“I think a hero is any person really interested in making this a better place for all people”

Maya Angelou

“I don’t understand how you manage to love a mob of birds that has just tried to kill you.”

“Oh, Fletch, you don’t love that!  You don’t love hatred and evil, of course.  You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves.  That’s what I mean by love.  It’s fun, when you get the knack of it.”

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Richard Bach

Michael Jackson interprets religion for me and helps me to redefine and strengthen my faith in people… my faith journey with God.

Jude Ling

CAPTAIN EO…Epcot 2015 shares its vow of the future as a place where anything is possible and everything is super fun.

It is never too late to right a wrong, declaring ~If you continue with your lies, I will continue with the truth. (Prince Jackson) Our response to impassioned interest is research, no longer orphans in a storm, but rather, claiming verity as our potent symbolic expression for change.  Emotionally invested, millions of intrepid voices boldly shining light on a gallantry larger than life.  Michael has taught us to cast aside limitations, releasing all chains of body or thought and accepting Bach’s words ~The gull sees farthest who flies the highest.  We travel in a world where media focus depends on the pleasure and enjoyment of other people’s pain, often creating the climate of pain in manufactured controversy, while falsely justifying their acts by claiming it is what the public wants.  A constant diet of licensed bullying and abuse is in a feeding frenzy daily.  With heightened imagination an altruistic Michael Jackson, rather than enjoying the pain of others, asked the question: What do you need and how can I help?  Earning his fame and fortune through talent and hard work, he didn’t depend on the destruction of others to achieve greatness.  His flight took him higher.  Rising above a peculiar view of reality, he instead freed himself of the bonds of hatred, refusing intimidation.  ~In casting you out, the other gulls have only hurt themselves, and one day they will know this, and one day they will see what you see.  Forgive them, and help them to understand.  (Bach) Fans across the globe recognize August as an opportunity to revisit, nourish and define the true meaning of heroism.  Michael Jackson’s artistry is transformational, enlightening and empowering.  Its truths inspire a knowing in space and time…to really care for the man and his principles.  If the price of being a thousand years ahead of your time is being misunderstood (Bach), we are here to make a course correction in that flight pattern.  ~Don’t believe in what your eyes are telling you.  All they show is limitation.  Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly. (Bach) We are here to fly.  We are here to stay.

THE FLIGHT PATTERN  OF A HERO

Learning from the teachings of Michael Jackson

~a serious and prolific artist

~a genius in thought and artistic expression

~an activist for social justice with sharp social insights

~nuanced in emotional understanding

inspired by Marie Merrimac College professor of English

The ability to forge strong connections, to offer deep insights into all manner of human experience, to inhabit the story and the storyteller, Michael Jackson infused his artistry  with the dexterity to step inside the life struggles of humanity.  Opening his autobiography with the words ~I’ve always wanted to be able to tell stories, you know, stories that came from my soul.  Often saying that he wanted to be the voice for the voiceless~ the children and the ecology~ Michael gave voice to that massive goal and beyond.  Through his writing, singing, dancing and performing, Michael connected with the fragile and the forgotten.  He spoke for those society openly ignored with distain:  the homeless, abused, marginalized, otherized, those caught in abortion struggles, caught in abusive marriages, those bullied, those forced to sell their bodies and souls, children denied a childhood, runaway children, those who were the victims of prejudice, racism, bigotry, those caught up in war, the attacked, the addicted, those who were the objects of years of damaging controversy.  His complex lyricism held deep insight as he stepped into and occupied the characters and their plight. Embracing the pain, Michael used every fiber of his being in the portrayal, changing points-of-view and agonizing over each.  The music and performances were breath-taking in scope and imagination, while unburdening and captivating, opening all to the potent possibility of love.  His intelligence and vulnerability, his pure heart and unconditional love moved souls across the globe.  Only those predisposed to agenda, cynicism, and narrow-minded artistic viewpoint remain untouched in their prejudice of ignorance.

“During his life, Michael layered his music and dance with meanings and metaphors that spoke to the various aspects of the human condition.  In 1991, he presented his BLACK OR WHITE video and accompanying PANTHER DANCE, which addressed issues of racism, bigotry and rage.  In contrast to the themes of cultural brotherhood and uplifting messages of the first part of the video, the CODA  sequence, misunderstood by some, expresses Michael’s personal resistance to the dark underbelly of human nature.  One can see every fiber of his body rebelling against injustice, fear, hate and poverty.  Significance lies in the lack of music…Michael is the music and the message and the warning.”

Tribute Portrait

“To dance with Michael Jackson, to take his outstretched hand, is about more than honoring a difficult and extraordinary life and immense gifts…though it is time we did that without grudging, judging and telling lies.  It is something we must do for ourselves and for each other…not in an attempt to keep ourselves safe from the present pain and danger, but to move farther into the most perplexing aspects of our own lives, and confront them with joy.  It is a way of choosing the kind of future we want and the kind of people we want to be.  Dancing with Michael Jackson will mean letting go of hatred and fear, acknowledging beauty in what seems strange to us and being willing to take a chance.  It will demand that we deal with other people imaginatively, empathetically, in what we think of as our own space, and with respect.  In these ways, the dance Michael invites us to dance is a kind of ethical practice.  It is a way of living up to our creeds and professions, and of taking responsibility for our privileges.”

Toni Bowers Professor of British Literature University of Pennsylvania

“Michael fought for the tolerance of all people.  Michael fought the good fight.  He was someone who understood.  If he was burned, he built a burn unit.  If a hospital needed beds, he built the beds.  If they needed money in developing countries, Michael gave.  He never stopped giving and he touched those whose lives could  be reconstructed.”

Taken from a speech given by Congresswoman Sheila Lee Jackson July 7, 2009

To fight against venomous American racism, to threaten white supremacy…Michael bravely stood up to make this world better.  He did it with the masterpieces of his artistry.  He did it with his global outreach that knew no bounds.  He did it with his generous heart and his unconditional love.  He saw potential in the world’s people.  He imagined a Utopian world and created its prototype in NEVERLAND.  He inhabited human struggle, whether his own or that of others.  He refused to be boxed in, labeled or silenced…at the hands of Conrad Murray, he has moved on…but, his legacy speaks magically and harmoniously sings and dances around the world.  His messages are ongoing as charities bearing his name seek to continue what he started.  MICHAEL’S HEROISM IS FOREVER.

I love you, Michael!

I love you, My Dear Friends.

Jude

IN HONOR OF MICHAEL JACKSON

August 29, 2015

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KEEP MOVING…THE MICHAEL JACKSON CHRONICLES

Armond  White