“Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss.  But every once in awhile, you find someone who’s iridescent…and when you do, nothing will ever compare.”

Wendelin Van Draaner

“I have no aspirations to write a book about Michael Jackson.  Michael was a very complicated man, with many relationships with many people on many levels.  Many books are written (by body guards, best friends etc, siblings, ghost writers) which puts the authors even further away from knowing and understanding Michael and the entire story.  I think it is a great injustice to Michael to write a book assuming they really knew the man.  Only Michael could write his story and he did through his music.  JUST LISTEN.”

Karen Faye

Believing that something extraordinary is possible, consider taking the final journey home…certainly not unexpected in the grand scheme of things.  Feeding our dreams and, sometimes our nightmares, we have now left all of that behind, no longer haunted by our past.  With our triumph over tragedy, having found proof of love and proof of trust, we have chosen to believe our lives have made a difference.  Ah!  But what would that difference be?  Who will continue our story?  Who will celebrate the life to which we were born?  Will it be an honest and complete rendition?  If we add to the equation an epic life, what then?  I agree with Karen Faye…Michael’s life was complicated, huge in its proportions…layers upon layers, wonderfully paradoxical.  He represented the human spirit.  Each of us who are committed to PAYING MICHAEL FORWARD, protecting and preserving his artistry and legacy, constantly steep ourselves in source material to inform our writing, hopefully reaching as much of Michael’s tapestry as truthfully as possible.  I would like to believe that the rendition of my story would include memories from many, touching all aspects of my life, giving a clear picture of my character, but, that picture would be a sum total and not a singular impression. Quite honestly, I would want to tell my story. Michael said it himself…when we want to be close to him, listen to his music, the love is stored there…his History Album he said was a musical book.  He was his artistry, with each of his creations offering a window to his soul.  His inner life was unselfishly given to us everyday he danced the planet…a play of lustrous changing colors, a genius who saw answers before questions were asked, with magical iridescence.  Often showing his gratitude for his God-given gifts, he was rarely afforded respectful privacy, not even in death.  As in life, many wanted to attach themselves to him, seeking fame and fortune without merit.  Many have released books stretching associations beyond honesty.  Some have painted his entire life with the brush of a brief association.

We ask ourselves the questions:  What traits form the nature of  Michael Jackson? What moral and ethical qualities reference his behavior?

CHOSEN VOICES is a repository for Michael Jackson:  Transcribing Michael’s own words, studying Michael’s musical artistry, all aspects of his creative life, following his massive humanitarian life, sharing his messages, celebrating those who have been inspired to make change in the world.  Taken in total, a picture of the character of the man is absolutely clear.  Those who shared in Michael’s life have generously offered their loving memories.  When all is said and done, Brenda Jenkyns’ words ring so very true:  There’s no unknowing what we know. 

FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE

How are we so sure of who Michael Jackson was…we have studied and listened, and we believe.  Our goal:  To give the world the truth through education.

~Michael…you are the reason we are here.

Your character has been revealed through a lifetime of choices that were true to who you were born to be…your character intact both in life and in death.

~You are all our reasons.

Through his iridescent lifetime, Michael has written, sung, danced, generously given, rescued, saved, empowered, giggled, performed, instructed, modeled, created, pioneered, and loved his story for the world…beautiful in mind, body and soul…confident in the knowledge that his fans new the truth and joined him in triumph over tragedy.

~All our reasons defined by the character of an iridescent man…and steeped in our understanding and love~

“A complicated and complex man…very real with a deep love and appreciation for art, someone who very much embodied the dreams he inspired in others.  Michael loved challenge…to think out of the box and run head-on into the most daunting challenges.  Everything in Michael’s world was a reflection and companion to the whole…conveying a message and evoking an emotion, stimulating thought.  He didn’t believe in the impossible.  The appreciation for detail, and for things in life so often taken for granted was part of his magic.  He had magic because he truly believed it.  He didn’t believe in can’t or won’t.  He was a master at hiring the right people for what he needed done, perhaps because he had an uncanny ability to sense the highest potential in others and draw the best out of them.  Nothing could stay the same for very long.  He just had an eye for things that could work with a little magic added to them.  Living with intention and meaning is what motivated Michael.  To say that Michael was a perfectionist was an understatement.  He absolutely lived for performing live.  He put so much into every performance because he wanted it to be THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE MOST AMAZING SHOW ON EARTH.  Out of respect for his fans, it had to be full out every time.  He was humble, but humility is not the antithesis of knowing the importance of commemorating milestones.  Michael took notice of everything.  To look like the real thing it had to be the real thing.  Michael was a muse, a riddler and a prankster, but most of all, an inventor who refused to believe anything was impossible.  Through him, we embraced the same limitless philosophy.  HOW FAR CAN WE TAKE THIS…His mind, like the sky, simply knew not the concept of boundaries or limits.  Limitations, I learned through him, are either self-imposed or predicated by the limited visions of others.  Performance was a life, not a job.”

Michael Bush

KING OF STYLE

Dressing Michael Jackson

“Michael Jackson was destroyed like no other person in our time.  You have to remember that Michael Jackson was innocent.  He was proved innocent in our courts.  If you read the transcripts of the trial it is insanity, it never should have gone to court.  We persecuted him.  Every person who ever bought a tabloid or watched the news…we all contributed to his death by taking in that form of gossip.  I believe Michael in a sense is an American martyr.  Martyrs are persecuted and Michael was persecuted.  If you go to Youtube and watch interviews of Michael, you don’t see a crack in the facade.  There’s this purity and this innocence that continue throughout his whole life.  If it had been an act, he couldn’t have kept it up.  If you watch his 1992 concerts in Budapest and compare it to concerts today, you see such uplifting beauty and a message that you won’t see in any other artist of our time.”

David LaChapelle

~American Jesus-Hold me, Carry me boldly~

We know the truth, we have all the reasons, and we listen as Michael generously gives us his story.

STEEPED IN THE SOURCE OF IRIDESCENCE

WE PAY MICHAEL FORWARD TO THE WORLD

Jude