With due respect to ...

[blamebrampton]

... those of you who are mourning him, I am probably going to bite the next person who tells me that Michael Jackson was a revolutionary figure in the fight for equality by African Americans. I hasten to add that this has so far been three in real life and double the number of media foik: my flist has been a bastion of sanity.

Aesthetic irony aside, it belittles genuine revolutionary figures. And I am not even talking about political giants like Dr King; there were many entertainers who walked a far more difficult path earlier and with more grace and charity, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Paul Robeson, Josephine Baker, Sammy Davis Jnr and Nina Simone.

I'm all for people loving the heroes they choose, but I would love a bit of perspective at times like these. And perhaps a little sense of history.

Flistees who are just missing the singing and dancing, I apologise for intruding on your sad day. 

Comments

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

If Michael Jackson engaged in revolutionary activity, it must have all been underground, to be revealed in declassified CIA documents years later...

He was a very talented musician, and a true eccentric. I wonder what will happen to his chidren. I suspect we'll hear some interesting revelations when they reach adulthood.

[deannawol.livejournal.com]

That was my first thought, I have to admit. I wonder will they go back to their mothers... It would be a shame to split them, but with the amount of debt he had, there is likely not going to be much to give them in support unless they get a percentage of royalties...

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

I'd imagine that somewhere along the way he must have made provisions for them. The mothers have never been active in their care, so perhaps there's a Jackson relative that will take them in. And there's probably a trust set up that will see them through adulthood. At least I hope so.

[deannawol.livejournal.com]

Fingers crossed, eh?

[piratesmile331.livejournal.com]

Rumour has it that his mother may get custody of them. That worries me a little, considering how fucked up life was in the Jackson household (if one can believe what one has read about them).

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

I know his father (Joe Jackson, who passed away some time ago) was abusive - I haven't heard anything about his mother. Hopefully she can give them some chance at a normal life.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I suppose that at least he wasn't a Scientologist, for which I applaud him.

Yes, those poor kids. He was their main parent, I wonder what they will do now and how they will be funded given the state of debt people are reporting.