We Love You, Mike!

Mikey J

Written by Sherryn Daniel

I’m a TV addict. That’s a fact. I can stay glued to the tube for four to six hours at a time. When I was studying Journalism at College of Notre Dame, I had to make sure that there was no TV in my dorm room or I would fail all of my classes in a domino affect way. My mom knows about my addiction and she told me that it was all Michael Jackson’s fault. Around 1989, three-year-old Sherryn refused to shower, eat or obey her parents whenever he pranced around in his sparkly shoes and leather jacket. Her eyes glazed over his attractive smile, pop-y ballads and lithe dance steps.

Ever since then, I was hooked on Michael Jackson or who I love to call “Mikey J” inside my head. My eyes lingered for every single Mikey J. video I can watch. This addiction to Mikey J. can only be cured whenever a TV set was off and I thought I could get over it ( I did in my 20’s) until now. His recent demise not only made me spend half of my recent pay check on I tunes songs but it made me a TV addict again. I can’t stop watching him, even in death.

I never cared about what the media said about him. I never once believed he molested any child or was insane. He was a misunderstood man who lived a crummy childhood. He donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity and never once did the media highlight that. He loved his roots and it’s apparent in several of his music videos. But the media loved to misconstrue how he hated being who he was because of his white skin and plastic nose.

I love him even more now than I did when I was three. I grew up being a talented writer but was a loner like him and much different than my peers. I can identify with his struggles partially. My closest friends when I was in 6th grade were parakeets named ‘Blueberry’ and ‘Banana”. What’s wrong with having a chimp friend named ‘Bubbles’? One of the greatest loners was Mikey J. and maybe that’s why we bonded in my head when I was three. We struggled with being different.

I thought my childhood died when I graduated college this May but I was wrong. It died, When Mikey J. died.

Written By: Black Root

Michael Jackson embodied a lot of what was right and what was wrong with the entertainment industry.I love all of the things that he did positive..Thriller, Off the Wall, Invincible, HIStory, Dangerous, Bad...I"m sure I'm missing an album. And it's easy to do because all of his albums are greatest hits. The countless children and adults across the planet he helped with his words and his finances. He was blessed with an extraordinary gift.

He was cursed with exploitation of those talents and parents, family, and friends who were not equipped to protect his psyche from the ills of human inequity. MJ was a smart man who I believe lived in torment inside of his own body. I also believe at the end of the day, he was an altruist that really cared about people. His childhood compassion and love helped the lives of millions.

If MJ & the Jackson 5 didn't exist, there would be no 98 degrees, N'Sync, Justin Timberlake, New Edition, Hi 5, Boyz II Men, Chris Brown, Ginuine, Ne-yo, Dru Hill, New Kids on the Block, or countless other boy and girl bands that took the country by storm in the late 80s and 90s. He reinvented music videos.

I am saddened. Jackie Wilson, Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes, James Brown, Michael Jackson. A lot of our greats are leaving us in the physical. The only Humanitarian I can think of with a wingspan, popularity and talent comparable to MJ is Steveland 'Stevie' Wonder. Your music and your influence will NEVER leave. I hope you can truly rest in peace Mike.

To read more M.J. tributes, click the link below:

http://etmmagazine.info/Editorials/2009/07/2009_07_mjresponse.html

Make sure to share your feelings about the "King of Pop"!!!