When fans reflect: Michael Jackson = uncontained joy Michael lives in fans hearts In life, there was something about Michael Jackson that could not be explained in words. In death, he still has the power to overwhelm us. That was evident on Sunday night when Alica Keys was visibly moved at how Michael’s spirit filled the room during the BET awards show. A friend wrote to me saying that the pop star’s death suddenly hit him, over the weekend, while listening to “Got to Be There” on a New York City bus. Tears started to flow, uncontrollably, he said. He switched his i-Pod to “Can you Feel It,” to try to lighten his mood. Yes, there’s something about Michael that crosses generations.... Coming of age with Michael Most of my own memories of Michael take place during childhood and summertime in the 1970s. That was when my best friend, Tonya Guzman, and I took turns spending the night at each other’s home. We’d battle to claim Michael as our boyfriend as we made up stories of what a life with him would look like. Tonya inevitably got Michael. And I claimed Marlon until another family singing group came along— the Sylvers—and then I claimed young Foster Sylvers as my consolation prize.... My no. 1 memory is when my parents and I were in a California airport and saw Michael and his brothers. My parents knew how in love I was with Michael and they videotaped them. My mother kept telling me to go over and say hi. I froze like an ice cube.”... Michael’s healing powers Michelle Matthews says that Michael’s “Bad” album helped her though difficult times in the late 1980s. “The album came out when I was going through a painful divorce. My friend Kenneth somehow got an early copy [just as a group of friends and I] were about to have a party. It was also when “The Color Purple” came out on VHS tape. I remember the fun we had. The “Bad” album playing [on the stereo], and “The Color Purple” playing on the TV. Great friends and good times at a low point in my life. Kenneth is gone, [he committed suicide early the next year]. When we hear a song from that album – particularly, his favorite, “Man in the Mirror” – we always think of him and the good times we shared that summer when we all needed our friends. The album is definitely the soundtrack during a time in my life that I will always remember, and with friends who I will never forget.“ Endless love for Michael The night before the news broke about Michael, Maureen Shockley, 39, found herself defending the “King of Pop” while on a first date. She says the conversation turned to Michael as they discussed comedian Katt Williams’ criticism of him during his stand-up act. “He kind of agreed with Katt Williams but I told him to just give up because no good could come from him arguing with me about Michael Jackson,” she says. Since the age of 6, Maureen has always felt unexplained love and emotion for Michael. She remembers crying and shaking uncontrollably when she watched him on the Jacksons’ weekly summer variety show, on CBS, in 1976. “It was the excitement of it all. I remember feeling like something strange was happening to me, and I just hid behind the couch because didn’t want my parents to see me doing that. The next time it came on I tried to steady myself, but the same thing happened. I just cried and cried. When I went to the Victory Tour with my Dad at 14, I had forgotten all about [the shaking and tears] when I was 6. We were at the old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. We did not have a good seat, but it was electrifying. This time I wasn’t shaking but I cried and screamed the whole time. You see people at Michael Jackson’s concerts and they are just screaming and crying. Maybe it’s like what [a friend suggested to me], Michael in [human] form, and his expression, could not be contained. It makes sense because what else could make people cry? Maybe [the screaming, crying and emotions] is the joy that they felt in his performance, because it’s true freedom that he was feeling.” Source: Adrianne Murchison, examiner, as quoted in Flying of Sparks, January 5, 2014 Karen Moriarty, Author, defendingaking
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 10:56:20 +0000
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