and the 500 channel environment. He however stood on the shoulders of many who blazed the trail before him. People like Jackie Wilson and James Brown for dancing and Sam Cooke and Otis Redding for singing and business acumen. They in turn stood on the shoulders of Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and numerous Blues artistes. In the future someone will stand on the shoulders of Michael Jackson.
The macabre undignified spectacle of the last two weeks was an indecent attempt and manipulation by the bean counters to lay the groundwork for “Neverland” becoming a slick imitation of Graceland.
Borapork: “How many Caucasians get this disease and decide to get surgeries to give them African features and see a dermatologist to get pigmentation to match their new identity? I have not heard of or seen any.”
Gap1: And neither will you–ever!
Borapork, you are really exposing yourself as an ill-informed, ill reaseached poster on SN. The very fact that you seem to be asking the same question over and over again, repeatedly putting yourself back at the starting point while others are “informed” and “researched” enough about the data, state-of-the-art and up-to-the-minute to move-on, says that you seem to be stuck in a backward time-warp, where everything is just words and rhetoric without regards for the turth. Is there really a reverse to vitiligo? No! So don’t go reading one line of an entire book of research and come putting out here as if you know!
And where is your sense of wrong or right? That you would defend so ignorant and so ill-informed a position while you simply are not equipped with the true breath of evidence to rebutt and you still do, speak volumes for your man in the mirror and that is not good, IT IS WRONG! You are wrong, so very wrong–and you should care about that!
I have three words for you, Vitiligo! Vitiligo! Vitiligo!
A little knowledge is dangerous. This time, promise, you’ll really take the time, at least a week of really good research, to learn about vitiligo.
I would sooner dismiss you rather than harm the people who suffer from this embarrassing skin condition, except that too many suffer from this condition, and it is the ignorant like you who keep them, like Michael feeling the need to hide it.
Grow-up Bora Pork… do your homework for a change.
Very impressive information. I think im gonna stick around and read some of your posts. Yours truly