Michael Joseph Jackson
The Ultimate Entertainer
1958-2009
The Ultimate Entertainer
1958-2009
"Talent, grace, professionalism and dedication"
Quincy Jones on the passing of his 'little brother' Michael Jackson who died on June 25th 2009.
Quincy Jones on the passing of his 'little brother' Michael Jackson who died on June 25th 2009.
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I have been unsuccessfully trying for more than a week,to complete this blog post in tribute to Michael Jackson but every time I sit to write I am overwhelmed by grief and a poignant sense of personal loss.
Like many people of my age, Michael Jackson' was a musical genius who through no fault of his n became an outcast, forced by the mockery of conformist to languish in society's shadows. However in spite of all the negativity around him he was still able impact in a phenomenal way every facet of the international entertainment industry. He loved what he did and wanted to be the best. No limitations!
Gaston La Roux's iconic character Erik,The Phantom of the Opera', was ridiculed and ostracized by society, forced to create a world of his own in the catacombs of Paris. Andrew Lloyd Webber in his adaptation, converted the villianous Erik into a lonely heartsick man scared by society's rejection, who like Jackson found his solace and redemption in his music and his need to be loved by persons whom he loved regardless of what society felt.
Jackson's idiosyncrasies and exterior appearance were given, and might I add here, are STILL being given, more prominence in the media and in some people's memory, than his genius and knowledge of the musical art form. We laughed and ridiculed him into the shadows, relegated him to a life of aloneness and a strange existence.
Jackson's idiosyncrasies and exterior appearance were given, and might I add here, are STILL being given, more prominence in the media and in some people's memory, than his genius and knowledge of the musical art form. We laughed and ridiculed him into the shadows, relegated him to a life of aloneness and a strange existence.
Now his larger than life image will be for many people, but especially for African Americans who grew up in the 70's and 80's, a testament of what could be achieved when your eyes are kept on the prize and when excellence is fought for, even in a world dominated by subtle racial prejudices and purposely placed hurdles of envy and greed.
At a time when achievement and success were measured and even paralleled by the colour, of your skin, when arbitrarily the rules were changed to make the challenge for the 'non-Caucasian' a little more impossible, Michael Jackson steadily eroded the foundations of bigotry, carefully maneuvered opportunists and deftly defied the parasitic oligarchy to repeatedly and triumphantly flaunt his victory flag, not on a slippery slope, as many had hoped, but on the summit for all to see.
At the entertainer's memorial service Reverend Al Sharpton in a one statement encapsulated the hurt many of us felt for so long, for this man.Sharpton directly addressed Jackson's three children and plainly said "Your daddy wasn't strange, it was strange what he had to deal with."
Sharpton knew that for 44 of his fifty years on this earth Michael Jackson had to deal with parasites who forced him to wear masks, who shackled him to an images and pushed him into the crevices of life reserved for society's vermin by denying him, during his lifetime the freedom to love unconditionally those whom he chose to, simply because it did not conform to their perceptions. Who even now continue under the spurious banner of headline news and talk shows, to compound their narrow mindedness with disgusting allegations and malicious conjecture.
In his lifetime Michael Jackson pleaded with us to heal this world. He knew what humans were really meant to be. Not in the shadow and light of black or white but in the infinity of a rainbow whose colours span the world.
Michael Jackson looked for the human in each of us and very often encountered animals, especially in those 'humans' who hunted him daily under the banner of journalism. The irony of his life is, in animals he found the human spirit that was lacking in his fellow human beings.
His gentle, loving, giving, imitable style, epitomized the tangibility of a dream that conquered the world.
His passing at the tender age of 50 should jolt us over the threshold of our personal inertia and into an awakening of our individual responsibility to each other, that mandate we have to enrich the quality of life for everyone with whom we interact while we are here on earth.
At a time when achievement and success were measured and even paralleled by the colour, of your skin, when arbitrarily the rules were changed to make the challenge for the 'non-Caucasian' a little more impossible, Michael Jackson steadily eroded the foundations of bigotry, carefully maneuvered opportunists and deftly defied the parasitic oligarchy to repeatedly and triumphantly flaunt his victory flag, not on a slippery slope, as many had hoped, but on the summit for all to see.
At the entertainer's memorial service Reverend Al Sharpton in a one statement encapsulated the hurt many of us felt for so long, for this man.Sharpton directly addressed Jackson's three children and plainly said "Your daddy wasn't strange, it was strange what he had to deal with."
Sharpton knew that for 44 of his fifty years on this earth Michael Jackson had to deal with parasites who forced him to wear masks, who shackled him to an images and pushed him into the crevices of life reserved for society's vermin by denying him, during his lifetime the freedom to love unconditionally those whom he chose to, simply because it did not conform to their perceptions. Who even now continue under the spurious banner of headline news and talk shows, to compound their narrow mindedness with disgusting allegations and malicious conjecture.
In his lifetime Michael Jackson pleaded with us to heal this world. He knew what humans were really meant to be. Not in the shadow and light of black or white but in the infinity of a rainbow whose colours span the world.
Michael Jackson looked for the human in each of us and very often encountered animals, especially in those 'humans' who hunted him daily under the banner of journalism. The irony of his life is, in animals he found the human spirit that was lacking in his fellow human beings.
His gentle, loving, giving, imitable style, epitomized the tangibility of a dream that conquered the world.
His passing at the tender age of 50 should jolt us over the threshold of our personal inertia and into an awakening of our individual responsibility to each other, that mandate we have to enrich the quality of life for everyone with whom we interact while we are here on earth.
Now that he has crossed the threshold into that 'place' where there is no black or white, no rich or poor, no celebrity or caste; where true judgment is meted out by that Being who formed him in His own image and likeness, Michael Jackson is finally 'home'.
Home because he knows, someday his detractors will have their moment at that same judgment hall and he'll be there smiling with his angelic boyish smile watching, listening, tapping his feet to a beat and hoping that there are NO skeletons in their closet and their account to the Master Steward will be as fulfilled as his.
Life is crazy and as have witnessed many times those who malign and accuse people without proof always get trapped in devices of their own making.
Life is crazy and as have witnessed many times those who malign and accuse people without proof always get trapped in devices of their own making.
The Uninhibited Diplomat
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