once and future king

I usually mock the articles written by other Bloggers when celebrities pass.  I don’t have a strong connection to popular culture or the other humans but Michael Jackson is one of the few celebrities that I feel a connection to.  I think I understand now that the King is dead.  I’ve noticed that my friends who are younger than I am don’t seem to understand what we’ve just lost and have made comments like, “where were you when Michael Jackson died?”  How many of us were listening to music influenced by Michael on our iPods?  

I defy you to find an artist today who wasn’t influenced by his work.  The world may be easily divided into Beatles or Elvis people, but we’re all Michael people whether we like it or not.  For most of my friends, Thriller was our first album.  We had it on a record even and tape.  My friends that are one or two years younger than I am lost someone they ridicule; my friends closer in age lost someone who left an indelible mark in our lives.  

Tonight I went to the Dance Vigil for Michael Jackson here in Louisville with one of my friends from the Campaign for Change, Keith.  His camera was stolen while he was stolen while he was in the City on vacation.  At first, and always, I was there to Observe and Pass Judgment.  You cannot hear the music of Michael Jackson and not move.  I still took pictures for Keith.  I also did what I remembered from Golden Age of Michael.  I communed with the other people who mourned someone who contributed so much to our popular culture. 

Some of my earliest memories involve the King of Pop.  I remember learning to do the Thriller dance in PE when I was in Kindergarten.  I remember that teacher not being there long after that, either.  For my Lutheran, Christian, judgmental friends: Yes, this was at one of your Ivory Towers.  I remember that my mother bought the Princess Bean and I the book of sheet music for our piano lessons – we wanted to grow up and be like Michael.  I remember Junior High when it wasn’t cool to like Michael that I would still listen to his tapes on my walk-man. 

I remember during my first year of teaching when Michael did a special concert in the City, which was nationally televised.  I remember the next day my students at the Dirty I coming in and knowing the dances.  I remember delaying the start of class so that one of the students I shared with April could do his moves for the class.  I learned that day about the importance of giving the students some time and space in your classroom so they can teach you what they know.  That was also when April, who was my mentor, shared with the kids about Michael Jackson and modeled how to be the best teacher possible for your students.  If the Phoenicians thought I was a good teacher – and I am phenomenal – it is because of April’s example.  April also showed them how to really Moonwalk.  She is amazing. 

During the Campaign for Change, one of the songs you’d hear at rallies was “Man in the Mirror,” and this song was on campaign mix-tape.  Even Senator McCain has been caught doing the dance from “Thriller.”  Whenever that CD rolls around in the rotation or I hear that song it’s all the more powerful because of what we did in Indiana for the Republic.  I knew that Obama was my candidate when I was at his rally and heard that song, because of how people maligned Michael, that he would have the guts to use that song while other candidates wouldn’t have.  I never believed the things they said about Michael and I’m glad he was acquitted.  I remember dancing on the top of an SUV with Nancy when he was set free because it was a good day for American justice. 

 Yeah, Michael was strange but I don’t think he ever hurt or meant to hurt anyone.  I think that he’s an example of how, when we push kids in the wrong way, we ruin them.  As a teacher you always have to be wary of the long-lasting effects on children that you may or may not have.  You always have to leave the world a better place than you found it. A small part of his tragedy is that while he tried to that for other people, I am not sure people did that for him when his mind was young and malleable.  Beside all that, during Shakespeare’s time he was considered weird – Chaucer too, it’s more a function of genius I think than malice.  

Michael, I would wish for you that you rest in peace but that isn’t right: I hope you never rest.  I hope you live in us through your music, your innovations, and your genius.  Thank you for all that you’ve given us and still continue to give.  

Comments

[Erin Colligan]

very well said.