Whatever one can say, whatever criticism you will eventually want to bring up, whatever jealousies you have have of the man, or whatever he really was, he was undoubtedly the greatest superstar icon of our day.
More than an entertainer, he filled the stage with entertainment like no other. More than a cultural figure, he challenged how we viewed ourselves as members and citizens of Planet Earth, not just these artificial borders we call states. More than a celebrity, he made life difficult for the papparazzi and others who would try to define him in their own image. He left us some of those images, from seedy child molester to strangly quirky person, to not a person at all with that unusual skin and looks (has anyone ever considered he may be from another planet, and came here to add value to our lives?), but he never let others define him, o how they would try.
Simply put, he was and is an icon of late-20th century decadence, what we valued in our time. The last quarter of the 20th century produced some of the greatest and culturally defining personalities in a way the 1930s and 60s did before it (indeed, that quarter is really the final leg n tail of the 1960s way of thought). He was a generational production, stemming from a time when black people felt free to be black, and define themselves. The 1970s produced the belief that African-Americans finally realized, or refused not to realize or be defined by others, that being black is beautiful and what we produce is beautiful and we need and oughta act that way - RIGHT ON!!
That he and the people and world from whence he came evolved into his mega-stardon is a testament to those times. That they now leave us, in the trusting hands of those who follow in their footsteps, is a seed of their everlasting greatness, planted in our future and wonderful destiny for Planet Earth, whatever some may say.
RIP Michael Jackson - So World, Who's Really Bad?
wreaths outside his gate in Hoby Hills LA.
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