Showing Respect When It's DESERVED

Once again, I will start by saying that if you are easily offended, this is your WARNING.

I have spent a week getting everyone's reaction to what occured on June 25,2009. It has been a while since I sat down and pecked the keypad, as I have been waiting on motivation to get to it again. Well, let me be the first to tell you that our society we live in today gave me all the motivation I needed.

On that day, we lost Michael Jackson. Before I tell you my reaction to this, let me tell you some of the things I heard with my own ears or read with my own eyes through Facebook chats. I will leave these people anonymous, as some of them may need to go into witness protection if their identities were revealed.

I had a close personal friend of mine tell me that Michael Jackson was a "no talent, child raping n*****"...let me just be quick with my response and tell you that conversation ended right then. No talent?? What planet have you lived on for the 30 years of your life son? Children raised by wolves could see this man had talent.
I was also graced with another friend of mine telling me "that faggot n***** deserved every bit of what he got." What he got? "He died after going into cardiac arrest you ignorant bastard" was my word for word response. Here's why I am bitter to this subject.

I was a 5 year old kid in the summer of 1982. My father, the music afficionado he is, started me very early on the path of the music world. I grew up listening to The Beatles,Loverboy, REO Speedwagon, Stevie Wonder,Billy Joel,Lionel Richie, Pink Floyd,etc. I could sing you every word of "Big Shot" by Billy Joel when I was 4. Back then, there was no such thing as a car seat. Good thing for me, because when "Thriller" found its way on my dad's car stereo, it was over. I would dance and sing like there was no tomorrow, and "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" were my songs. Thriller was a little scary to me back then, just because Vincent Price's voice was creepy to me. I still listened with much delight to the entire LP over and over and over. There was something about his song and dance that captivated the attention of this little boy. Well, he took a few year hiatus and I was waiting on the new stuff to come out. Nevertheless, during that period, I needed some new MJ stuff...and fast. I had heard the "Thriller" LP enough to memorize every word of every song, and I needed some new material. Leave it to my dad to trick me into believing my wish had come true. I was sitting in the living room of our "mobile Pepsi can" in the summer of 1984, when what do my wandering ears hear coming through the speakers? I hear Michael Jackson again. "Don't Stop til You Get Enough" had my feet moving again, and I had new MJ material. Little did I know that "Off the Wall" had come out before "Thriller", but I didn't care! MJ was back and I was as happy as a lark. I loved Michael Jackson, and you couldn't change my mind.

Then my dad alerted me one day that with all of the poverty and hunger going on in the world, a bunch of singers were going to do a song together to try to help these people. My first question: "Is Michael Jackson gonna be in it?" Two words made my day..."Yes buddy." The "World Premiere" on MTV happened while I was at school that day, but it didn't matter. My dad had recorded it on the Beta VCR so I could watch it when I got home. "We Are the World" was my favorite song for almost the next year, and as much as my dad loved the song and everything about it, he even got tired of it. Great artists, great song, great meaning....

I have heard a lot of people speak very negative on Michael's life and the things he did. I am not here to condone any of the behavior the "media" told us was going on, but I am here to shed some light on my opinion on this matter. You may think I'm off-base, but I'm speaking from my heart and that's all I can do. Most of you know that I'm a father of a 6 year old little girl, so I'm going to give you a straight laced comparison as to what Michael went through from the age of 7 until he left this world.

Michael Jackson and all of the Jackson kids had a piece of shit for a father. Yes, you heard me. Joseph Jackson was a piece of shit who exploited every single one of his kids, so he could make a dollar. He took his 5 boys and threw them into the limelight because they had talent. What is the montra of the music industry? "Sex, drugs, and rock and roll" would be the answer. Michael Jackson was a 7 year old kid when he was exposed to those 3 things some adults can't even handle. How can you allow your children to be exposed to excessive partying and sex backstage. Would you expose your children to drug use and PORN? Exactly, but Joseph Jackson did because he knew his kids were talented and wanted to profit from what they had. Way to live vicariously through your kids Joe! Things like that can warp a young man, and that's exactly what it did. You may ask me: "Well John, why did the other kids not turn out as bad as Michael?" Have you seen that train wreck named LaToya people? She's a walking soap opera; but the reason these other ones didn't turn out to have as many problems as MJ is simply this. He was FAR MORE talented than any of them and his success lasted. Their's did not. The only other one who had a lasting career was Janet and even she was thrown into the business too early.

Show business is no place for children without the proper handling. Look at all of the child stars from the last 30 years and tell me where they are. You can't, and that's why they have these "Where are they now?" shows;because we haven't heard from them in years. Their young minds are simply that: YOUNG. They can't handle the pressure that it takes to be a role model and to be working with 100 different people telling you what to do everyday. How many of these kids have battled serious drug addiction? Macaulay Culkin(Home Alone), Jodie Sweetin(Full House), Leif Garrett(Pop singer-late 70's), David Cassidey(I Think I Love You),Kirk Cameron(Growing Pains),Tracey Gold(Growing Pains),Hailey Joel Osment(The Sixth Sense),Dana Plato and Todd Bridges(Diff'rent Strokes)....Plato died from a cocaine overdose. The answer is ALL OF THEM. Their minds were destroyed from having fortune and fame, and then going belly up. It's not an easy business, and it's no place for kids...PERIOD! I don't care how much talent you have.

Now I take you to the controversial part of Michael Jackson. He was accused of molesting kids, and spending too much time with kids. He built NeverLand Ranch and had kids over to his house as much as possible for these kids to have a good time. Yes, he was accused of molesting some of these kids. Do we have proof ? I know, I know. If someone is accused of something for 20 years by different people, then that makes them guilty. Take that garbage somewhere else. Who was the main kid that Michael reached out to more than any other? That's right: Macaulay Culkin. Why? My guess is because he was the "next big thing",and Michael remembered what it was like to be the "next big thing" and knew what this kid was facing in the roads ahead. A lot of the kids that he reached out to were mentally slow or their parents were financially impotent. These kids weren't going to enjoy some of the things that we took for granted as kids. As I stated before, I have a 6 year old daughter, and I watch her and remember my childhood. What kind of childhood did MJ have? He didn't. He had a job and an asshole father telling him what to do and how he was going to do it. He didn't get to ride his bike, or go to the pool with his friends, or kiss his little girlfriend under the front porch light. Michael Jackson was forced to be a grown man at the age of 7 years old.

I understand that we are all in charge of our own actions, and we have to make our own choices. I don't condone some of the things that I saw with my own eyes that Michael did, but he was destroyed very early and the only thing that kept him going was his talent and his heart. Say what you want, but Michael Jackson was one of the most generous and loving individuals this world has ever seen. Take a listen to "Heal the World", "We are the World","Man in the Mirror", and "You are not Alone" if you doubt what I tell you. All he ever wanted was for the world to be "one", and here we sit still arguing over parking spaces at the mall, racial profiling, and why we have a black president. He's not black, people. He's what Michael Jackson wanted: black and white. The world we live in has people who appreciate talent for what it is, and then there are those who won't support an artist because of their skin tone. I don't give a damn who you are or what you do: Michael Jackson was not a color. He was an artist, and the best I have ever experienced in this lifetime, and I will tell you he will stay there too. There is no doubt in my mind.

Michael Jackson was a special soul. He was a special person and a special artist, and the world will miss him dearly, but we will rejoice in his music each time we hear that saccarin sweet voice and see those flashy dance moves. He was an artist who was NEVER afraid to try something different, because he knew he would succeed. That's what sets you apart from all of the others, and he was definitely an "individual".

On June 25th, 2009, we lost Michael Jackson: not a generational superstar, but a "LIFETIME GLOBAL ICON". Show respect people, because he is gone, but I promise you this Michael;you will NEVER be forgotten.....