Renee Van Lee
poet/writer
- January 7, 2010 • 7:00 am PST
- + responses
In the 70's and early 80's in our 3 bedroom apartment located at 365 W. Oak St. in Cabrini Green there were two phrases that would make the kids gather quickly. One was hearing our mom say, "The Soul Train line is on' and the other was the Jackson's are on tv.' When Michael Jackson passed in June memories like these came flooding back. The Jackson's Destiny album was a staple in our apartment. Just like if you'd see a 8x7 photograph or larger of Dr. Martin Luther King on the living room wall in a household or if you saw an oversized wooden fork and spoon in someone's kitchen back in da day. That Destiny album sat on top of our wooden phonograph right next to Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday and Roberta Flack. I remember the day when Daddy went down to the barber shop and bought it. I was mesmerized by just looking at them. They were all grown up and too sexy.
When Michael Jackson sang it was as if he was teaching because he understood so well how to get his emotions across. I have always felt an intimacy between MJ and his audience. He may have sold millions of records but he was communicating with one honest heart. 'Til this day I can't pick a favorite, though 'Can't Help It' is at the top of my list but heck I love all of his music. I remember I was in about the third grade and a girl told me that she was related to the Jacksons. Her surname wasn't Jackson and she had never lived in Gary. But this chick was certain that she was kin to the Jacksons. I am beginning to think there was one of these people in every neighborhood. They claimed they were either kin to the Jacksons, Sylvers or the Debarges.
When Mike did the robot he held you captive just as he did when he did the moon walk in front of millions.
You might have seen other folks do it, like that guy from the singing group Shalamar but when you saw MJ do it you knew he killed it. Every kid wanted to be Michael Jackson. You'd dance around the house singing
his tunes and as soon as relatives came over your parents would say, 'gone baby do Michael Jackson'. You'd freeze up and get shame faced. If it were Christmas you'd sing a chorus of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus or Santa Claus is Coming To Town. As the day wore on and you warmed up no one could shut you up.
Then you'd lapse into "Heart Break Hotel,' and 'Off The Wall.' Yeah, when Mijac went solo my heart went with him. I am not going to sleep on Jermaine Jackson though. Jermaine Jackson's 'Let's Get Serious' rivaled Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On' in housing project airplay. If you ever want to know how well a song is doing drop past the hood and if you hear it pumping continuously then it's a monster jam. Let's Get Serous and You LIke Me Don't You have endeared millions of fans to Jermaine. With funkmaster Stevie Wonder in the background of Let's Get Serious it was destined to be off the hook.
But back to The.Gloved One. I know that over the years Michael Jackson was quoted as saying that he didn't have a childhood. He even made a song called 'Have you See My Childhood' I felt really sorry for him. But from the looks of the Jacksons made for tv movie I think Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Randy had one. When the Thriller album came out Mike set the world on fire. That's right I said Thriller album, I didn't say Thriller CD or Thriller on IPOD or MP3. Yes, I am dating myself but oh well. I thank God that I am old enough to have experienced the comfort of an album. You could sit up all day and peruse the liner notes and credits. You could decorate your walls with album covers. Back in da day, artists took the time to pose and they dressed up for photo shoots. Nowadays, some of them are wearing white T shirts or oversized clothing or just cropping their face into photos or they are not on the cover at all. What is that all about? They made one album and they think they can just represent themselves with a symbol. They aren't the Purple One or The Gloved One. Anyway, albums were also good for doubling as dust pans when nobody was looking.
When Thriller came out Michael Jackson was more popular than Ronald Reagan. Reagan's popularity hit its peak when he got shot. Michael Jackson was the shot! Michael Jackson couldn't get out of the news I credit Michael Jackson with giving the Jheri Curl it's boost. When Michael Jackson allowed that baby hair to show and that one curl to sit atop his forehead everyone took heed.
Flash Forward and never in a million years did I think I would hear the words pedophile and chld star Michael Jackson mentioned in the same sentence. But in the 90's I heard it over and over again. I am not anyone's judge and jury so I don't get off into that. Michael Jackson didn't owe me a thing. But in the latter years of his career my mom would call my house and say Michael Jackson is on tv this time I didn't run to tthe television. I'd brace myself for fear that Bubbles or one of the llamas had escaped and attacked someone.
I think in our collective conscience, Mike brings out the kid in all of us. For a man who never felt that he had a childhood he sure gave a lot of other people a great memory of one. When I think about my time in Cabrini Green and when the last building is razed, I'll still have those memories of what the 'man in the mirror' meant to me. The world loves you Mike.
