Why do people think that he wasn’t proud of being black?
- He bleached his skin
- He had plastic surgery to look more “white” and rid himself of his ethnic features
- He associated himself with mostly white people (Macaulay Culkin, Elizabeth Taylor, etc.)
- He disassociated himself from the black community
- He only likes white women (if he’s not gay)
I’ll rid you of those first two statements by redirecting you to my posts on vitiligo, discoid lupus, and plastic surgery. What we are left with, can you really support that? He disassociated himself from us? All of his friends were white? He only liked white women? And what is it that people base this off of; what they hear or what they see? People will tell you this, and unfortunately it’s not just white people who believe this. The saddest thing to me is all of the African Americans that don’t doubt these claims. Sure many accept him despite what they think he thought of us and for the many that do believe he was proud of his race can only cite his contributions to the United Negro College Fund (being that he’s among their biggest donators) or what he’s done for black people. Why? Because that’s the only proof that they’ve been able to come up with. How much does it say that his own community is so quick to believe about him what they’ve heard knowing how black people have been held down and defamed in the past? Believe me, there’s so much more.
“…but this has been kind of a – a pattern among black luminaries in this country…I’m handling it by using other people in the past who have gone through this sort of thing. The Jack Johnson story which was on PBS…it’s called Unforgivable Blackness, it’s an amazing story…and Muhammad Ali’s story, all these great – Jesse Owens’ story – all these stories that I can go back in history and read about give me strength, Jesse. Your story gives me strength, Jesse…I came in at the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement.”
I’m not going to lie, based on the main criteria circulated on MJ in the media and our allowances to go by mass opinion, I can see how people might come to this conclusion; it’s the same way people believe all of the other trash about him. As I’ve come to find, all you’ve got to do is not believe everything you hear so blindly. Look into stuff for yourself before you make up your judgment; you’d be surprised at how much of the truth was lying right in front of your face. First, you just might want to take a look at just where this man was nurtured. Take a look at his roots.
We all know the story of the Jackson 5 coming from their humble beginnings in Gary, Indiana. I always find it funny to think that MJ was from the hood, knowing that it’s not the first thing people think of when it comes to Michael Jackson. Sure, when Michael is not being mentioned they see it that way, but other than that Michael Jackson and the hood don’t go together in most people’s minds. Gary wasn’t always a safe place, it was cold and often dangerous with hoodlums and gangs getting up to business in the streets, which is why Joe and Katharine wanted to get their children up out of there and worked so hard to keep them away from those things. Tito was once almost shot in those streets; a kid pulled a gun on him on his way back to school from lunch ordering that he give him his money. After escaping he ran straight to Joseph who went to see the principal. The principal showed Joseph a drawer full of confiscated weapons from students in the school. I’m not trying to associate these themes as being strictly relative to African Americans, but the reality is that many African Americans did live in these conditions and continue to today. Isn’t that the whole purpose of Spike Lee’s line of work with films like Boyz n tha Hood? The reason MJ chose to work with him was to bring awareness to these matters. Eventual superstars or no, the Jacksons were among those families and were never ignorant to that fact.
I had those that I admired, like James Brown, a man that today don’t get credit he should get from the music industry. Look what he did to music: all these funky tracks that you hear today, that’s where it came from. Sly Stone, James Brown, these are people that started funky music. They stood between the gospelly soul and the dance music. And that’s funk: Sly, James Brown, and people like that. Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding. And of course in rock and roll there’s Little Richard and Chuck Berry and all those guys. That’s who I would always watch. And Jackie Wilson — yeow! —MJ Interview, 1977
Michael was basically raised at the Apollo Theatre and later Motown; two of the most significant African American organizations in entertainment history. We’ve heard him go on and on and on about his love for these places, and how he would watch his idols – James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Wilson, and I don’t know how many more. He took after them, was inspired by him – worshipped the ground they walked on – these are legends in the African American community – and following the end of their days of club gigs, he went on to be in the environment of Motown and continued to be nurtured by African American culture, albeit in the Hollywood scheme of things.
At his age, MJ was very impressionable, and he’s said that things he learned in that time never left him. Motown being a very proud family-like environment of strong African American role models were like one big family – just like the Jacksons. It was here, also, that Michael got his prime education, not just in music, but in life and culture.
Aside from these two landmarks, the Jacksons have always been a very proud family; where they came from and who they are were things that they treasure and that Katharine and Joseph ensured their children would never forget. Throughout Hayvenhurst and, according to Margaret Maldonado, Jermaine’s ex, each individual Jackson’s home hold outright displays of their culture and Africa, and that the Hayvenhurst library is comprised majorly of books on African American culture. Being such an avid reader Michael’s own library consisted of books primarily on Art, Music, and history – especially African American history. Here you can see clearly that he’s repeatedly signified his love and pride for his race through his actions and statements:
- “I’ve been told over and over again that ‘black people on the cover don’t sell our magazines,’” Michael fumed to me one day. “Mother, just wait. Someday these same magazines are going to be begging me for an interview.” – KJ’s Autobiography
- “Sure! That’s why it was mainly like us all the way. They sounded so much like us. I don’t mind if somebody takes it and go farther with it. The only thing I hate is they take it and make like they started it. It’s like dog-eat-dog type of situation. I think it’s aw-ful. At least The Beatles did mention where they were influenced. They were great writers, on their own, but they did study black music. ‘Cause Chuck Berry — who was it, Chuck Berry or Little Richard? — when The Beatles were coming up he saw them and he introduced them to a lot of people. A long time ago, The Beatles were on an all-black label [Vee-Jay] . The guy’s name is [Ewart] Abner — I know him, he was president of Motown Records — and a long time ago, he had them! Then, after they went on from there, they were gigantic” (1977 Interview in Rock Lives).
- Diane Collins: As an entertainer, Michael, and also a superstar, you’re always in the limelight, but is hard to keep a black perspective? And this is not on a musical level but on a – a Michael Jackson private level. Is it hard to look back and remember your roots?Michael: No. Never hard, all I have to do is look in the mirror, that’s all I have to do. Or look at my hands (Interview c.1983 @5:30 – 6:07)
- “That’s why I love Stevie Wonder’s album called Songs in The Key of Life… He had a song called Black Man and I just jumped up screaming when I heard that record because he’s showing the world what the Black man has done and what other races have done… He named it Black Man and all these people who have got the album sing it. And that’s the best way to bring about the truth.” - Jet Magazine, Feb. 6, 1984
- “I’m really thankful for what Mr. Johnson has done in bringing books through Johnson publications…I think it’s good to show we are contributing to the world in many ways. That’s what a lot people think-that we haven’t.” - Ebony, Dec. 1984
- “…and he’s a black kid – Like me…” (@4:16 1987 Jet Interview)
- “Why would I want a white child to play me? I’m a black American, I’m proud to be a black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity.” (@5:40, 1993 Oprah Interview)
(Smiles and nods head at Arsenio Hall’s comments on his blackness 1:10-1:40)
“There are two things which the NAACP stands for which are the most important things in my life: freedom and equality. In every person, there is a secret song in their heart. It says: ‘I am free!’, it sings: ‘I am One!’. This is the natural feeling of every child. To be free as the wind, to be one with every other child. All the troubles in the world are caused by forgetting this feeling. Thank you for having the faith to see that I share your work — for I deeply feel I do. I accept this award on behalf of the world’s healing. When all our brothers and sisters will be as free and equal as we are today.” – 1993, NAACP Awards
“For decades, the NAACP has stood at the forefront of the struggle for equal justice under the law for all people in our land. They have fought in the lunch rooms of the South, in the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court and the board rooms of America, for justice, equality and the very dignity of all mankind. Members of the NAACP have been jailed and even killed in noble pursuit of those ideals, upon which our country was founded.” 1994, NAACP Awards
- @ 7:00 “Ever since I was a child I realized I had a lot of love to share from my soul. The Black tradition is the tradition of soul…The black tradition is a tradition of soul which is a gift of love and joy. Soul is the most precious thing you can share because you’re sharing yourself and the world needs that gift now more than ever. Thank you…Bet and all the black program directors and DJs for keeping my music on the air. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
- Nate Do this picture for me But make the Baby in the Blanket Me. A little Black child with one glove that glows. Love, Michael Jackson p.s. put your Heart into this one”~ Michael Jackson (note to Nate Giorgio)
- Here’s a list of a few of the people signed to his record label, MJJ:
- Brownstone – a trio of African-American women from Boston, MA; their critically praised debut album “From the Bottom Up” has been certified Platinum in the US.
- 3T – Michael’s nephews Taj, Taryll, and T.J., all sons of Tito and DeeDee Jackson; their debut album is “Brotherhood”.
- Quo – a rap duo of one young man from Australia and one from Los Angeles, both about 13 years old; their debut album is “Quo”.
- Nathan Cavaleri – an Australian blues guitar prodigy, about 15 years old; his first album on MJJ is “Nathan”.
- Men of Vizion – a group of 5 African-American men from Brooklyn, New York, all in their 20′s – their debut album “Personal”, with Teddy Riley as producer, will be released on May 14, 1996. Teddy Riley brought them to Michael’s attention in 1993, when he played him a few demo tracks.
- Rebbie Jackson – Michael’s eldest sister.
Contributed to the Rodney King Riots (donated $1.25 million) and wrote “They Don’t Care About Us” (which was possibly written during that time) in which he is clearly singing about black people being the “US” (it’s about anyone who’s been victim to injustice he’s specifically aiming it toward victimization of African Americans). The [Prison Version] video uses the concept of the long running issue of the large percentage of blacks thrown in jail versus other races along with them raising the black power fist. The Brazilian shoot is shot in a poverty stricken area of Rio de Janeiro, showcasing the conditions many black people live in because “they don’t care about us”. Also noted is the Afro-Brazillian group, Olodum, who focus largely on fighting racism and rights for marginalized people. Lyrics of the song include: Black male, black mail/Throw your brother in jail/ Tell me what has become of my rights/ Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now/ But if Martin Luther was livin’/He wouldn’t let this be.- (@3:00) He’d planned to attend the Million Man March and then perform Man In the Mirror, but was persuaded against it. Instead, to make up, he donated $100,000.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OBUgE6EDFo
“I know my race, I just look in the mirror. I know I’m black!”
- Some of the books found in his library to be auctioned off include The Malcolm X Autobiography by Alex Haley – The Negro Caravan by Sterling A. Brown – Black Heroes of the 20th Century by Jessie Carney Smith – Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America by James Allen — Black in America by Eli Reed — King: A Photobiography of Martin Luther King Jnr by Charles Johnson and Bob Adelman — In Praise of Black Women, Volume 1: Ancient African Queens by Simone Schwarz-Bart — The Face of Our Past: Images of Black Women from Colonial America to the Present by Kathleen Thompson and Hilary MacAustin — Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America by Lenore Bennet Jr. (Michael Jackson’s Library: Favorite Books)
- “I’m proud of my heritage, I’m proud of it; I’m proud to be black, I’m honored to be black (Steve Harvey Morning Show 2001)
Along with all of Michael’s pride in being an African American, there is also the aforementioned immense love for the Motherland he and his family hold and celebrate. I can’t even count the amount of times that I’ve heard BLACK people making IGNORANT as hell comments about Africa and African people, and then they have the nerve to consider themselves proud to be black? (Of course, some dispute African Americans/Black people and Africa, but as far as I’m concerned we’re all African [and, hell, if you look at it this way everyone in the world is African as man originated in Ethiopia].) Michael has traveled the world many times over but the one continent that he always found himself returning to was Africa, later in life with his children in tow, where he says is the place he’s visited most in his lifetime. Here in America it’s so easy for people of different nationalities, not just black people, to forget about where they came from their ethnic traditions and submit to the hegemony that is American culture. I’m just asking that before you start judging MJ’s “self-hate” for his race why don’t you ask yourself what you’ve done for your own. What do you know about your culture? Do you make a conscious effort to show pride in your nationality or is it a natural thing? Here’s just a few concerning Michael’s love for his home:
- The African chant in Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
- 1985 We Are the World he wrote for African relief in Ethiopia
- Recorded Liberian Girl for the 1987 Bad Album.
- “It was Michael Jackson, the man, who recently allowed his spacious family mansion in Encino, Calif., to be used by the South African Council of Churches to hold an art auction. He eagerly supported the anti-apartheid fund raiser because he is an avowed opponent of South Africa’s White supremacy government” (Ebony June 1988)
- According to Louis Farrakhan (@7:30) he went to Steven Spielberg and David Geffen about making a film to show black people how beautiful Africa and its people are. A film to show us to have pride in our continent, but they refused and he went on to create his own film.
- Remember the Time was released where he displays Black People of Kings and Queens in Egypt
- Between February 11 and February 18, 1992 – and on occasion of Black History Month – the artist tours 30,000 miles of the African continent in 11 days (covering Gabon, The Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Kenya and Libreville), where he visits medical centers, schools, churches, children’s housings and educational NGO’s for disabled children. He phones his ranch daily, however, to make sure his property and animals are unaffected by the storms and floods in California at the time. He is reportedly interested in making a film, “Return To Africa”, for his own video library. While in Gabon, President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, declares that “the return of Michael Jackson (to Africa) fits into the tradition of the abolition of time and the integration of space. His music made us feel that he’s never really been away”. In return for the honors received by the entertainer in Gabon, he presents President B
ongo with the album Jackson was awarded when he was named ‘Artist of the Decade for the Eighties’. The President’s grandchildren, Christopher, Neata and Malika join some one thousand children, including the singer’s friend, Brett Barnes at a party given by Jackson back at the Intercontinental Hotel. He also gives an interview while in London regarding his visit and more for May’s issue of “Ebony” magazine, confessing towards the end, “You know, that’s the most I’ve said in eight years… You know I don’t give interviews. That’s because I know you and I trust you. You’re the only one I trust to give interviews to.”(The Silenced Truth)
- Prior to kicking off the Dangerous World Tour in June around March of 1992 Michael hosted the “come Back to Eden” tour and was honoured with Gabon’s highest Medal of Honor by President Omar Bongo. (March 1992 Jet Magazine)
- My best memory is when my cousins and I tried to teach him our African language (so hilarious). He really loved everything about Africa (except the food) and wanted to know everything about it. Michael Jackson loved his race and loved Africa, he was fond of the African arts, mostly the tribal mask and the pygmy, and he was obsessed with traditional African dance. He talked a lot to his kids about africa. – Miss Bongo Ondimba (February 1992 visit to Gabon)
On March 23, 1999, Michael Jackson meets Nelson Mandela at the President’s residence, Genadendal, in Cape Town, South Africa, The singer names Mr. Mandela “my inspiration to want to do something before the end of the century, to undertake what I call “An adventure of humanity”, before the birth of the millennium. I love this man very much and I love Africa.” He adds: “It is right to announce this project here in the very cradle of mankind: the birthplace of us all.” (more from the speech here)
- “These black children in the ghetto are – they have the most phenomenal rhythm in the Earth – I’m not joking. I learn – I get a lot of ideas watching black children…but it definitely started in Black Culture, no doubt”.
“I go to Africa all the time, I love the culture, i love the people, i love what they represent”
“…and the rhythms of Africa, which is the roots of rhythm, that’s my favorite music, i think that’s the favorite music of the world, because all music is derived from that, Africa is music, it is the origin, it’s the dawn of existence, and you can’t avoid that”
“In my heart, in my deepest of heart, I love Africa, and I love the people of Africa…I’ve spent more of my vacations in Africa than any other continent….they never show how beautiful the place is…and I want to heighten the awareness with what I’m doing…the world is jealous of Africa for many centuries ‘cause the natural resources are phenomenal, it really is and it is the dawn of civilization…”
Jesse Jackson Interview ^^^^^
- The whole reason he did the Martin Bashir Documentary in the first place was because Bashir had promised him money made from the proceeds would go to relief in Africa for the children (Michael Jackson Conspiracy).
- On August 15, 2004, Michael Jackson is a special guest of Reverend Cecil “Chip” Murray at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, California. The artist, his youngest brother, Randy Jackson, entertainer Steve Harvey, and attorney, Thomas Messerau have comfortably sat towards the back of the church and enjoyed the service. After Jackson leaves the church, he makes his way to the Cecil F. Murray Education Center, a small school from a block away that is run by First AME Church. There, he was scheduled to greet a class room full of about 25 African-American children.
- Nn 2004, The African Ambassadors’ Spouses Association, honored Michael Jackson for his worldwide humanitarian efforts, due to his fiscal contribution of more than $50 million to various charities, including many organizations that feed the hungry in Africa
Other people that can accept he was a brother still criticize him for “shielding” that part of himself from the public and the African American Community, because he was ashamed or because he didn’t want to portray himself as being “too black”. The fact is that just as Michael kept so many other parts of himself out of the public, this was no different. As far as MJ was concerned if he could’ve had it so that the only thing the world knew about him concerned his career he probably would’ve been a very happy man. As time went on and he began to be battered in the press people say that he shed his intimacy with the African American Community and began to cater to his white audience. Wrong. In seeing how he was being treated by the public MJ was more determined to keep parts of himself and his private life his own business; anything that was dear and special to him that had nothing to do with his career was his business. Just as people believe he was gay because he was never seen with any women; his love life was kept private too – and that’s another thing. He only liked white women?
“…and I feel the darker they are the more beautiful…” [In reference to East Indians, but clearly he has no aversion to dark skin] @4:19
MJ: That’s why it’s my job to cast the girl, because it’ my job to think they are cute. So I can do that if I really like them, like some of the girls you see in my videos. I have cast them because I really like them and it caused a problem afterward because they start to really like me, and I don’t want to get that serious, and it becomes a problem sometimes (The Michael Jackson Tapes, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach).
How many of you have noticed that all of the women in his videos have been coloured? Out of every single video that MJ’s ever filmed only three of his love interests were white women. Lisa Dean from Dirty Diana and the woman from Who Is It don’t share any interaction with him whatsoever and Lisa Marie from YANA was his wife. Other women that he can be publically confirmed as having been dated or been attracted to include Stephanie Mills, Janelle Commissiong, Diana Ross [the Love of His Life], Beverly Johnson, Theresa Gonsalves, Siedah Garrett, Beyonce, and Tatiana Thumbtzen among many others.
So because he didn’t talk about his relationships with ethnic women in public he was ashamed of them? Well, he didn’t let people see his children’s faces or videos of them; does that mean he was ashamed of them? If it was special to him he wanted to be able to love and enjoy it without the criticism of the media and the entire world looking in on the glimpses of joy he was able to gain outside of his career.
What about his vitiligo? Why didn’t he tell us instead of hiding it so that we’d be left in the dark wondering? He didn’t let people in on his vitiligo for years because yes, he 
was ashamed of it, and because it was such a personal issue it was nobody’s damn business but his own. Vitiligo is a skin disorder that makes you feel like a part of your identity is being stripped away from you, which is why vitiligo is such a psychologically traumatic condition for black people especially. Everyday your skin is changing, not to mention the fact that he was a celebrity where so much of your worth is dependent on your appearance. Talk about increase of trauma. Maybe by keeping it a secret he was trying to keep it from being too real; he already had to deal with it privately; why publicly, too? Not to mention what everyone was already saying about him. Michael is no doubt a stubborn dude and from what I get if he didn’t think you deserved to know something about him then you weren’t going to know. If people were already so quick to judge him over his skin, then why the hell should he have to explain himself to them?
For most of us when you’re black you’re black and that’s that. You don’t have to wear an “I’m Black and I’m Proud Badge” because naturally it’s assumed as a part of who you are. America is obsessed with labeling and classifying everything into different categories; it reminds me of a line from the film, A Time to Kill, said by Samuel L. Jackson’s character; “You don’t see me as a man; you see me as a black man”. Without his most prominent identifying feature America (white and black) wasn’t so sure how to label him anymore. Despite the fact that MJ’s never shown any signs whatsoever ever of hating or wanting to disown his race, because of his skin disorder everybody was scrutinizing with magnifying glasses every little thing he did. John Jeremiah Sullivan of GQ put it adequately:
It’s fascinating to read the interviews he gave to Ebony and Jet over the past thirty years. I confess myself disoriented by them, as a white person. During whole stretches of years when the big media were reporting endlessly on his bizarreness and reclusiveness, he was every so often granting these intimate and illuminating sit-downs to those magazines, never forgetting to remind them that he trusted only them, would speak only to them. The articles make me realize that about the only Michael Jackson I’ve ever known, personality-wise, is a Michael Jackson who’s defending himself against white people who are passive-aggressively accusing him of child molestation. He spoke differently to black people, was more at ease. The language and grain of detail are different. Not that the scenario was any more journalistically pure. The John H. Johnson publishing family, which puts out Jet and Ebony, had Michael’s back, faithfully repairing and maintaining his complicated relations with the community, assuring readers that, in the presence of Michael, “you quickly look past the enigmatic icon’s light, almost translucent skin and realize that this African-American legend is more than just skin deep.”
Ebony caught up with him in Africa in the ’90s. He had just been crowned King of Sani by villagers in the Ivory Coast. “You know I don’t give interviews,” he tells Robert E. Johnson there in the village. “You’re the only person I trust to give interviews to.”
M
ichael’s trust for John H. Johnson publishing was one that held since his childhood and continued on beyond his passing. He’d known Johnson since the 70s, just as he had many other black luminary civil rights and socialist activists, including Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton [Dick Gregory included who also attended James Brown's funeral, the last time he saw him]. All three of these men have worked tirelessly throughout their careers to promote equality and self-worth for African Americans. Does it make sense that they would form a long lasting – not business but – close, personal friendship with a man whose very appearance and mentality go against everything that they stand for? With the decades they’ve known Michael I’m pretty sure that by now they would know MJ was a self-hater of his race and disassociated themselves from him, setting him as an example in the African American community of what not to be.
At James Brown's funeral in 2006.
Many would say that no matter the changes he went through in life, Michael became, in a way, almost colorless; he transcended race to a point where it did not matter what colour he was, people of all colours and creeds loved him, and – in a way – this is the truth. The entire Jackson family as a whole hoped to bring about this feeling of unity through their music, which is what was eventually accomplished. No matter what tragedies are occurring in the world, you just listen to the music and it fades away for a time; race, religion, age, gender, it doesn’t matter. However…
Race does matter. Not in the sense of separating us, but in the sense that it is a part of our identity and one that we should uphold with pride and dignity while not shunning or degrading others. To deny Michael Jackson of his race, is to insult him and to deny him of what was a massive part of his identity. The past has caused race to matter far more than it should among our differences, but it has also served to alter the identities of African American people as a whole. Once known as people of Africa, today many reject the idea of being African because of how far removed they are from their heritage, opting for American society and paving their way here, many choose to ignore even the idea of learning about where they came from, further denying themselves of their identity. Those who do choose to educate themselves and acknowledge who they are should be held as examples in the African American community. Michael Jackson was one of those people and should not be denied of this feat.
I haven’t covered everything in concern of this topic just because so much of it speaks for itself if you just take a look. Here are just some more aids to the point:
Michael Jackson’s Tour Inside Africa – JET
Michael Speaks [Ebony] May 1992
1995 JET – Michael Jackson Hosts West African Ruler Who Made Him King of Sani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCL4M7MiB5U
Part 1 of 6 of Jesse Jackson Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNOEk9OjNro
[I recommend the entire interview^^]
Our Icon – BET Special – Part 1
Our Icon – BET Special – Part 2
MJ A Black Man From Gary, Indiana
http://lacienegasmiled.wordpress.com/category/blackness-2/
http://jalitaspeaksout.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/oneblackmichaeljackson/
In Memoriam Part 2 – Long Live the King (Amazing tribute)
Black and White and Proud by Barbara Kaufmann
jalitaspeaksout
August 4, 2011
thankyou!!! i wish more people thought like us!