Twenty Three Hundred Jackson Street
In Gary Indiana, on August 29, 1958 a special child carrying a lot of light to the planet was born in humble beginnings. On June 25, 2009, that special light went out. Now, 3 years after the moment the virtual world stood still and people were streaming into the streets to weep openly and publicly, people are still weeping for that special child born to a poor family in a blue collar town in middle America.
The idea that so much light can enter the world in one person is faith in itself that there is no giving up on humanity. There will never be another like him. And hopefully, as humanity evolves to its highest and best incarnation– that journey already begun– no one will ever have to endure what he did. No one will ever have to hurt that way as we come to recognize who we are and what we have done.
To become a more humane and civil world and to extend more dignity to all of humanity, we must first look at the shadow we have created here on the planet. We must stare directly into the face of treachery and darkness and be able to bear witness and demand change. That is exactly what Michael Jackson fans have been doing for the last 3 years. He has left behind a legacy of music, talent and art and family but the larger legacy is locked within the fans– in their hearts.
Working tirelessly for a more humane narrative on this planet, it has been the fans who have found, witnessed and pointed to the shadow, who still bear witness and ask others to really see what was done to this man. It is never easy to look at that kind of carnage and admit that you had something to do with it… most people will try to look away or squirm if you insist they see, but the world has begun to listen. They have begun to see. The truth is so veiled, the legend so manipulated that Perhaps one day they will completely comprehend what occured to the singular life of a skinny little moonwalker who visited this planet and left much too soon.
Today is a day of remembrance. We remember because we shall never forget. May it ever be so.
A year ago I walked the streets of LA and Forest Lawn and met many fans. A month later I was in Gary. If I never met Michael, I met his Essence..
Many have met Michael in dreams. We have been speaking of dreaming but there are dreams and then there are dreams. Reality is a result of what we dream the world to be. Some of us are walking around in a trance– going through the motions of life but not being present and conscious. The trance lulls us into believing we should achieve certain things, have certain possessions, work a standard job, believe what “they” tell us and never question– the boss, God, the government, the “rules” of society, religion, and media.
Why should we care about other people in other places in the world? Why should we think about war, poverty, the lack of clean water, genocide, ecology, the oceans or rainforests, endangered species, cruelty, slavery, sex trade, sickness, dictatorships, war, or physical, sexual, verbal or animal abuse? Why worry about “them” and if they have enough to eat or shoes or a place to sleep? Isn’t it all about me?
Michael made many people conscious of things while he was here on the planet. He’s awakened many more with his passing. Are we awake to the pain and the beauty of this world? Do we know “it takes a village?” Are we trying to “make that change?” Or to “heal the world?” Sometimes we sleep through the alarm and someone has to shake us by the shoulders to awaken us. Michael set the alarm on many things and his last gift to his fans and the earth was to shake many awake.
While we mourn his passing, we are grateful for the message he brought and what he taught. And still continues to teach…
The comfort angels are on the way, may they find you today. ~Rev. B
14 Comments
Barbara, I am not capable of a smile today. I cannot put aside the pain for this loss that is so nearby and so recent. Mmy heart is still torn…. I share this writing that was not written by me but describes faithfully what happened to us to millions this tragic June 25, 2009:
“Michael is going to be loved for the whole life. He deals neither on the passage of time, nor on the oblivion … He is eternal … do you know? In the precise instant in which Michael left us, his soul exploded in a million pieces, as the shooting stars. Every piece lives inside us… I felt as my heart was fighting to adapt to something new, I was more than three months sighing, lacking the air. I was feeling invaded by a very strange sensation, but simultaneously hot. Now with the step of the months I realized what happened to me, It was this Michael’s piece that was entering me, now my heart is bigger, cause it takes the weight of two souls. He has established itself inside me forever.
I know that there are million and million of cases like mine. I believe that it has never happened with the disappearance of an artist, but there the question is– he was not a simple artist; it is something very big, a magic in pure condition. He only has obtained something– that a million persons in the entire planet were remaining this day paralyzed, crying. distressed and finally… caught in his network. As if we had known of him years behind. He was forming a part of us even without at least realizing– up until this moment. This year, 2009, will stay forever as the one that provoked a spiritual cataclysm. I am sure that earth has felt the vibrations of so many people and so many souls thinking about the same being…”
Barbara dear….
I miss him.
Victoria
Yes, I know. I know it… well. ~B
Yes. Beautifully. He did it beautifully. ~B
I made myself the strong one and even I managed yesterday to criticize some fans who were declaring themselves depressed one day before 25 … it was looking like to me a dramatic attitude, the fact that they were announcing his pain for approaching the date, and up to derisory … but the day came, which had not to be any different day…
I opened my eyes to realize that on another June 25 had fallen down in the count of his absence, and my eyes filled with tears without me to call them. I spent the rest of the morning weeping…and I was wondering why do I feel this way? Why is my heart today more torn than usually? I do not know how to explain it, I felt distressed, and realized that I should not have judged these fans who were saying to feel sad in the date … it is a painful date, brings very painful recollections of this wound that still it does not cure…
I saw Oprah interview to Paris Jackson…I have noticed And I could realize that Paris is the reflection of the education, the values, and his autoesteem that his father transmitted her. She is very extrovert, knows what she wants, She does not permit anybody to intimidate her, is loving and comprehensive, and she carries loss much better than many of us even being so near to him… When Oprah asked her how does she feel on having listened her father´s music she said “I smile” I felt so happy to see her that way, with this attitude and this smile in his face, I believe that Michael did excellent work with his children, “Of such a father, such a son.” I saw Katherine Jackson so sad, for a mother it has to be impossible to overcome the death of a son. Thanks Barbara.
Such a beautifully written, perfect tribute and memorium to Michael. Thank-you Reverend B. This will always be a sad time. And I am glad, glad for the global sadness because he is therefore not forgotten, and our commitment surely renewed from our sadness, to bring the change he asked for and the eventual justice he so royally deserves. I appreciate the poetry of Dalia’s first post and agree – Michael is EVERYWHERE and with EVERYONE who wants him with them now. We Shall Overcome – again, and again.
Thanks, G.
Dear Barbara,
You have put into words what my heart has been feeling. As I read your post, it comforted my heart because I realized that I am not alone with this aching in my heart. How can I miss someone so much that I never met? Yes… I feel like I have been taken by the shoulders and shook awake. It started the day of his Memorial when I heard the many accounts from his friends of who Michael really was… Michael the performer, the father, the son ,The brother, the friend, The amazingly talented, the sweet gentle soul. I saw him for who he really was, not what the media had created him to be, and somehow in that moment, he connected with my heart, and I met Michael Jackson the man. I have been on this journey everyday since that moment…not understanding why, but so blessed to have been touched by his love…feeling him.
It is a comfort to hear the hearts of those who are taking the same journey, and to know that Michael has woke so many of us to his heart. We are NOT alone.
I’m so upset at the moment at all the sick, and sickening garbage still being flung at Michael – on the anniversary of his DEATH – that I have thought WHAT IF? What if every Michael fan, supporter and sympathizer, and I mean EVERY, boycotted all media except the rare sites, like Rev. B’s, who were Michael positive? What if the multi-millions of us only visited here, and to the few others, and what if we had our own “news” outlet, our own entertainment network, our own movie making machine etc, and the hordes who crashed the internet the day he died, and the celebs who spoke out reverently then, acknowledging their great debt to him, patronized our, and only our, news & entertainment network? Would it be the the stone that slew Goliath? I know its a crazy dream, but absoutely everything was once a crazy dream, right? There is no cohesive and powerful all-encompassing media alternative for people, to speak of really, right now is there? So what if?
Well, I have been wondering the same thing. Let me know when you all are ready. *wink ~B
Barbara dear,
Are you kidding? If you build it they will come. You are the catalyst.
I want you to know that I got involved with the Miss Representation movement, have read “the Pregnant Virgin”, “The Feminine Face of God”, and am presently digesting “Women who Run with the Wolves”. I have re-watched “Avatar” and am working on reviewing the Johnny Depp movie about the creator of Peter Pan. Most suggestions you have presented I have acted upon. Becoming aware of my own purchasing power has changed the way we in my own family consume good and services, and it is all because of your direction and advice that I have become much more discerning and aware as to how the media is positioning not only women, but all groups they wish to vilify.
What if the media outlet we designed were to be comprised of not only Michael’s army of love, but those who just want to hear a POSITIVE voice in a most negative environment. What if we made that change so that MEDIA could actually “Be the change that we want to see in the world” . What if it was all about the incredible humanitarian movement that Michael birthed back in 1985 with “We are the World”. Well, if that is what we decide to do then that is what will happen. We can manifest now what we have been talking about and envisioning. Michael “will be there” in our midst….. What if we could tame the media monster? Grass roots is what its all about these days, look at what Facebook has accomplished in such a short period of time.
Critical mass….I think that is what it is all about. Getting the word out to all the other Michael sites – an “All for LOVE concert”? I don’t know what but count me in I want to do this and I want to help you do this.
Blessings – its all for LOVE
I seem to play certain roles well… catalyst and activist particularly; and I naturally create ideas, link people and perhaps even invent movements? Marilyn Turkovich, Director of Voices Education Project has said that the “Words and Violence” Program has “the seeds of a movement.” I believe it does too. What do the rest of you think about what this reader has proposed here? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Maybe we should create a poll? What do you all think?
Seguí a Michael desde muy pequeñito, desde el punto de vista artístico y siempre reconocí en él esa luz que provenía de las estrellas y que no era de este planeta. Me dí cuenta desde siempre que era un ser especial, y confieso que desde la primera vez que oí su voz hasta hoy mi corazón estalla gritándome la grandeza de su espíritu. Esa conexión continúa.
He llorado su pérdida con la profundidad de la pérdida humanitaria, todos sin excepción, lo sepamos o no, lo creamos o no, lo sintamos o no, nos guste o no, toda la humanidad sufrió una gran pérdida y queda toda la eternidad para darnos cuenta. He llorado su pérdida, tanto como he llorado durante 17 años la pérdida de mi propio hijo Richard, así es de grande. Dando una mirada al futuro, he compartido sin cansancio en facebook con mis pares, que mucho, mucho más está por descubrirse de la encarnación de un arcángel en la tierra, al que tuvimos tan cerca de nuestros corazones toda nuestra vida, caminando al mismo tiempo en la tierra y en la luna. Sentí la necesidad de encontrar a alguien que escribiera de Michael lo que realmente era. Que me rearfimara lo que siempre había visto en él. Esa persona eres tu querida Bárbara. Gracias.
Si en algunos instantes perdemos la paciencia ante tanta ceguera que nos rodea, sin duda será lo indicado mantener nuestra perseverancia. Creo que el proyecto que se ofrece en esta página, cuenta con todas las condiciones dadas para su realización, y para ello seguramene contaremos con Michael, porque de lo que si estoy convencida es que Michael fue llevado fuera del planeta, como tantos otros, como mi hijo que murió siendo héroe, para continuar su maravilloso trabajo desde la dimensión en la que están. Tiempo al tiempo, “si lo sueñas, puedes lograrlo…” Bendiciones de El Cielo para todos y todas!
Loosly translated: I followed Michael from very small, from the artistic point of view and always recognized in him the light from the stars and that was not of this planet. I realized that he was always a special, and I confess that since the first time I heard his voice, it broke my heart and I shouted the greatness of his spirit. That connection continues.
I mourned the depth of his loss as a humanitarian. Without exception, we know it or not, believe it or not, we feel it or not, whether we like it or not, mankind suffered a great loss and it will take us all eternity to account. I mourned his loss as much as I cried for 17 years, the loss of my son Richard, it was that great. Giving a glimpse into the future, I shared tirelessly on facebook with my peers, with much, much more to be discovered in the embodiment of an angel on earth who was as close to our hearts all our lives, while walking on earth and the moon. I felt the need to find someone to write to about who Michael what really was and who reaffirmed all I ever saw in him. That person is you dear Barbara. Thank you.
If at some moment we lose patience with such blindness that surrounds us, will certainly be indicated to maintain our perseverance. I think the project is offered on this page has all the given conditions for its realization, and it will have Michael’s accomplaniment because what I am convinced of, is that Michael was taken off the planet like many others, as my son died a hero, to continue their wonderful work from the dimension where you are. Time to time, “if you dream it, you can do it …” Blessings of Heaven for everyone!
Thank you, M. I am so sorry for the loss of your son. He was our son too and I want to live in a world that recognizes that. Michael knew it from the time he was little; I knew it because I had the same knowingness as a child. Michael was on to something; the children know. ~B