Happy Birthday to the GREATEST to ever do it...Sir Michael Jackson!!
“KING MIKE” (from the forthcoming book "HERE I AM: Then & Now") IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL JACKSON
MICHAEL JACKSON SET US FREE. HE USED LOVE TO SET US FREE. HE SANG WITH LOVE, HE MADE US GET UP AND GET OUT ON THE DANCE FLOOR, AND IN THAT MOMENT WE WERE FREE. HE IMPACTED THE WORLD LIKE CHRIST, BECAUSE HE WAS CHRIST-LIKE, AN ANGEL IS DISGUISE. WITH EVERY OUNCE OF HIS SOUL HE SUPPLIED THE WORLD WITH MEMORIES, HISTORY. HE MOVED US WITH HIS MOVEMENTS. HIS MOVEMENTS WAS A MOVEMENT. HOW ELSE DO YOU TOUCH BILLIONS? FROM THE ELDERLY TO THE CHILDREN, ONE MAN GAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD HOPE AS HE BROKE COLOR LINES. HE MADE A PREJUDICE WORLD COLOR BLIND. AND WITH A HEART OF GOLD, HE TOOK BLACK PEOPLE TO A PLACE WE’VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE. HE DIDN’T OPEN DOORS, HE CRUSHED THEM, FROM THE AGE OF 5, FROM THE MOMENT WHEN HE SANG HIS WAY INTO OUR LIVES, FROM G.I. TO FOREIGN SKIES, HE WAS A PART OF OUR LIVES. QUITE LIKE THE AIR WE BREATHE, THE WIND BENEATH THE LEAVES, HE STOOD TALL LIKE THE STRONGEST OF TREES, AS HE MOON-WALKED ON THE BREEZE, AND MADE US ALL BELIEVE AGAIN. HE GAVE US HOPE. SANG US HOPE. HE GAVE US SO MUCH OF HIS SOUL. HE SACRIFICED HIS LIFE. THE LOVE HE PUT IN HIS SONGS YOU COULD FEEL IT IN YOUR BONES, SO THE MEDIA THREW STONES AND TRIED TO PAINT HIM AS A MENACE. IN THE MEANWHILE HE BROKE RECORDS ON THE CHARTS, AND WHEN HE GAVE FROM HIS HEART, ASK GUINNESS. FROM CANCER PATIENTS TO BURN VICTIMS, IN AFRICA HE FED MILLIONS. HE GAVE OVER 300 MILLION TOWARDS HEALING THE WORLD. EVEN WHEN THE WORLD TREATED HIM FOUL AND TRIED TO TEAR THE KING DOWN, LOVE WAS HIS STYLE. MJ WAS MUCH MORE THAN A GLOVE AND A SMILE. THAT’S WHY HE THRILLED US. HE TOLD THE WORLD TO “BEAT IT,” AS HE DANCED THRU OUR HEARTS, AND LITERALLY BECAME APART OF EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US, THIS PRINCE OF PEACE, WHO PIECED TOGETHER OUR WOUNDS THRU HIS MUSIC AND PHILANTHROPY, HE WAS MESSIAC. THEY DON’T WANT TO BUY IT, BUT HOW ELSE TO YOU REACH SO MANY, AND CREATE A COLONY OF HARMONY? MANY THAT DON’T EVEN SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE… YOU SEE, HE WAS A SOLDIER, A GENERAL IN GOD’S ARMY, BORN WITH BRONZE SKIN, HAIR LIKE WOOL, AND A LOVING SOUND AS HIS TOOL. HE WAS A HEALER, A TEACHER, A WISE WARRIOR WHO ENFORCED GOD’S WILL, BY STARTING WITH THE “MAN IN THE MIRROR.” HE MADE THINGS CLEARER, THAT’S WHY HIS LIFE WAS A “THRILLER.” BECOMING THE GREATEST ENTERTAINER THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN, THE GREATEST HUMANITARIAN THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN, EVER KNOWN. HE TOUCHED US DEEPLY. HE’LL NEVER BE GONE. WE CAN NEVER SAY GOOD-BYE. BECAUSE HE LIVES IN US, WITH US, THE BROTHER WAS ANOINTED. APPOINTED TO LIFT THE DISAPPOINTED. THE LOST SHEEP, THE WALKING DEAD, HIS MUSIC IS MORE THAN POP, HIS SONGS ARE MORE LIKE POPULAR SPIRITUALS, SO FOR DECADES OUR SOULS WERE FED, AS HIS UNIVERSAL SOUND LED US TO UNITY, THRU HIM AND A FEW OTHERS WE WERE SOON TO BE ONE, “WE ARE THE WORLD!” SOMETHING THAT THE POWERS THAT BE DON’T WANT, BUT MICHAEL LEFT MESSAGES IN HIS MUSIC, AND IT’S UP TO US TO USE IT TO WIN THIS WAR AGAINST HATE, “CAN YOU FEEL IT?” IT’S NOT TOO LATE. LET’S “REMEMBER THE TIMES” OF THIS TRUE HUMANITARIAN, AND GIVE LIKE HE GAVE, MAKE THE TYPE OF MUSIC HE MADE. HE PLAYED. LET’S HONOR MICHAEL JACKSON, BY REACHING OUT TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN, BOY AND GIRL. BECAUSE HE MAGICALLY PUT A SMILE ON THE FACE, OF A CRUEL AND UNCARING WORLD,
KING MIKE… WE LOVE YOU!