WRGO Magazine June 2015
Volume 2 - Issue #6
NOT GUILTY On All Accounts June 13, 2005
GLOBAL EVENTS: CELEBRATING & REMEMBERING MICHAEL JACKSON SIX YEARS LATER
MICHAEL JACKSON 2005 TRIAL Smoke and Mirrors The Media Circus Leaves Town No Hung Jury; No Re-Trial; No Conviction
Tribute Issue
“SHOUT IT OUT”: The Leonard Rowe JUSTICE CRUSADE
~ In A World Filled With Hate - We Must Emulate L.O.V.E.~
WRGO MAGAZINE SECTIONS
Books
Fan Videos
Humanitarian Projects
Birthdays
Valencia Dantzler Aka “Mother Diva”
Fan Art
Music
Tributes
Events
Accomplishments
Legacy Projects
“Shout It Out”
Children’s Projects
Snapshots
Advocacy/Vindication
Flowers for Michael
Spiritual
BLOGS
Poetry
Dispelling Myths
Life’s Parallel
Watchman
AdLLaw/Cadeflaw
Unchartered Waters
Forever In Our Hearts 2
REMOVING THE JUNK FROM THE COMMUNITY TRUNK ~In A World Filled With Hate - We must Emulate L.O.V.E.~
concerning him have become new.
The purpose of this magazine is to provide the audience with specialized information from a unique community; dedicated to and built upon the Love and Light of Michael Jackson.
We wish to be an avenue to the beautiful things going forward; and share those things in this magazine once a month. We want to appeal to the rooted
fans as well as the innovative.
We bring you this material by way of the countless groups and projects inspired by Michael Jackson.
Don’t put JUNK in your new TRUNK. It devalues your new found treasure.
Editors
This magazine will be dedicated to those projects with undertakings that build up the community; and actually possess the healing and light properties needed to help change a world filled with darkness and a community that has become infested with it. We wish to provide the Community Trunk with information about new and delightful support projects. There has been too much “Junk” in the old trunk and it is time we start anew by peeling away the old and rotted garbage and building a new community. Some old things we should keep because they are precious and should be preserved. We hope you will be a part of the solution and not the rubbish.
All rights reserved © 2014 What’s REALLY Going ON? Magazine
There should be no room for old junk in a new trunk. The old MJ has passed away and behold, all things
“What’s REALLY Going ON” A magazine to promote MJ and Non-MJ related Groups/Projects/Events.
Time for your Light to Shine 3
WRGO Magazine Editorial AN IMPERFECT WORLD
IT IS NOT THE TRUTH THAT SET A MAN FREE, BUT THE TRUTH THAT THE MAN KNOWS I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man. ~Alexander Hamilton~ Why, when we know that there's no such thing as perfect, do most of us spend an incredible amount of time and energy trying to be everything to everyone? Is it that we really admire perfection? No - the truth is that we are actually drawn to people who are real and down-to-earth. We love authenticity and we know that life is messy and imperfect. ~Brene Brown~
Two quotes on perfection that is good for what ails us and that’s realizing that we are NOT perfect. I don’t know how we came to that conclusion but it’s too great of a weight for us to carry. We are not capable of even coming close to it. We can do our best but at the end of the day our best is about all we can expect, think or even dream of. Michael Jackson spent his life trying to be perfect only because he wanted to satisfy everyone and had a desire to be the best at his craft. Did he come close? I personally do not think so. I think he neglected himself in order to devote more time trying to please his fans. I, personally, thank him for loving us that much but he didn’t have to be perfect for me. I love him just the way he was, scars and all. As stated by Alexander Hamilton, I never expected to receive a perfect work from Michael. He wasn’t able to deliver that. His Spirit lives on and he continues to be an extremely strong presence in the earth and that will do. As we continue to live in an imperfect world we remain imperfect people who make a lot of mistakes and every now and then manage to get a few things right. That said, as human-beings we do not and will not get it right all the time.
Although we wish to publish positive articles, thoughts etc. we will not ignore those who want to submit material based on truth that leads to informing and healing. The healing process is a difficult one and we may experience some pain on our way to the new tissue growth. Remember the healing starts from the inside and moves outward. We will not allow this publication to be used as a median for hate but we will not stifle the opinions of others either as long as the opinions are submitted free of any hatred. We respect Michael Jackson and at times we may touch on subjects that are uncomfortable. Some people ask questions that we don’t have the answers to but the “Watchman” attempts to respond with their opinion after making some evaluations on the subject. Remember, the truth does not make a man free but it’s the truth the man knows. 4
Featured Content CELEBRATING & REMEMBERING MICHAEL JACKSON SIX YEARS LATER 8 -17 18
GLOBAL EVENTS HISTORY TOUR CONCERT - Milan, Italy 1997 Part 1 - The Meeting: Mirella Giurco
FEATURED FAN ART/ARTIST 29 VISUAL ARTIST /PROFESSIONAL/TRADITIONAL ART Ferrara Graziella
ACCOMPLISHMENT 57
BETHANY HAMILTON'S STORY Soul Surfer
CHILDREN/YOUTH/EDUCATION 62
PRINCE JACKSON GRADUATES From Buckley High School
5
Featured Content POETRY/TRIBUTE 79
Tybid O’Bard A.K.A. (Ms. Hybrid) The Ring Without A Diamond
“SHOUT IT OUT”: CORRINE MONTORFANI 91
The Leonard Rowe JUSTICE CRUSADE
IN RETROSPECT - MICHAEL JACKSON 2005 TRIAL
NOT GUILTY ON ALL ACCOUNTS 100
Smoke and Mirrors The Media Circus Leaves Town No Hung Jury; No Re-Trial; No Conviction
6
INSIDE CONTENT PAGE
PAGE VINDICATION DAY: JUNE 13, 2005 - NOT GUILTY ON ALL ACCOUNTS
113 115
TRIBUTES/ARTISTS:ENRIQUE MOONWALKER
17
WPN 2015 IN CANNES:
116
MESSAGE FROM DAVID LITTLE
37
ARTIST SNEAK PEEK: NATE GEORGIO
117
GERTRUD BROERS: EMBROIDERY
38
NEW ARTWORK: KATARINA HODANOVA
120
SPECIAL FATHER’S DAY MESSAGES
39
IN THE SHADOW OF MICHAEL JACKSON: DAVEJEFFRYES
123
HISTORY OF FATHER’S DAY
40
BOOKS: The Music of 3T Magazine,
124
THE INVOLVED FATHER
125
FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS
16
TORRES, HUNTER KELLEY
Michael Jackson Innocent
41 - 43 MUSIC: LAURIEN, TAIS FRONT
44
NICOLE & SCOTTY: UNCHARTERED W ATERS
128
REMEMBERING DECEASED FATHERS
46
TRIBUTE SONGS FOR FATHERS
130
BLOGS:
48
Movies
MICHAEL JACKSON - INNOCENT VOICES
51
JUNE BIRTHDAYS
CHARLES THOMSON ISHMAEL REED
59
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: W HAT MICHAEL JACKSON DID FOR LITTLE RICHARD
132
DISPELLING MYTHS & RUMORS: LUNAJO PT. 32: TANGLED W EB (VIDEO)
61
CHILDREN/YOUTH/EDUCATION: IDENTIAL TWIN SISTERS
133
ADLLAW INITIATIVE: 1ST AMENDMENT
GRADUATE FROM NC A&T W ITH IDENTICAL 4.0S
GIVES MEDIA RIGHT TO SLANDER DECEASED
63
NEED MORE EDUCATORS LIKE NADIA LOPEZ
136
SAVING NEVERLAND OR PRESERVING A LEGACY
66
HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS: AKON CAMPAIGNS TO BRING CLEAN ELECTRICITY TO AFRICAN HOMES
137
THE WATCHMAN: THE PEOPLE VS. THE WATCHMAN
67
SNAPSHOTS
139
CONTACT/SHIPPING INFORMATION
71
FLOWERS FOR MICHAEL
140
NOTES FROM EDITORS/SUBMISSIONS
72
GLOBAL MJ SUNFLOWER GARDEN IN SWEDEN Christine Walldén
141
WRGO MAGAZINE DISCLAIMERS
76
SPIRITUAL: LOVE IS MAGICAL - DIANA FOLEY
142
WRGO ADVERTISING PAGES
78
POETRY: TAMMY MARIE
144
ATTRIBUTIONS
82
POETRY: DILMA LOWRANCE
83
CARTOONS: CONTINUE ROCK N’ROLL COMICS #36
90
LINDA DIVON & MICHAEL JACKSON CARTOONS
91
SHOUT IT OUT
97
LEGACY PROJECTS
98
WHAT LEGACY MEANS TO CHILDREN & ADULTS
99
MICHAEL JACKSON’S LEGACY 7
HIStory Tour Concert - Milan, 1997 PART 1 THE MEETING By: Mirella Giurco
8
Each year on the anniversary of 'Vindication Day' many fans join together around the world in a special prayer/visualization for the protection of Michael Jackson's legacy and his children. This year marked the tenth anniversary and many fans created a protective shield of LOVE and LIGHT so powerful around all of Michael's work, his name, image and memory, that no one could fail to see the TRUTH shining through! With our LOVE and UNITY we seek to transmute any negative energy in the collective consciousness (i.e. false perceptions, lies, injustice, hatred) into TRUTH, RESPECT and JUSTICE. We do this for the promise of a better tomorrow, in which Michael's legacy shines ever brighter... ever brighter... for generations to come, inspiring and healing the world in his honor. God bless you, Michael. He will always have our deepest love, respect and trust. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ♥♥♥ Major Love Prayer.Org
9
"At approximately 2:25 pm PDT (21:25 UTC) on June 13, 2005, the jury of the Superior Court of the State of California, held in and for the County of Santa Barbara, determined that Jackson was not guilty on all 10 felony and all 4 misdemeanor charges." Saturday, June 13th, 2015 10 year anniversary of MJ being found Not Guilty Special Show
Tom Mesereau & Friends
King Jordan Radio Show Celebrate 10 Years of Michael Jackson Not Guilty. Video Credit Honest Media Followers
10
11
12
13
Light a WHITE candle for Michael
14
Episode 010 – Vindication Day 10th Anniversary Special with Tom Mesereau
15
June 13th the 10th anniversary of MJ's acquittal. He was set free but his spirit was destroyed because of lies. "Lies run sprints but the truth runs marathons." EXACTLY! Always innocent, always loved. "MR JACKSON, YOUR BAIL IS EXONERATED AND YOU ARE RELEASED", Judge Melville said. We believed in you then, we believe in you now!! We love you, Michael. 16
WPN 2015 In Cannes Richard Nilsson and Joseph Jackson Yvonne, Justine, Paula More on WPN 2015 in July Issue of Magazine 17
HIStory Tour Concert Milan - June 18, 1997 Part 1
Mirella Giurco Trieste, Italy
18
HIStory Tour Concert - Milan, 1997 Part 1 - The Meeting At the end of February 1997 the Italian Press reported the news that Michael Jackson was going to perform in Italy again, as part of a European Tour that would debut on May 31, 1997, in Bremen, Germany, in the second leg of his HIStory Tour that had already begun on September 7, 1996, in Prague. I was at the hairdresser’s when I read the news in the newspaper, and I just could not believe it, that Michael was coming to Italy again. I was so thrilled and excited about that, at the idea that Michael was going to perform in Italy again. The next following days I just couldn’t help repeating to myself: - “Oh, my God, he’s back, he’s coming back to Italy again, my adorable Michael, and I am going to see him, Live, once again … I just can’t wait!!” I immediately went back with my mind and recalled that July 4, 1992, when I had seen him, for the first time, in Rome, in his “Dangerous Tour Concert” and Michael had been as wonderful as I had dreamed he would be and more so. From this moment on, I tried to do my very best to find out all possible information about it, and I made sure to listen to the radio and television, and read all the newspapers and magazines I could put my hands on, looking for some more news on when the tickets were going on sale.
around 7 a.m., and there were already about 25 people in the queue, so this time I wanted to be among the first people in the queue. I remember that while I was on my way to the box office so early in the morning, I said to myself: “This time I am going to fool everyone, arriving over there already at 6:30 a.m. sharp, and I just want to see how many people are already there, at such an early hour of the morning!” - I was sure I wouldn’t have found so many people already there, so early in the morning, and I thought I was going to be one of the first people in the queue. When I arrived at the box office, at 6:30 a.m. sharp, with my great disappointment and annoyance, I found that there were already ten people waiting there, and I remember thinking and wondering to myself: - “Gosh, look at these people already here … Damn, didn’t they sleep last night, I wonder, at what time did they get here? Is it ever possible that these people are already here so early in the morning?” – I was really very upset, because it seemed that no matter at what time I got there, there always was already someone waiting and already queueing for Michael’s tickets. It was unbelievable to me. Anyway, at 8:30 a.m. the box office opened and soon I found myself holding my precious ticket in my hands. I was really overjoyed and also this time, as in 1992, that ticket meant the world to me!! I had my ticket and I was going to see Michael again. No one was happier than me, and I just couldn’t wait to see Michael again!!! But it was only April, and I had to wait until June to see him, and it seemed quite an eternity.
At mid-April, Milan Concerts and RadioRama magazines gave the official news that Michael Jackson was going to give a single and only Concert in Milan, at the G. Meazza Stadium, on June 18, 1997, of the three Concerts that had been previously budgeted and put into program, with great disappointment for the two other cities left out, especially Naples, which seemed certain. No explanations were given about why only a single date. A few days later, I learned that on April 24, 1997, the tickets were supposed to start going on sale. 60.000 tickets available, stadium capacity 120.000 spectators, (but some areas of the Stadium were not available, as they were under repair works). So on April 24, 1997, very early in the morning, at 6:30 a.m. sharp, I arrived at the box office where Michael’s tickets were being sold, while the tickets were going on sale starting from 8:30 a.m., but I decided to get there very early in the morning as I knew that when it comes to such a Superstar of the calibre that Michael Jackson was, people usually rushed to the box offices and hundreds and hundreds of people started queueing up for Michael’s tickets already starting from very early in the morning, and having seen that in 1992 for Michael’s “Dangerous Tour Concert” I had arrived at the box office
On the first week of May, Milan Concerts informed by means of an agency that already 50.000 tick19
ets had been sold, and this was surely a very good sales result.
The Concert was on Wednesday June 18, but I left from Trieste to Milan, very early in the morning, on Monday June 16, two days before, as I wanted to get all possible opportunities of seeing Michael; this time though, I did not fly, but I went by car. It took me four hours and thirty minutes, to get to Milan from Trieste by my car, and I got to Milan, at about 11 a.m. As the check-in at the hotel was possible only after 2 p.m. I decided to walk around Milan, a little. Milan is one of my favourite Italian cities, together with Venice, to which I return year after year. Vibrant and cosmopolitan city, Milan is rich of history, art, culture, and it is the capital of Italian fashion, (with its famous boutiques), as well as of design and business. Because of its position in the heart of Milan, the Duomo is usually the first stop when visiting the city, so there I went. Then I went to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, this 18th century glass and iron covered Gallery which is home to many beautiful shops, restaurants and cafes, and I sat down and had a coffee and read a newspaper. By now, it was already lunch time, so I went to a restaurant and had something to eat and stayed there until it was the right time to get to the hotel and check-in.
At the end of May I asked the personnel office of the Insurance Company where I worked to give me a week off, from Monday, June 16, to Friday, June 20, 1997, to go to Milan, to Michael’s HIStory Tour Concert, and I was given permission for the whole week off, and from that day on, the “countdown” began, until the GREAT DAY!!! As in 1992, also this time, there were some rumours spreading everywhere, that said that Michael Jackson would arrive in Italy, Milan, a few days before the Concert, as he was to appear in some Television Shows, and he would also attend to the Three Tenors Concert, “Pavarotti International” in Modena, on the night before his own Concert, so I, who did not want to lose anything about my beloved Michael, decided to leave to Milan, two days before, as I also had done in 1992, when I went to Rome, to see Michael in his “Dangerous Tour Concert”. On the first days of June I learned that Michael Jackson would have stayed at the Hotel “Principe Di Savoia” (Prince Of Savoy Hotel), and I also came to know that some Italian fans had decided to stay in this 5-star luxury hotel, themselves, (sleeping in groups of people, to share the enormous cost of the room) to be able to have a direct contact with Michael, and at first, I remember thinking that this was pure madness, quite sheer folly. Then, on the following days, I started thinking about that quite a lot, and so, all of a sudden, I changed my mind, and as I myself, am a little crazy and sometimes I tend to do crazy things myself, I started thinking that, after all, me too, I could stay at the Hotel “Principe Di Savoia”, WHY NOT, so this was “another of my follies” and I suddenly found myself dialing the number of this 5-star luxury hotel, to book a room for myself, for three nights, (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). Once I got my booking confirmation of the availability of the room and I had the reservation of my room in this 5-star luxury hotel, I suddenly repented and I was taken by a thousand doubts and scruples and I kept asking to myself: - “What have you done, you fool? Are you crazy or something? Don’t you realize how much all this, will cost you? YOU FOOL!! After this madness of yours, you’ll need to tighten your belt for a whole year or more!!” - Of course I would have to, I already knew it, oh yes, I knew it very well, but now it was too late to repent, I had done it, and I had my room at the Hotel “Principe Di Savoia”. I just couldn’t believe it. On the one hand I had already regretted and repented having booked the room in such a luxury and expensive hotel, on the other hand, I was very happy I did it, I had such mixed feelings.
Finally I reached my hotel, and, oh my Gosh, when I got there, I was really struck and quite stunned by what I saw. This hotel was really one of the most exclusive venues and its imposing neoclassical façade of this first class hotel enveloped a combination of old-fashioned opulence and cutting-edge technology and style. As soon as I set 20
foot in this 5-star luxury hotel I realized that the “Principe Di Savoia” was a hotel not for young, or common people, but for those, who are used to service and quality. In this hotel, they surely know what they are doing, which is what one wants most. Arguably, the best 5-star establishment at a very good value, really an excellent “Cost x Benefit”. It was definitely the nicest classic hotel I have stayed in, and when I walked into my room/ suite, on the fifth floor, I realized that the room was impressively spacious and quite large, it was such a beautiful room/suite, well-decorated and luxury furnished, and the bed was both large and superbly comfortable, so I thought to myself that, this hotel would have contributed a lot to my fun, and to make my Milan trip very special, because in this hotel I had such a lovely and cosy accommodation, and it was such a great splurge, a luxury hotel that was both luxurious and welcoming, with a sophisticated and adult atmosphere tempered with hospitality and warmth, all in all, it was definitely worth staying in this wonderful place, worth its price, and the service was really top notch, from check in to restaurant to the concierge, they really know what service means here, so staying in this 5star luxury hotel made me feel just like a “Superstar” myself, and now I really was very happy. So I finally got settled in my room/ suite, I unpacked my suitcase, and then I decided to take a shower, and my Gosh, the bathroom was amazing, really very large and beautiful, and it had everything you could
want and more, like being in a fairy tale, and everything was so luxurious, and I really felt like a princess. Now it was 4:15 p.m. of Monday 16, 1997, and Michael had not yet arrived at the hotel. I knew for sure that Michael would arrive in Milan on Monday, June 16, so I rushed downstairs and I went outside the hotel to check and see what was going on and wait for Michael’s arrival. On Monday, June 16, Michael Jackson, actually, arrived in Milan, by a private jet that landed at Linate Airport, at about 5:10 p.m., and he was welcomed by a huge crowd of devoted fans of his, and he was quite taken up with the enthusiasm of his fans, screaming “We love you Michael”, and he was quite overwhelmed by all that demonstration of love. Immediately after his arrival in Milan, and being warmly welcomed by the many fans at Linate Airport, Michael moved to the “Principe di Savoia” Hotel, where crammed outside the hotel, there were many fans who were waiting for him. As soon as Michael’s car arrived at the hotel, the huge crowd of screaming fans warmly greeted him, chanting his name, “Michael, Michael”, and Michael opened the window and greeted everyone with a wave of his hand, giving to all of us, one of his most gorgeous smiles. As the fans kept on yelling to him, “Michael we love you!” Michael responded: “I love youuuu Italy!” At this point I rushed inside the hotel to see if I could still get a glimpse of Michael before he got into his suite, and I became aware that a group of fans who were staying at the hotel were able to meet Michael and shake his hand, so I rushed and joined them right away and, thank goodness, I was able to shake hands with Michael myself, as well as greet him and I remember that I managed to say a very shy: “Welcome to Italy” and he answered back with a great, gorgeous and sweet smile, and said: “Thank you so much”. His handshake was strong and determined and it transmitted me a kind of an electric current and it was a very cool moment, and I felt like I was floating on air in that very moment, and I felt that he really appreciated his fans. My heart was pounding as if it had to burst out of my chest 21
at any moment, as I was under a very strong emotion. Now I was so happy and my joy was uncontainable, and I blessed a thousand times the very moment I booked my room in this luxury hotel, as all the money in the world was worthwhile spending, if it brought me to meet Michael and get so close to him. Then Michael got into the elevator, the elevator door closed and Michael disappeared and reached his suite, and he no longer left the hotel that evening, but he stayed into his suite all the time. Once he got into his suite Michael appeared several times at the window to greet his screaming fans, who had gathered outside the hotel, and were chanting his name “Michael, Michael”, carrying huge placards which said “Michael we love you” or “King of Pop” or “Michael you are a Gift from God” or “Michael you are a genius” while they kept on singing loudly his songs, and he yelled back to them “I love youuuuu”, sending all of his fans into raptures.
upstairs, and I wished him “Good morning!” Then I got up and decided to relax myself a little bit in the bathtub, then I put some make-up on my eyes and face, (I never go out without make-up), I dressed up, and went downstairs to have my breakfast. At the “Principe Di Savoia” Hotel, a buffet breakfast is served between 6:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. so I had all the time to enjoy my breakfast. While I was having my breakfast, some of the fans that were staying at the hotel and that had met and shaken hands with Michael on his arrival, the day before, approached me and asked me where did I come from, and how long had I been a Michael Jackson fan for, so I invited them to sit at my table and we started talking about Michael and our mutual love and passion for him, and we became friends, and to this day we are good friends in the name of Michael. Since 6 a.m. a flood of Michael Jackson’s fans had planted themselves outside the Hotel “Principe Di Savoia” under the windows of Michael’s suite, and they stayed there all day, waiting for him, and hoping to get a glimpse of him, chanting his name, “Michael, Michael”, waving their placards and singing his songs. At mid-morning, Debbie Rowe discreetly arrived from Paris and joined her husband at the Hotel, while little Prince stayed in Paris with his Nanny.
On that Monday, June 16, in the evening, from 9 p.m. to the early hours of the next day, to pay tribute to Michael Jackson, many Italian Television Channels broadcasted some of Michael Jackson’s videos: RAI Channel 1, broadcasted “Michael Jackson: The Making of Thriller”, RAI Channel 2, broadcasted “The Moonwalk”, RAI Channel 3, broadcasted “The Wiz”, ITALIA 1 Channel, broadcasted “Ghost”, Channel 5, broadcasted “Motown 25 – Yesterday, Today, Forever”, RETE QUATTRO Channel, broadcasted “Smooth Criminal”, some other private television channels also broadcasted some of the Michael Jackson’s videos, (I don’t remember which one of the private television channels), broadcasted the video “Michael Jackson, Live in Bucharest”, so it was really a great tribute that Italy paid to Michael Jackson, and I truly hope that he, up there in his suite, was able to watch and see how much Italy paid tribute to him, and how much he was loved by the Italian public. So, that evening, from 9 p.m. until very late at night, lying in my large and comfortable bed in my cosy room, I watched television and saw Michael until late. Then I switched the television off, and I tried to sleep a few hours, thinking of Michael, and wondering what he was doing up there, in his suite, whether he was already sleeping or not, at that very moment, and I just couldn’t believe that for three nights we would have slept under the same roof. Before falling asleep, I wished Michael “Good night” and wished him “Sleep well Sweetheart, and do have sweet dreams”. But I hardly slept that night; usually I am quite a sleepyhead and I have no problems falling asleep, but that night, I just could not get to sleep, and the thought of having Michael just upstairs from where I was, prevented me from falling asleep.
Just before noon Michael walked out of the hotel and granted himself to his many fans, meeting every one of them, massed outside, who since 6 a.m. they were waiting to see him, and full of gifts for him. He shook hands with many of them, talked to them, and decided to be particularly available to all his fans, and always surrounded by his bodyguards, he let his fans, shake hands with him, hug him, kiss him, and he replied to his fans greetings, thanked them for their compliments, signed many autographs, and accepted their many gifts. Apart from this going out to meet his fans, throughout the day, Michael never left the hotel. He was supposed to go shopping and sightseeing, but because of the huge throng of fans and paparazzi present everywhere near the hotel, eager to catch him and get to photograph him, and also due to the enormous wave of enthusiasm all around Milan, as Michael was literally getting Milan crazy, there was no shopping and no sightseeing for Michael, but he decided to stay in his hotel suite with his wife. He only went out in the late afternoon, to reach by car, the Braglia Stadium in Modena, to attend to the Three Tenors Concert “Pavarotti International”. By now it was already 1:10 p.m. and I started feeling rather hungry, and I decided it was time to go and have lunch. I went back to my room to take the money, and when I got downstairs, in the lobby I met my new friends, the fans who were staying at the hotel, and they asked me where I was going, and I told them I was going to the res-
On Tuesday, June 17, I woke up around 8:30 a.m. and as soon as I opened my eyes, my thought went to Michael, 22
taurant to eat something, and as the Hotel Restaurant was outrageously expensive they suggested that we all go somewhere “cheaper”, and one of them said jokingly: “You know, we are not Michael Jackson, we are just common people, and we don’t have Michael’s money!” - So we all found a very good and much cheaper restaurant, where we ate very well, and while we had lunch, the only subject of our conversation was, of course, Michael.
know, I am not a witch, and I am not a fortune teller, but actually, I am sensitive, and I’ve always “felt” things! And I just “felt” that we had to be here in this Lounge Bar, at this very time.” – And they just started staring at me as though I came from Mars! From this moment on, we all felt as though we were in the clouds, and we just could not believe this was really happening to us, and that we would have met with Michael, and that Michael wanted to meet with us. Everything just seemed so unreal, and we felt as though we were in a beautiful dream. All the fans in the Lounge Bar, just kept on yelling: - “Oh my God, Oh my God!!!” - And I just scolded them: - “Hey guys, what’s all this freaking out? Come on, don’t you remember where we are? We are in one of the most exclusive venues, we are in a 5-star luxury hotel, so please, do give yourself a proper attitude, and behave yourself. And they just asked me: - “How you can be so cold and detached, I wonder? Don’t you realize that tonight we are going to meet with Michael and talk to him? Does this mean nothing to you?” – And I just answered to them: - “It does, oh yes, you can’t even imagine how much it does. To me it really means so much, to me it means everything, to me it means the world, but you know, it’s just that in my life I learned not to show out my emotions and how I feel. Maybe deep inside myself I am dying from the great happiness and emotion, but I don’t make my feelings known. I’ve got this attitude from all the years I spent in Great Britain, and over there, I learned not to show out my emotions, and let’s say that since then, I’ve got this “British attitude”, if you want to call it that way”. Again they stared at me as though I came from another planet, and they just could not understand my attitude.
We got back to the Hotel at about 2:45 p.m. and I offered them to go and sit down for a while at the Hotel Lounge Bar and have a coffee or a drink, as they pleased, as I said to them, I just wanted to have some coffee, and they agreed, so we went and sat down at the Hotel Lounge Bar, and we stayed there for quite a while, chatting, guess about who? About Michael of course!! At about 3:20 p.m. one of Michael’s bodyguards entered into the Lounge Bar and ordered a glass of white wine and bought a bottle of mineral water. When he saw us, he came up to us and told us: - “Hi guys, I was just looking for you, I’ve got something to tell you, you are Michael Jackson’s fans, aren’t you? Michael wanna meet you tonight, after he comes back from Modena, so please, get ready to meet him tonight, he’s gonna meet you all, tonight, at the Hotel Meeting Room, so make sure you’re all there to meet him when he comes back from the “Pavarotti International Concert”. -
Now it was almost 4 p.m. and some of the fans said they wanted to go and buy something for Michael, to give to him as a gift when we’d meet with him; one of them said he needed to lie down in his room for a little while to calm down, therefore as it seemed that each one of us had different needs and intentions, we parted and each one of us went his own way.
We were totally stunned and lost for words, and we just couldn’t believe what we had just heard! One of the fans, Alfredo, was quite shocked and excited by what the bodyguard had told us, that he seemed to have to pass out at any moment, so I told him: - “Hey, Alfredo, for God’s sake, come on, calm down, and recover my friend, if you are that shocked just for what the bodyguard told us, what are you going to do tonight, in front of Michael?” Another fan, Laura, asked me: - “Who are you, my friend, are you some kind of a witch or sensitive, or what? How the hell was it that it came to your mind to get in here to this Lounge Bar, just at the right moment?” - And I just answered to her: “Well, you know, let’s say I’m something of that kind! You
When I found myself on my own, I had lots of thoughts and different feelings deep inside myself and I did not know what to do; I had to decide what to do and I just could not make up my mind, so I went back to my room to think about what I was going to do. Since I woke up that morning I had had the wish to go to Modena to see the “Pavarotti International Concert”, myself, this was something that I would really have very much liked, but I did not know whether the tickets were still available, and then, now, that we had to meet with Michael I was afraid that I would not have come back in time for the meeting with Michael, and I did not want to miss that meeting for any23
thing in the world. It takes two hours to go to Modena from Milan by car, so I really feared I wouldn’t have come back in time; but yet I thought that Michael himself would have had to cover the same route by his car, together with his bodyguards, so if it took me two hours to get back to Milan from Modena, it would have taken two hours to get back to Milan from Modena, also to Michael, to cover the same route; Michael didn’t have the Gift of Bilocation after all, so all these thoughts and worries crowded my mind, and the more I thought about that and what I had to do, and the more I did not know what to do. Then, all of a sudden I decided what to do: I was aware that the hotel concierge could arrange Concert tickets, so I rushed downstairs and asked the concierge whether the tickets for the “Pavarotti International” Concert were still available. He told me that either the “Three Tenors Concert” or the “Michael Jackson HISTORY Concert” were both sold out and there were no more tickets available, but he also told me that it was not a problem if I really wanted to see the “Pavarotti International” Concert, as it would have been broadcasted, Live on Television, on RAI Channel 1, at 8:50 p.m. that very night, as being the Three Tenors Concert “Pavarotti International” a Charity Concert, and its proceeds would go to the renovation of the “La Fenice” Theatre in Venice, destroyed by fire, it would have been broadcasted Live on Television at 8:50 p.m. That was really very good news, and the problem was solved, and everything had turned out for the best. I could attend to the “Pavarotti International” the Three Tenors Concert, simply by watching to it on television, comfortably in my room/suite, and then I would have been ready to go and meet with Michael, in the Hotel Meeting Room, without having to kill myself and drive and run as fast as possible to get back to Milan in time; and then, you never know what can happen on the road, when you are driving as fast as you can to get to somewhere in time.
something to buy for Michael, I suddenly recalled what my late mother used to tell me: - “Sometimes, there’s no need to spend a fortune to buy a gift for someone, but it’s just the thought that counts, and even a small thing can make someone happy”. - Yes, I knew that this was true, but here, this “someone” was Michael Jackson, it was not a common “Mr. Nobody”, so it was not that easy, far from it!! I went around a lot of shops searching to find a nice present that could just be what I wanted and I was unable to find anything, and everything just seemed to be always inappropriate a gift for Michael, and I just seemed not to be able to find anything, anywhere. It just seemed that everything was inadequate and just did not fit my needs and wishes. So I began losing hope to ever be able to find something that could fit for the purpose. Then I started addressing myself to Heaven to get some help, as I really wanted to give Michael something and I did not want to be before Michael empty handed. Then, all of a sudden I found myself before a bookshop, and I thought that Michael liked books very much and he had plenty of books at his home, so I stepped into the bookshop to see whether I could find something interesting. I asked the shopassistant where I could find books written in the English language, and he showed me where the foreign language books department was, and I started my long and thorough research. There was a very wide choice of books of all kinds and on every subject, and I started scrutinizing many titles of books and I examined them in the inside to find the most interesting one for Michael, but I couldn’t bring myself to a proper choice. There were some books that I defined “interesting”, but not knowing Michael’s taste in matter of books, I did not know what to do and what to buy. So I continued my research around the shelves, until I stopped on a title: “Michelangelo: The Vatican Frescoes”; this book immediately caught my attention and I said to myself: - “Hm, this sounds interesting, let’s have a look inside”. - The foreword of the book said: -“In this unique volume the restoration of Michelangelo’s magnificent frescoes in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel is shown in its entirety, and all the majesty of Michelangelo’s masterpiece is brought breathtakingly to life. This book shows Michelangelo’s works in their newly restored splendour”. - I did not need to go on reading the foreword until the end, as what I read just convinced me that this was the right book to buy for Michael. I had so many times heard Michael speak about Michelangelo and how he admired and loved Michelangelo’s art work, so I thought this was the right book, to buy, and the proper gift to offer to him. I was very satisfied, I had found something which I hoped could interest and please Michael. Now I only needed a nice card, to accompany the gift with some words to Michael. I found a very beautiful card in which I wrote these words. “
So now that one issue had been sorted out, I could relax and worry about “something else”. I really wanted so badly, to go and buy something for Michael, to give him as a gift from me, during our meeting, but I just did not know WHAT to buy him, and I kept on asking to myself: - “What can I possibly buy to someone who has got everything? He’s use to having the best things and the most expensive things, and he can have everything in the world that he wants, and I do not have all the money in the world to buy him very expensive presents. I’m already making the greatest effort just for being here in this 5-star luxury hotel, so what could I possibly buy him?” - I really did not know, I had no clue!! So I decided to go out and see what I could find and buy for him. While I was walking through the streets of Milan, looking at the windows, in search of 24
To Michael, with all my Love, Affection, Admiration, and High Esteem. I’m very proud and honoured to be your fan and to have the pleasure to meet you tonight. I love you so very much, and I always will. You mean the world to me. May God Always Bless You, Your Family and all the ones you love. From your faithful and devoted Italian fan, Mirella Giurco – Trieste, Italy”.
Michael Jackson was going to arrive or otherwise, and Luciano Pavarotti said: - “He will arrive, he will arrive, don’t worry, he is on his way, I just spoke with him on the phone and he told me he is on his way”. – Then, finally, Michael’s car arrived at the Modena Stadium, and all the television cameras were immediately on him, shooting his entry at the Modena Stadium. Michael was met and welcomed by Mrs. Nicoletta Pavarotti, who, on the red carpet, escorted him to his seat in the front row. Michael sat down at his seat, next to the movie director Franco Zeffirelli and other celebrities.
When I got back to the Hotel, it was already dinner time, so I went to my room and put down Michael’s present, then as I did not feel like going out once again to have dinner, I decided to go and eat something at the Hotel Restaurant, even though it was very expensive, but I wanted to stay in the Hotel, also to be able to get back to my room to watch to the Three Tenors Concert “Pavarotti International” as soon as I had finish my dinner. By now, Michael had already left, and was on his way to Modena. As soon as I finished eating my dinner at the Hotel Restaurant, I rushed back to my room and turned the television on, and I went to RAI Channel 1, and I found out that they were already talking about the Three Tenors Concert “Pavarotti International” and they had already connected up with the Braglia Stadium in Modena where the Charity Concert was to be held, and I heard the TV reporter who was saying: “Over here, at the Braglia Stadium in Modena, we are all eagerly waiting for Michael Jackson’s arrival, as he is supposed to attend to the Concert, but at least so far, there is no sign of him, and no one knows whether he will actually arrive or not. At this point the TV reporter went to Luciano Pavarotti’s dressing-room and asked him whether
Then the Concert began, with an introductory speech by the presenter, who dwelt on the purpose of this Charity Concert, who was being held to raise money for the renovation of the “La Fenice” Theatre in Venice, destroyed by fire. While the presenter was speaking, Michael was often framed by the television cameras, and I just wondered whether Michael was getting bored by this long speech, as I don’t think he understood a single word of what the presenter was saying. Then the Concert began and the three Tenors, Pavarotti, Carreras, and Domingo, followed one
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another on the stage and it was a wonderful succession of songs and opera pieces, and Michael was very often framed by the television cameras applauding the three Tenors.
the Hotel Meeting Room. As soon as he entered the Meeting Room, smiling to all of us brightly and greeting us very warmly, it was like the whole world and everything just stopped and stood still. The feeling was surreal, and the atmosphere was amazing, and I just saw this beautiful, well-dressed Angel, walk through the door and come to meet us all. He was very handsome and so very beautiful; he was very polite, and well spoken, and he was really wonderful, like he always was, and I will never forget that smile, that mesmerizing smile of his, that just took my breath away, and at this point, all my old “British attitude” just faded away, and I found myself under the greatest and most intense emotion I had ever felt in all my life. He truly looked amazing!! All the guys, and I, just suddenly silenced and froze, and Michael simply smiled again and pressed his hands together in greeting. When I saw Michael I stared at him and I just said to myself: - “Oh my goodness, he is very beautiful, HE IS SO BEAUTIFUL, he is the most beautiful creature that I have ever seen!!!” And I swear, I was totally taken by him and by his arresting and amazing presence. HE WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL CREATURE IN THE WORLD!!! He really was. His very presence was amazing. Michael had an amazing, remarkable Aura, almost a Supernatural Aura, which emanated from him, and it was like being hit by a wave of awareness and spirituality. The guys could no longer contain their joy and their emotion and they just burst out saying: - “Oh my God, Michael is here, oh my God!!” - Then they yelled to him: “Michael, we love you!” And Michael answered back: - “I love You More!” - At this point I just could not keep back my tears, and I started crying ; I, who had always boasted about my “British attitude”, I was crying from the joy and happiness that I felt deep inside myself. Michael had the power to change the world, and to loosen the hearts and minds of people, and he was just doing this to me, he just melted my heart and soul. All the guys and I, just melted around him. Michael possessed the charismatic power to change people’s lives just with a smile, and a smile from
At the end of the Charity Concert, Michael went backstage and met with the three Tenors, in the dressing-room, he congratulated them and posed for some photos with them.
At this point I turned the television off and I started getting ready for the meeting with Michael. I was very excited at the thought that I was actually going to meet him and talk to him, in a short time, and as the time went by, and our meeting got nearer, my excitement grew more and more, as I still could not believe that this was actually happening to me!! I was taken by the strongest emotion and I just could not get to calm down. When Michael came back from Modena, where he attended to the Three Tenors Concert, “Pavarotti International”, as guest of honour, a candlelight vigil of his diehard devoted fans welcomed Michael back, on his return to Milan, and Michael greeted his numerous fans, who were waiting for him outside the “Principe Di Savoia” Hotel, with a very beautiful and warm smile of his, waving his hand to greet them all. There were many television cameras that were shooting the scene, of Michael’s return to Milan from Modena, and the candlelight vigil was really very moving and overwhelming, and once he entered into the Hotel, Michael went back, for a moment, to his suite, and he appeared at the window and greeted his fans outside the “Principe Di Savoia” Hotel once again, yelling to them all his “I Love Youuuuu”. While Michael was in his suite, one of Michael’s bodyguard, who had some kind of a walkie talkie in his hand, with which he spoke with someone, he beckoned us and told us to get into the Hotel Meeting Room as Michael was arriving. By this time we were very overwhelmed by excitement as at any minute Michael was going to walk through the door, and we could barely contain ourselves, then Michael actually came down and finally he walked in and met us all, at 26
Michael could heal the spirit and he knew how to choose the right words to touch people’s hearts.
great to see that I am not a stranger here, in Milan, or wherever I go, all around the world, you never make me feel a stranger, but you always make me feel at home, and this is really great. Above all, I wanna thank you all, so very much for making all these sacrifices just to stay here in this Hotel; when I was told by the Hotel staff that some of my fans were staying here in this Hotel, just to be able to have a direct contact with me, I just could not believe it, and when I was told about that, I just said to myself that I had to meet you all, and that I wanted to meet with you all here, ‘cause I just could not miss all this great love that you’re giving to me. I’m really overjoyed, and I thank you all so very much for your wonderful reception. I’m humbled by the incredible reception that you’re all giving me tonight. It’s just so beautiful!!! I feel so blessed and grateful to have such wonderful and loving fans and I am very happy to be here tonight sharing all this love and friendship with you all, and I just wanna thank you all, once again, for being here. Now, you’ll have a special evening, tomorrow night, at my Concert, and I want you to have a wonderful time, and I hope you’ll like it and that you enjoy yourself. I look forward to the Concert tomorrow evening”. - Then he beckoned us to him, embraced each of us gently, and accepted all our gifts, he told us he really valued our friendship and love, so very much, from the bottom of his heart, and he thanked us for bringing him presents and smiled a blessing upon each of us.
I remember one thing in particular, that really struck me, and that is, how everything he walked past, just seemed to light up, and of how you just couldn’t take your eyes off him. Michael was taller than I had always imagined, Michael was nearly six feet tall with very large hands; I remember his large hands, and he had those very beautiful, incredible eyes, which I had seen in so many pictures of him, but it was nothing like meeting Michael in person, and seeing his eyes really close. When you were actually close to him looking at him, those eyes were so wonderful and unbelievable. I just kept on saying to myself: - “Oh my God, I’m sitting here next to Michael Jackson!!” - I never really got over that. He was so fascinating!!! We were not allowed to take any photos of Michael ourselves, and we had been told by the bodyguard, that if we did, Michael would just get up and leave and none of us wanted anything like that. So this is my biggest regret, that we were not allowed to take any photos, and, to be true, to this day, I don’t understand WHY it was so!! It just doesn’t make sense to me, but we had to respect what we had been told, not to spoil everything. Maybe it was because, I guess, this way he could relax a little more and enjoy the meeting with us, after having attended to the “Pavarotti International” Concert, and after having been under the spotlights and the paparazzi’s flashes and the media attack with cameras constantly in his face, all that evening in Modena, and even then, on his arrival back to Milan, he had found plenty of television cameras shooting at him all the time, so Michael, maybe, just needed to be left alone for a little while to relax and enjoy our meeting. Michael greeted us all, and then he started talking to us and he said: - “Thank you very much for coming here, it means a lot to me, it really does. It’s great to be here in Milan and I love you all, so very much, from the bottom of my heart. I want you to know that I love my fans all around the world. Thank you so much for your continuing love, and support, and for supporting me over the years, and for your loyalty; your loyalty means a lot to me. It is the love and support of my loyal fans that inspire me to work hard and to be what I am, and everything I do is because of you, and I wanna thank you all, for supporting me and my career and everything I have done, and I shall do in the future. I owe my fans everything. I would be nothing without my loyal fans. I’ve, so many times, said that my fans are my family, and you really are all, my family, and wherever I go I feel I’ve got family all over the world, and all my fans truly are a part of me. It feels
I remember going over to him and giving him a big hug, then I thanked him for meeting us all, and I offered him my present, telling him that I hoped he liked it. He answered back to me with a wonderful smile of his, he thanked me for it, and he just started unwrapping his present right away, just there, in front of me, and when he saw the book and read the title “Michelangelo: The Vatican Frescoes” he really seemed overjoyed and delighted, and he said “he loved it so very much”, he thanked me once again, and said “he’d read it and treasure it forever”. Then he opened the card which accompanied his present, read the words I had written, and seemed quite moved and gave me a strong hug and while he was hugging me he just whispered: - “Thank you sooo much!” I was deeply moved and I was under a very strong emotion and my legs were shaking in a way that you can’t even imagine. I had gone over in my head, for hours and hours, about all the things that I was going to say to him, and here I was up close to him, and the words just wouldn’t come out. He literally left me speechless. What also really struck me was the fact that when you were in Michael’s presence you felt the energy shift, as he had a special and remarkable presence, and Michael had really 27
a huge charisma which could be very well felt and perceived. The more I watched him the more I loved him. He was simply MAGIC!!!!! He was the noblest person in the world, and no one on earth, could compare to his inner and outer beauty. Due to my work, as a writer and researcher, I met so many people, talked to them, experimented and worked with them, but no one, ever, was even close to Michael’s charisma. He had something more than the average person, and when you were close to him you felt as though you were in the presence of greatness, and you were aware that you were in the presence of somebody really “special”. Michael DID have something special, a radiance, and when you were in his presence the whole room changed. Everybody radiates from a different frequency and Michael had the highest level of energy, and being close to Michael I was immediately bathed in his energy. He had that inner light that came from God, and I could feel his Soul.
was! I was too happy to worry about the time. I had never looked at my watch during our meeting with Michael, so I had not realized how late it was. I was not at all sleepy, not even a little bit, I was awake more than ever, and I was full of emotions deep inside myself. I was quite touched and deeply moved, by what I had just experienced, meeting Michael, and I had a lump in my throat that hurt a lot, and I was literally shaking from head to foot, and I just have tears in my eyes, as I'm recalling and writing it now! It was that cool. It was that unreal. It was that magic!!! The whole two and a half hours of our meeting with Michael just flashed by like a few seconds. That night I hardly slept, even though it was very late, but I just could not get to sleep. I had a storm of feelings deep inside myself that prevented me from falling asleep. Even though I was unable to get to sleep, I wished Michael “Good night”, I thanked him for everything that he had done for us, I told him how much I loved him, and I wished him “Sweet dreams”.
When he had unwrapped all the presents that we had given to him, and he had thanked all of us for giving him those presents, he told us that he always kept and treasured all the gifts and presents that he had received from his fans, around the world, and that his fan’s gifts and presents were all displayed in one room in his home, and everything he had received from his fans was on display, and that all those things and objects, to him, were kind of pledges and reminders of affection from people who loved him and that could not be with him, and that he really loved keeping and treasuring all that stuff from his fans. Michael was supposed to stay for only half an hour at our meeting that night, at the “Principe Di Savoia” Meeting Room, but he ended up staying with us, for about two and a half hours, and he was absolutely happy, and it seemed that he never wanted to leave. And believe me, these were the best two and a half hours of my whole life, and they will be remembered and treasured, deep inside myself, in my heart and soul, along with Michael, for the rest of my life.
PART 2 - THE CONCERT IN NEXT ISSUE OF MAGAZINE
Mirella Giurco Trieste, Italy
When our meeting came to an end, we all thanked Michael for giving us so much of his time, we shook hands with him one more time, gave him a big hug, and he gave to each one of us, a big hug and he granted us one of his sweetest and warmest smile, and he said to us: - “It was such a great pleasure to me, to meet you all here, guys, and I wanna thank you all, one more time for coming to stay in this hotel, thank you so much for everything that you have done for me, it means a lot to me, it really does. I love you all. I love my fans beyond words, I really do!!” When I got back to my room that night, it was very late, it was almost 4:30 a.m. but I just did not care how late it 28
FEATURED FAN ART/ARTIST Visual Artist /Professional/Traditional Art
Ferrara Graziella Graziella: It was June 25, 2009. The whole world receives the news of the death of the greatest artist of all time: Michael Jackson! ... I had a phone call at home... from that moment my heat was in pain, I could not believe it, and it sounded no possible. After searching all the possible news I had to …with reality that "My Michael" was gone. The days after my mind flow remembering the discovery of him, as a
A LITTLE INTERVIEW ...JUST FOR FUN… WRGO: When did your passion for art, design and creative techniques started? It’s the classic child talent?
Graziella: I think the passion for drawing has always been inside me. I still remember an episode in kindergarten when I was three years old, when, after copying a duck draw on the wall, the teacher called all the children around her desk praising what it was a natural thing to me! Then, I learned the methodology attending the Art School and later, the “Academy of Fine Arts” in Palermo (Italy). There I had the real approach with various painting styles, from simple pencil drawing to watercolor; from paintings on canvas oil or acrylic going on the of various surface decoration, terracotta, Plexiglas, ostrich eggs, wood, metal, plaster bases; interior decoration, ceilings, facades of ancient villas and signs for shops to get the technique of engraving. I also had experiences related to sculpture with the design and implementation of reliefs in clay and small statues, also passing by the realization of scenic panels. In short: a charmed life and spending for Art ! WRGO: When did you start to work on MJ? 29
young girl... the years of high school when I was painting with his music in Walkman. The pain increased and it was nearly physical, my whole being was under stress. It’s during that period that I made up my mind and I decided to revive his memories for those who did not know Michael ‘s music and work. It was like a therapy, to destroy the tears and the sadness. I also realized that many people do not know all his songs, perhaps the most beautiful, the most significant. So I imagined the album paintings on canvas, all his ALBUMS. Thus I began a journey that’s still, in the course of work. The seven large paintings that I made with the technique of acrylic on canvas, it is precisely in the order: Off The Wall Thriller—Bad—Dangerous— History (Past, Present and Future) Book1— Blood on the dance floor—Invincible. The inspiration for these big works (214 cm x 160 frames included), came from natural beauty always been very dear to Michael. For this reason I plunge the main character, Michael into the four basic natural elements: Air, Water, Earth and Fire. Bad, I made the evolution of a whole day, from dawn to full light, from dusk to evening, up to the night to reach the constellations, to fix on canvas the emotion for my favorite album, which I consider the "perfect" one as "perfect" is the changing hours the cycle, the light, the climate, during every single day.
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In Off the wall, the main theme is the Music! I needed, for obvious reasons, a canvas that symbolized the musical genius of Michael Jackson, the man who more than anyone has influenced every genre after him. So, in the background I spread large fields of colors, the seven shades that form the rainbow, as closely related to the variety of the seven musical notes. Then, Blood on the Dance Floor, is set in an interior in Baroque style that Michael loved so much and of course inspired by the music video of the song itself. In this canvas there is just a glimpse lease to Invincible because, as representing the Earth theme, it’s the last album appearing on a shelf in record stores, and so, to me, sets his "last words", a spiritual testament which narrate with images. In that way carry on my artistic activities I find myself talking of a story already told in music, and that now, with no pretense, I'm moving on canvas. It’s yours a full time activity or it’s a hobby? I saw you made exhibitions of your painting! I’m committed full time with it waiting that my idol will be better understood. Meanwhile I contribute to it with my voice and my works, in hope to attract the audience. The traveling exhibition entitled: "Moonwalk with you", was made with the aim of spreading and to appreciate the artistic and the humanitarian side of Michael. To better understand from where the painting inspiration comes I quote Michael Jackson own words: "When I talk about magic I mean: prodigy, excitement, wonder, surprise, escapism ... The creation of something that is truly incredible, and an illusion. I like people to enjoy new situations of any kind and make them believe all its normal, so no one can expect anything and it amaze the mind. This is what I call it magic, wonder. (...) "(From an interview with Michael Jackson in Encino, 1984).
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SNEAK PEEK - JULY 2015 ISSUE
Artist To The King Of Pop Renowned for his celebrated paintings, Nate Giorgio is one of todays most respected fine artist’s. Combining the many styles of his classic techniques with a modern flair, his paintings have developed a fan base that includes collectors around the globe.
Nate Giorgio 37
NEW WORK FROM ARTIST KATARINA HODANOVA
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In The Shadow of Michael Jackson 39
BOOKS The Music of 3T Magazine Complete retrospective look at 25 years of 3T music ABOUT THE BOOK Release of new 3T music. At times in which the music industry is still changing and has been changing dramatically over the past decades, it is the perfect time for a complete retrospective look at the 3T music that came before and helped shaped the sound of what 3T is today. This magazine covers all the music 3T shared and released in 25 years, from their backing vocals for a track of their uncles in 1989 to their debut single and album releases on CDs, vinyls and cassettes to digital files online offering a sneak peak of their new sound in 2014...
http://www.blurb.com/b/6128398-the-music-of-3t-magazine
1. Michael Jackson: Innocent will be a featured prize at Kingvention, London September 2015. One lucky person will receive a free copy of the book. 2. We have had a conversation with Waterstones Harrow, a worldwide book chain to ascertain if they would be able to feature a book event for Michael Jackson: Innocent on Michael Jackson's vindication day 13 June 2015. 13 June 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of Michael Jackson's acquittal and it would be a tribute to Michael Jackson, his family, his legal team and many worldwide supporters if this could be done. We have suggested to Waterstones Harrow that we gift them 14 copies of the book so that they can run the event. One book for each charge that he was acquitted of. We hope that this will be possible, please contact Waterstones Harrow to show your support. (twitter: https:// twitter.com/WatHarrow) Be nice to them we need their support and assistance. It would be incredible to have this BOOK EVENT, and it would be wonderful and giving if they hosted it. Thank you. 40
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Laurien - -A Quem Temerei? (Acoustic version) "A Quem Temerei?" is the beautiful new single from Brazilian songstress and Ra-Ness Music recording artist Laurien Out December 14, 2014!! Pre-order now! Video Published on Jun 2, 2015 by Rob Ra This is Brazilian songbird Laurien’s debut video for the acoustic Portuguese version of her Gospel single, "A Quem temerei?� Available to download now on: Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/a-q... Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Quem-Temere... Google play: https://play.google.com/store/music/a... Released on Ra-ness music; Laurien is a multi-talented Singer/songwriter/guitarist, who has been singing since the age of 3, and playing the guitar from age nine. Now currently working on her solo debut album in London with Producer Rob Ra, who also filmed this acoustic video version. A quem temerei means "Whom shall I fear," and the first release is in her native language of Brazil, but have no fear, there will be an English version coming soon.
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For Michael Jackson Tais Front October 12, 2013 Seductive angel clear voice Tais Front, her impeccable love to people, her unique feelings are the key to a successful career of talented singer who has influenced many fans. Her performance in the song "For Michael Jackson" earned her love and popularity of audience. A lot of Michael Jackson's fans all over the world also became Tais Front's fans. She's an all-around entertainer: a great actress, a good singer, and a beautiful, elegant woman. As someone who is fond of fashion, Tais combines its artistic elements with her music videos and performances. She uses different styles and tries to harmonize it with the music while performing. While she almost exclusively releases English and Russian songs, Tais recorded several Jewish songs. She's an amazing performer, vocalist, and even outside of that, she's an amazing businesswoman. She's the perfect model for what an artist can be.
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Nicole
Best day ever working with this amazing dude! Photo shoot with the ultimate master photographer, Dave Morehead. Photos and videos coming soon loves!
Scotty
Hey guys. It's Scotty. Busy day for the two of us on FB,I know. Wanted to share this with you guys. I was reviewing some of our vids, and my sis did such a good job on this live performance of ours. She sang in her higher register that she is mostly pretty shy about, and I think that's why she "forgot" to post this video. So I'll do it for her. Her voice is perfection in our rendition of Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars' "Safe and Sound". When Nicole sings in her higher register, it's beautiful, and I think you guys should hear it. Maybe we could show her some encouragement and show her she doesn't need to be nervous about showing off her voice. Thanks guys. You're all awesome. Hugs. -Scotty
https://twitter.com/themusicinme777 (Twitter) https://www.facebook.com/themusic.inme.7 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcgKFMzFYClUX-VjpZJHJ-g
~Nicole & Scotty~ 45
TRIBUTE SONGS FOR FATHERS Madonna, "Papa Don't Preach" In the pop stars' iconic song, Madonna tells her father about her pregnancy and though it's probably not what one would want to hear on Father's Day from their young daughter, the defiant song is a highlight on Madonna's 1986 album "True Blue." Singing "What I need right now is some good advice," she reaches out to her dad for guidance. Madonna's single was No. 1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks in 1986.
Eric Clapton, "My Father's Eyes". Clapton wrote this song to parallel looking in the eyes of his son, who died at age four, and the eyes of his father, who he never met. The heartbreaking song shows the singer longing for the experience of a father-song relationship: "Bit by bit, I've realized," he sings, "That's when I need them / That's when I need my father's eyes." The single made it to No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen, "My Father's House" Springsteen had an uneasy relationship with his father, but this song talks about overcoming these difficulties and embracing him. The Boss sings, "I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart / Will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts."
The Temptations, "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" . From the 1972 album "All Directions," this classic single is about an absent father. They sing, "Papa was a rollin' stone /Wherever he laid his head was his home / And when he died, all he left us was alone." It was a No. 1 Hot 100 single in 1972.
Luther Vandross, "Dance With My Father" A guaranteed tear-jerker, Vandross wears his emotions on his sleeve as he pines for the days "before life removed all the innocence" where he'd joyously dance with his late father before being carried to bed. The single peaked at No. 38 on the Hot 100 chart in 2003. Terry Steele performs Luther Vandross' song - Dance with my Father live. Luther Vandross never had a chance to sing this song live. Terry worked with Luther and wrote "Here and Now", one of Luther's biggest hits.
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VIDEOS Michael Jackson in studio with Quincy Jones, sessions "State Of Independence" MJ in the studio with Teddy Riley during Dangerous session The Story of BEAT IT on Thriller Michael Jackson - Backstage Thailand History World Tour 1996 HD History Tour Around The World (backstage footages) - Prague Wait - The Jacksons
Anything for Michael Jackson Korean Girls heart - Smooth Criminal Michael Jackson 6 years among the Angels
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Michael Jackson in studio with Quincy Jones, sessions "State Of Independence" Video Credit: Msflower5552
MJ in the studio with Teddy Riley during Dangerous session Video Credit: nenabunena
The Story of BEAT IT on Thriller Video Credit: nenabunena
Michael Jackson - Backstage Thailand History World Tour 1996 HD Video Credit: AlexyzJacksonHD
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History Tour Around The World (backstage footages) - Prague Video Credit: MichaelJacksonCity
Wait - The Jacksons Video Credit Elena Arribas
Anything for Michael Jackson
Korean Girls heart Smooth Criminal Facebook
Michael Jackson 6 years among the Angels Video Credit: ThePhonchrist
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~ Happy Birthday~ 51
Syl Mortilla
Alpin Chewandy
Robert Edwards
Jakob Metselaar
Tanya Hutch
Angela Margie-Franco
James E. Gray, Sr.
Hitesh Anchan
Ahmed Jamaleddine Jomni
Kimiko Sokimik
Prince Majestic Jackson
Donte Jackson
Prince Majestic Darvai Károly
Paula Jóźwiak
Maxine Evans Gray
Mengesha Francis
Holy Crotch Grab
Margarita Alexandros Ozmanian
Frank Henry
Shanda Gray-Steele
Waseem Raza
Vincenzo Lorusso
Neversettleforlless Williams
Darryl Phinnessee
BeautifulBlack Queen
Karen Faye
Cookie Ames
Federica Cambini 52
Pat Jackson
Jessica Jackson
Lorraine Flaherty
Siedah Garrett III
Autumn Colpean
Susie Nichols
Viktoria Vinokurova
Danielle Lutcher
Melissa Peralta Ahedo
Manuela Fode
Althea Tombley-Carter
Olga Theodoropoulou
Mylo Fuertes
Edmond Baker Jr
Martine Leonard
MaryAnn Feudale
Michael Lee Bush
Rev. Jacquie Lewis
Karlene Taylor
MJ Brookins
Emmily Rinc贸n
Tammy Bimrose
Antonella Giordano
Ricky Nardella
Christian Muster
Maria Artemiadou
C Renee Jones Bullard
Siggy Dealz Jackson 53
Shirley Alves
Tom Jones
Tina Hall
Iggy Azalea
Morgan Freeman
Kanye West
Andy Griffith
Faith Evans
Anderson Cooper Michael J. Fox Deniece Williams
Ice Cube
Angelina Jolie
Tupac Shakur
Kenny G. Eddie Levert Brian McKnight Rosie Perez Prince Bill Cobbs 54
Omar Batti
Donte Jackson
Stevanna Jackson Siggy Jackson 55
Bethany Hamilton’s Story What Michael Jackson Did For Little Richard
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BETHANY HAMILTON’S STORY Soul Surfer Video Credit: GodLife.com
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board Excerpts from the book Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Bethany Hamilton, Sheryl Berk, and Rick Bundschuh. Published by MTV Books/Pocket Books. Copyright by Bethany Hamilton
They say Bethany Hamilton has saltwater in her veins. How else could one explain the passion that drives her to surf? How else could one explain that nothing—not even the loss of her arm—could come between her and the waves? That Halloween morning in Kauai, Hawaii, Bethany responded to the shark’s stealth attack with the calm of a girl with God on her side. Pushing pain and panic aside, she began to paddle with one arm, focusing on a single thought: “Get to the beach....” And when the first thing Bethany wanted to know after surgery was “When can I surf again?” it became clear that her spirit and determination were part of a greater story—a tale of courage and faith that this soft-spoken girl would come to share with the world.
I was prompted to find out more about Bethany Hamilton after, by chance, finding this video where the Tom Joyner crew was making fun of her tragic surfing accident. I could not believe they would make a joke out of something this serious. However, I don’t know why I was shocked because they joke about everything. Take a listen.
Bethany Hamilton Attacked On Tom Joyner Morning Show
Video Credit: Dusco25 Uploaded on Jul 17, 2011 Black talk show host Tom Joyner sings a racist song poking fun at Bethany Hamilton's tragic surfing accident where she lost her arm to a tiger shark. This was a 13 year old girl. I guess making racist fun of a 13 year old white girl is ok while calling a group of adult women basketball players’ bitches and hoes is an abomination.
Soul Surfer is a moving account of Bethany’s life as a young surfer, her recovery after the attack, the adjustments she’s made to her unique surfing style, her unprecedented bid for a top showing in the World Surfing Championships, and, most fundamentally, her belief in God. It is a story of girl power and spiritual grit that shows the
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body is no more essential to surfing— perhaps even less so—than the soul.
I was just a kid, probably around five years old.
When people ask me what my faith in Christ means to me, I usually answer in just one word: "everything!" This was true before the shark attack as well as after. And I truly believe that this faith is a big part of what did get me through it. It helps to know that even when you don't have a clue why something has happened in your life, someone up there has a master plan and is watching over you. It's a tremendous relief to be able to put your trust in God and take the burden off your shoulders. My plans to be a professional surfer got hit pretty hard on that Halloween morning. It was my own personal tsunami. In the days, weeks, and months that followed I had a lot of cleaning up to do. Often, it was scary or trying. And I won't lie to you: in some ways it still is. I've worked really hard to become a pro surfer, and am now competing with the best women surfers in the world.
Her Story It came, literally, out of the blue. I had no warning at all; not even the slightest hint of danger on the horizon. The waves were small and inconsistent, and I was just kind of rolling along with them, relaxing on my board with my left arm dangling in the cool water. I remember thinking, "I hope the surf picks up soon..." That's all it took: a split second. I felt a lot of pressure and a couple of lightning fast tugs. Then I watched in shock as the water around me turned bright red. Somehow, I stayed calm. My left arm was gone almost to the armpit, along with a huge crescent-shaped chunk of my red, white and blue surfboard...
But for me, knowing that God loves me and that he has a plan for my life that no shark can take away and no contest result can shake, is like having solid rock underneath me. Bad things are bound to happen to everyone. That's life. Here's my advice: don't put all your hope and faith into something that could suddenly and easily disappear. And honestly, that's almost anything. The only thing that will never go away, that will never fail you, is God and your faith in him. All I can say is He gives me a really strong foundation for everything I do in life.
I remember most clearly what the Kauai paramedic said to me in the ambulance: He spoke softly and held my hand as we were pulling out of the beach parking lot. He whispered in my ear, "God will never leave you or forsake you." He was right. I believe in God. Nobody made me believe; I don't think you can or should try to force someone to believe something. And even though my parents taught me stuff about God and read Bible stories to me from as early as I can remember... it was my choice to become a believer in Him. The way I see it, putting our faith in God is something that each person has to come to on his or her own. It's your own personal relationship with Him; a bond that's as unique as a fingerprint.
http://animalbackgrounds.com/tigershark/tiger-shark-eatingfish-galeocerdo-cuvierwallpaper.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=TMooiBajG7A Bethany Hamilton- 10 Years Since Shark Attack Video Credit: Jessica Sirnic
Some people don't think much about this kind of stuff unless something terrible happens to them, or like my parents, until they are older. But I can remember putting my trust in Jesus Christ when
Find out how you can have a personal relationship with God like Bethany, http://www.soulsurfer.com/connect.html 58
WHAT?!! LITTLE RICHARD GOT HOW MUCH MONEY FROM MICHAEL JACKSON?!!
Many folks have called Michael Jackson many things ranging from the greatest of all time, to the worst, but one thing he definitely should be called was one of the REALEST stand-up guys in the music industry, and another reason why we all should continue and encourage everyone to pay homage to the great soul legends! In fact, here’s what MJ did as a way of paying homage to Little Richard…Word on the Old School curb is that when MJ bought the publishing rights to the Beatles catalog, he was unaware that the Beatles owned ALL of the rights to Little Richard’s publishing, which then meant that MJ acquired all of the rights to Little Richard’s publishing. As soon as Michael found that out, he immediately GAVE Little Richard ALL of his publishing rights back because he believed that Little Richard deserved to be compensated for his hard work after having been disrespected by his READ FULL STORY HERE record label for so many years prior to. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Little Richard’s net worth is $40 million, so we’re sure those publishing checks had a lot to do with that. As we all know, most soul artists were not getting paid what they were worth back in the day and Little Richard was caught up in that mix. So it’s beautiful thing to have had an artist like MJ in the music game who was willing to reach back and uplift the greats who paved the way for him. One thing about Michael is that he was not as soft spoken as we may have thought and he was NOT one to be tested on any level. Don’t believe us? Check out this EXTREMELY RARE video of MJ telling a modest crowd of his fans how much he ain’t never scared of the execs in the music industry who were trying to do everything in their power to destroy him. 59
CHILDREN/YOUTH EDUCATION
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/25900000/July-year-1996-South-Africa-michael-jackson-25939344-600-404.jpg 60
Black Girls Rock! Identical Twin Sisters Graduate From NC A&T With Identical 4.0s Identical Twin Sisters Graduate With Identical 4.0 Grade Point Averages Two Virginia twins who were previously were coValedictorians at their high school with 4.0 GPAs have done it again. Alissa and Ariel Barrow recently graduated from North Carolina A&T State University with identical 4.0 grade-point averages. Their paths through the university have varied only slightly over the past four years. Alissa has been an economics major. Ariel majored in marketing and sales. Alissa had two internships with GE Capital; Ariel, with Kraft and 3M. They’ve been active in different organizations, the Aggie Economics Association for Alissa and the American Marketing Association for Ariel, for example. Their academic accomplishments are nothing new. The twins were co-valedictorians at Armstrong High School in Richmond, Virginia. At A&T, both were honor students and received the Dowdy Scholarship, the university’s preeminent four-year scholarship. And they arrived on campus with the same goal.
“When we came in as freshmen, we definitely had a goal to graduate with a 4.0,” Alissa says. “We had an honors mentor who actually had a 4.0. That set the groundwork for us. We said, ‘If she can do it, then we can definitely do it, too.’” After graduation, Alissa will go to work for GE Capital; Ariel will join General Mills. Congrats to Alissa and Ariel.
ARTICLE POSTED AT 9:30 PM ON MAY 27, 2015 - BY BOSSIP STAFF
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Prince Jackson Graduates from High School Congrats to Prince Jackson who graduated from high school on Saturday, May 30, 2015. The oldest son of the late Michael Jackson got his diploma with honors from the exclusive Buckley School in California's San Fernando Valley.
Prince and Aunt LaToya Jackson
In attendance to cheer on the Class of 2015 grad was his famous aunt La Toya Jackson, his grandmother Katherine, his sister, Paris, and his cousin and legal coguardian TJ, among others.
Prince and TJ Jackson, his cousin and guardian "So very proud of @princemjjjaxon YOU DID! (sic)," Auntie La Toya tweeted. "And you did it with Honors!!! #buckleyclassof2015" Like any other proud family, when Prince's name was announced they jumped up, screamed and
whistled, causing him to flash a big smile as he was handed his diploma.
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WE NEED MORE EDUCATORS LIKE PRINCIPAL NADIA LOPEZ
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PRINCIPAL NADIA LOPEZ: “WE CAN TAKE THESE CHILDREN WHERE THEY WANT TO GO� Mott Hall Bridges Academy principal Nadia Lopez captured the attention of the nation after being spotlighted on Humans of New York. Since then, she has helped raise more than $1 million for her students and recently met with President Barack Obama and Secretary Duncan in Washington, D.C. Ms. Lopez reflected on her experience, reminding educators of the impact their words can have on the success of their students.
Principal Nadia Lopez: The impact of Humans of New York Video Credit: usedgov
Principal Nadia Lopez and student, Vidal visits President Obama at White House.
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Humanitarian Projects
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PLATINUM-RECORDING ARTIST CAMPAIGNS TO BRING CLEAN ELECTRICITY TO AFRICAN HOMES
The American music star was raised in the West African country of Senegal without electricity, so he understands the hardship of not having access to power. After coming to the U.S. with his father and making a name for himself in the music industry, Akon has decided to give back to Africa something it direly needs: clean energy for homes. Akon, the multi-platinum hip hop recording artist, has set his sights on a brighter future for Africa, with his Akon Lighting Africa program.
The Akon Lighting Africa project will harness one of Africa’s greatest resources – the sun – to power houses with efficient, clean energy. The initiative includes installing solar-powered street lights and residential solar systems in African villages, as well as solar equipment in African households. The clean energy provided to homes will allow millions of children to have access to electricity and improve their education through extended study hours.
The initiative, in partnership with Give1Project and ADS Global Corporation SA, is on track to bring
Akon is touring nine African countries – Senegal, Mali, Guinea Conakry, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and the Ivory Coast – in nine days to meet with leaders about the solar-powered project. In partnership with the movement to bring clean energy to African homes, an alliance was signed between the private entities: Akon Corp, SOLEKTRA International – BYD Solar, Azuri Technologies UK, NARI (Member of China Grid Group), CJI, the non-governmental organization Give1Project and the governments of different African nations to support the initiative.
clean electricity to one million African homes by the end of 2014. The pop star wants to give back to the continent he grew up on by alleviating the crisis situation for millions of families in Africa living without electricity. About 550 million people live without access to electricity in Africa, and 25 African countries are experiencing an energy crisis, according to the World Bank. Just 1 percent of private-sector energy investment currently flows into the continent. Akon is stepping in to help Africa harness some of its vast natural resources by creating clean energy for homes and communities.
NationalJournal, Akon Lighting Africa http://www.psfk.com/2014/09/akon-socialawareness-solar-power-africa.html#articles-paneclose Author: MARNIE KUNZ SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 ARTS & CULTURE 66
SNAPSHOTS 67
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FLOWERS FOR MICHAEL
Arrangements left on the patio area by various fans that came to pay their respects to Michael.
Michael's Corner June 9, 2015 SEE FLOWER ARRANGMENTS FROM “FLOWERS FOR MICHAEL” GROUP IN JULY ISSUE OF MAGAZINE
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As I was about to leave today, a lady bug balloon floated over the top of Holly Terrace and landed in front. Of course I took that as a sign that it was meant for Michael and added it to the flowers that were already there for him. (ST)
A ”GLOBAL MJ SUNFLOWER GARDEN”
IN
SWEDEN
To honor Michael and give his fans a common place to find Comfort, Strength and Love in is what a Swedish fan have put her heart in…….A global meeting place filled with Sunflowers in all heights, shapes and colors from seeds sent from fans all over the globe. But EVERYONE is welcome to her FB page to see her daily uploaded Sunflowers when they start to bloom in JulyAugust. Christine Walldén says: After Michael had to leave us June 25th 2009 I became a part of the wonderful FB group “Sunflowers for Michael” and when Lisa Marie Presley told us that Michael loved Sunflowers, he called them “Happy Flowers” and that she used to decorate the house with them so he would feel happy, we decided to shower him in Sunflowers…………I love nature and I am an artist so I often use sunflowers in my art that I for almost 2 years sent weekly to be by his side inside Holly Terrace at Forrest Lawn, now it´s for special occasions. I started to grow sunflowers 2012 and 2013 a few friends sent seeds to me, I uploaded a few photos and our “Global MJ Sunflower Garden” was born. This third season seeds have arrived from NY - PA – NJ – MA – IL and Kansas USA, Yssel - Amsterdam – Dordrecht and Deventer in The Netherlands, Poland, Canada, The island of Madeira and the mainland in Portugal, Eng-
land, Italy, Canada, Norway, Neukirschen/Vluyn Schönebeck and Gütersloh in Germany, Piraeus and The island of Samos in Greece, Belgium, France, Russia, Taiwan, and Sweden. Seeds from almost 30 places in the world are now growing in our “Global MJ Sunflower Garden”. These are seeds from Michael´s global fans…..even his dear friend Rob Swinson who build his beautiful Neverland have sent seeds to our “Garden of Love”. Between 600 to 700 plants will hopefully bloom and spread Michael´s message of Love, and among them are also seeds that I have collected from earlier seasons.
I collect seeds every autumn and I both give them away and sell and the money go to help children in need wherever help is needed in the world. There is so much LOVE in the garden and I feel Michael close when I work there. The birds, bees and the butterflies feel like messengers from him and I am never alone. There's always something to do in the sunflower garden, it is encouraging that it is growing fast but it is sometimes difficult to find time to shift their support. This must be done all the time so they are not too tight or too loose so they survive if it is windy.
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They must be watered 2 times a day and showered when it is too hot, but it is a rewarding and love filled "work" and I have a kind husband that helps me shower them in the hottest time of the day while I am at work. I LOVE to take photos and I always have my camera close and to know that my photos will put a smile on a face, give strength to meet a new day or give consolation to a sad heart is so rewarding and the reason I do this.
I think this garden with its gathered MJ Love must be unique and I hope it will glow all the way up to heaven so Michael see how loved he is by all of us.
With endless MJ Love from Christine WalldĂŠn, Sweden 73
MORE PHOTOS FROM
”GLOBAL MJ SUNFLOWER GARDEN” IN SWEDEN
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SPIRITUAL
Call for Love Love is Magical ~Diana Foley~
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LOVE IS MAGICAL from people they like. Teaching looks so easy, but
Call For Love: June 7, 2015
when done well it is a lot of work. Getting the techTwo experiences this week conspired to put my fo-
nical pieces to hang together is important, but for me
cus firmly on love. The first was the movie, “Music
is only about a third of the total.
from the Heart,” which tells the story of a white violin The most important part is relating to the students,
teacher in Harlem. She not only teaches the children
so they can feel that they matter, and that someone
to play the violin, she loves them into believing in
cares about them and wants to help them become
themselves. The program that she started is still go-
the very best that they can be. I know that, when I
ing strong many years later, kept alive not by the
see substandard work from one of them, it’s most
system but by the children and their families. The
likely that they are not just being lazy or careless.
second experience was watching the funeral of the
They are probably trying to keep a dozen balls in the
son of our Vice President. The son died at the young
air, and the balls have started falling. They need me
age of 46 of brain cancer. But when he was a small
to recognize that this is the case, and to respect
child, his family was in an auto accident which killed
that, yes, they knew the work was substandard, but
his mother and sister. The most heart-wrenching
it was all they had to give at the moment. So, in re-
moment for me, was when his brother spoke of his
sponding to my boss, I simply said, “I work their
first memory, lying in a hospital bed with his brother,
butts
who held his hand and kept telling him, “I Love you,”
off
and
love
them
to
death.”
over and over and over again. How much better the world would be, if we always I think we can take love so for granted. It becomes
cared enough to help people become the best they
comfortable, like an old pair of shoes. It’s been there
can be; if we ignored our egos and focused on con-
every day, and in becoming familiar, we may be in-
cern for others; if we loved “to death” everyone
clined to devalue its importance to us. I wonder
around us. That would truly be magical.
sometimes if I love those around me enough.
~Diana Foley~
And then… Last week, my boss sent me an email telling me that students are “clamoring” to be in my classes. “What are you doing?” she asked. She and I have worked together elsewhere, and she knows me very well. She knows very well what it is that I do. But I think she just needed me to say it. So many teachers forget that love is an important part of their jobs. Long ago, I read somewhere that people only really learn 76
Poetry
77
78
THE RING WITHOUT A DIAMOND
79
What’s the purpose of a King if he has no
matter if your black or white because you still have
crown, what’s the use of having billions if you
to face the man in the mirror. With all the love came
don’t have the heart to feed the one’s that are
the hate critics always want to be starting something
genuinely impecunious. Why get
you
so I told the world to just leave me alone then I beat
don’t bleed, why perform in front of the world
it, but after a while I realized that it’s only human na-
if you can’t handle the scrutiny. What’s the rea-
ture for the one’s that love you to grow to hate you.
cut
if
son for being born if you don’t bequeath a legacy, why interrogate my ethnicity, if you haven’t
This life that my father Joe Jackson provided
taken the time to learn your own history. If you
me I accepted it whole heartily. See daddy I
don’t know the solution to these questions then
still have your blood in me. I fought my battles
you have never met me.
publicly, went on the news to ask the world to allow my peers to judge me. Then I was called
I was given a thrown that I never asked for and
guilty because I quietly paid some people to
like the church song says I have the whole world
stop messing with me. The media labeled me
in my hands. I didn’t ask the people but they
as crazy because I was forced, to live my life
gave me the keys to this land. Being the king
through a microscope.
of pop is more than nobility it’s a responsibility that I take seriously. The only human born on
A majority of my life is lived in secrecy that’s why I
the planet with the essence, and energy to per-
had to have cameras on them when they were in-
meate the atmosphere the first beat to move
terviewing me. So the world could see the lies that
my little feet was the sound of an old washing
the media would unfold. No it wasn’t Billie Jean
machine that was knocking as it cleaned be-
but I have my two baby boys and a princess to
cause music is in everything.
protect. The ring without a diamond, the diamondless rings.
I was told as a child never say never, but now that I’m resting peacefully. I’m Kathrin Jack-
I beat the cases and now I’m ready to go back to
son’s invisible ring without a Diamond that on-
work. Show my kids that my music is more than a
ly she and my children can see. Don’t cry for me
momma
because
now
I’m
living
feeling its intimacy I’m a workaholic that suffers
my
from being a perfectionists. The only cure for this
dream, like Peter Pan my shadow keeps getting
disease is making love to the stage. That’s why I
away from me. I made it to heaven and Jehovah
named her dirty Diana because she let me do my
was the one who judged me. I made Trillions
thing. Let my children watch as I permit the beat to
and sold millions fed the ones that were in need
follow my feet. This is it Yall. The ring without a
and spent plenty of time visiting the sickly.
diamond, the diamond-less rings.
Performing in front of the world, hearing the people
The lacerations that I reaped from all the
scream my name out loud is my signature I’m moon-
scrutiny were very deep. Severe wounds, and
walking on the moon, I’m a smooth criminal that got
bad cuts that ran into the heart of me, The
away for admiring all the P.Y.T’s because it doesn’t
pain from my back combined with the lupus 80
kept me up at night so I couldn’t sleep, bad taste
I am no longer the genie trapped in the worlds bottle
in my mouth so I couldn’t eat, thoughts were
because now I’m free. To all the ones that did not
clouded so I couldn’t think, thirsty as hell but
accept or appreciate me allow my music to speak.
I couldn’t drink and lately God has been speak-
Besides the entire world is my thrown and I am still
ing to me, I needed some help so I asked my little
the Renaissance King of Pop. You remember the
sister Janet to help me scream.
time when the world was in love with me?
I was popping pill after pill as my veins drank
My body may not be here physically but best
the milk to eradicate the pain from my water-
believe I’m here spiritually. Just the other day
fall of thoughts and this excruciating back pain.
my shadow got away from me, only to find
The ring without
a diamond, the diamond-less
that he was busy entertaining Ms. Hybrid, my
rings. The world only views us as colors, rather
tinker bell. She is the human wolf with wings. My
than sisters and brother. The system goal is di-
shadow told her how it takes a village to raise
vide and conquer. When you break the chain
our kids, give the kids of St. Jude the opportunity
we lose our strength, besides I only see us as
to leave a legacy in remembrance of me. So
one race humanity. Now the world knows that
feed these kids, help them live and no matter
when I get cut, I bleed. God if you with me
the color we are all sister’s and brothers
please just allow me to do this one last thing.
Signed yours truly The Renaissance King of Pop MJ baby. KJ’s diamond-less ring
But On June 25, 2009 he had other plans for me instead. The whole world was turned upside down
Written by Tybie O'Bard A.K.A (Ms. Hybrid)
while I was asleep lying down in my bed. I felt a
April 07, 2014
strong pull and all of sudden I was watching this man covering my body with a blanket and pro-
This is my tribute to Michael Jackson. From the cradle to beyond the grave Poetically.
nouncing me as dead. All I could do is stand to the side and watch my children kissing and hugging me, saying their final goodbyes. I had to leave the room because it hurt me to see them cry, then I
Video Credit: Focus941
step outside and to my surprise, there was my mother with water in her eyes. Needless to say but I died twice I wished that I could hug them one last time and say I’m sorry for being human. There were some things about myself that I did not like so I changed them because I was cut. So I bleed. That was the same day; my mother’s diamond disappeared from her ring. The ring without a diamond, the diamond-less rings. 81
Why are there some things that can't be explained? It feels like my actions have brought me into a life full of vain My life feels like it is over and I have died. I only wish that I could have someone by my side That could help with all of pain suffering It hurts me because I never knew what my actions would bring Sometimes it feels like I have done everything that I can do The pain in my life at times is so deep it makes me feel like can't move Why do my past actions sneak up me from the past? These are things that I know will never go away and will always seem to last I only wish I knew why my actions seem like my life is full in vain It is driving me insane
This poem is not only about me But it is a part of all of humanity I hope this does some good And we can finally come together and see that our actions in life can be understood So that we can break up those fears And we see that there is no more reasons to shed our tears
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Rock N' Roll Comics #36 Michael Jackson released by Revolutionary on October 1, 1991 Jay Allen Sanford is a author, cartoonist, editor and publisher that worked to Revolutionary Comics, Carnal Comics and Pacific Comics.
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MICHAEL JACKSON COMIC ISSUE #36 PART 2 - CARTOON PAGES 7-11 OF 30
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STAY TUNED FOR MORE OF THIS STORY 89
Michael Jackson cartoons
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“SHOUT IT OUT”: CORRINE MONTORFANI
The Leonard Rowe JUSTICE CRUSADE 91
It seems that obtaining justice on “discrimination treatment” has become the life Odyssey of Leonard Rowe. In fact last March 2015 he sued his former attorneys, including former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell, for alleging having defrauded him. He affirms that attorneys intentionally withheld some email evidences so they could extort money from the agency instead of going before a jury. It is a clear sign that this Saga is far from over.
promoted concerts from Michael Jackson to Whitney Houston to Prince and many others. In his book “What Really Happened to Michael Jackson -The King of Pop” he explained very well all the industry issues in a chapter called “The Evil Side of The Entertainment Industry”. This section addressed his case and the Black Promoters Association who The book can be found and acquired at www.whatreallyhappenedto mj.com.
In 2014 he lost, in New York, a lawsuit which resulted in an order of him being arrested for filing harassing debtor Liens. Incredible but true: he was fighting racist Hollywood and instead of winning the trial, he was picked up from his home by Federal Marshals, arrested and placed in civil confinement. In order to come out from jail he had to dismiss his claim.
had filed a lawsuit against The William Morris Agency, Creative Artist Agency and others involved in the concert promotion business. This case was brought by Mr. Rowe and four others and involved the largest effort to bring about a sense of fairness in the live concert promotion side of the entertainment industry. Mr. Rowe, who was the President and one of the founding members of the Black Promoters Association had discovered, with many of his colleagues, that they were being forced to pay a 50% deposit, up front, to secure certain acts and artists to perform at concert venues across the country. This becomes more significant when they discovered that White concert promoters were being charged 0-10% deposit for the same artist in the same geographical venues.
Let’s step back briefly to see what happened in New York. Rowe was a client of the Law Offices of Gary, Williams, Parenti, Watson & Gary, P.L.L.C. For more than a decade. On February 20, 2014, a New York federal judge, ruled that the law firm were victims of an extortion plot, resulting that on March 7, 2014 the same judge ordered his arrest after he filed at least $1.4 billion in liens against Dentons and Loeb & Loeb LLP attorneys, as well as Williams Morris Endeavor Entertainment LLC. in defiance of a court order. U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson directed the U.S. Marshals to arrest Leonard Rowe.
In addition, Black concert promoters had other extraneous contractual provisions relative to
Leonard Rowe has been in the concert promotion business for 30 something years and has 92
percentages of ticket sales that White concert promoters were not subjected to. Finally, Mr. Rowe and his team of colleagues discovered that despite their best efforts and no matter how much money they put up front, they were never allowed to secure a contract to tour or promote a White artist or act, ever.
Artists Agency; while discussed entertainment
Another concern that was noticed was that after an artist had been cultivated and groomed by Black concert promoters, the music industry executives at The William Morris Agency and Creative Artist Agency would literally preclude Black concert promoters from touring these acts, such as Lionel Richie, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson whom Mr. Rowe had toured since the days of the Jacksons. So, all of a sudden, Mr. Rowe could not book a date successful cross over act that happened to have been African-American as only the White concert promoters were deemed “qualified” to promote these shows. This disparity had plagued the Black concert promoters and the black business community for decades until they felt that they had suffered and endured enough. They decided to take action to address their concerns. Mr. Rowe wrote letter after letter to music industry executives at talent and booking agencies, The William Morris Agency, Creative Artists Agency and others in an effort to address and hopefully ameliorate the atrocious disparities that they had observed, endured and documented and in all of his extensive efforts, the results were futile. But to make a long story short music industry executives did not listen to him and that is the reason why the odyssey went to Court.
luminaries such as Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, Halle Berry, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee and other noted black entertainers and concert promoters in their inter-office e-mails. The evidence revealed that not only was ‘nigger” used more than 232 times, there was also credible evidence that showed internal memorandums about concerts and venue dates with notations to “keep away from the blacks” and “don’t let the black concert promoters know” about this date or venue or artist. These people also kept away from black concert promoters all information relative to when certain acts and artists would be available in certain geographic venues. More than 2000 contracts were presented to Judge Patterson which demonstrated by way of documentation the contractual inequities between White and Black concert promoters. So the question emerges: Do the civil rights laws no longer apply to black people in America? This appears to be the position of Judge Robert P. Patterson, who sits on the bench in the Southern District of New York and who dismissed Leonard Rowe's case,
Martin Gold and his law firm asked Mr. Rowe and his organization to spend over two hundred thousand ($200,000) dollars, which they paid, in order to search and acquire e-mail documentation and evidence in support of their claims of discrimination and contractual disparities that they contended permeated the music industry. This money was later determined to have been well utilized when the evidence returned documentation that the word “nigger” had been used over 232 separate times by executives at both The William Morris Agency and Creative 93
ignoring all of the evidence proffered.
Now let’s imagine for a moment if the evidence discovered would have denigrated and insulted Jewish people for example…I think we would have heard a whole wide anti-Semitism cry and the Jewish community would have not rested until these businesses were closed. We have plenty of examples on how it works with them. Here listen to the legendary Marlon Brando as he explains it:
Marlon Brando - Jews control Hollywood But in the case of black people and the black concert promoters in particular, the Judge turned a deaf ear, blind eye and swept the evidence under the rug dismissing the case, at the summary judgment level, while at the same time, intentionally ignoring the evidence that black people had been referred to as “nigger” over 232 times, by the White executives of these entertainment industry giants, in their daily business practices.
Far from considering Rowe as an angel (he has served prison time for fraud and various crimes involving also moral turpitude in the past) we have to admit that this is not a recent battle for him. The conflict stems from a 1998 lawsuit in which Rowe and other concert promoters sued a slew of concert business entities and talent agencies alleging he and other African-American promoters were segregated to work only for black performers and that white promoters took over their work when black artists became “crossover” stars. Judge Patterson dismissed Rowe’s claims already in 2005 in a 175-page published decision, ultimately finding that the plaintiffs in the suit hadn’t presented any evidence of a conspiracy to keep them out of the business of promoting white stars. The Second Circuit affirmed the decision in May 2006, according to court records. Rowe later sought to have the judgment vacated, claiming that new “smoking gun” evidence had emerged showing that his own attorneys had concealed emails that would have helped his case, according to court records. 94
In 2012, Judge Patterson rejected Rowe’s bid to vacate the judgment, finding that the “new” email evidence had already been presented in the original trial, and that it was time-barred, according to the decision. Rumors about heavy racism and nepotism in Hollywood industry have always been around.
Leonard Rowe Speaks Out Against Hollywood Racism (part 1) https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uF92P0qU18 Leonard Rowe Speaks Out Against Hollywood Racism (part 2) https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2gwehddhjI Roseanne Barr interviews Leonard Rowe about institutional racism in Hollywood https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=kPCZZFrk3N0 Interview: Leonard Rowe about Michael Jackson with Bill Windsor of Lawless America https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=BVvCB_d17vw
Just remember Spike Lee talking about the making of the movie 'Malcolm X'. The sisters and brothers rescued that movie. Warner Brothers refused to adequately provide funds for the cost. Eventually, Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Janet Jackson, Magic Johnson, Prince, Michael Jordan, and the the founder of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, absorbed the difference. Spike noted that it was not a loan; they gave him the money as a present. Another example is Dave Chapelle that also spoke about this: “ Dave Chappelle cites racial prejudice as the reason for his abrupt walk-out from his hit Comedy Central series, "Chappelle's Show. The stand-up comedian made headlines in May 2005 when he quit the show during its third season, leaving behind a $50 million contract. He was eventually tracked down in South Africa where he said he went to "purify himself," and "do some soul searching" because he was unhappy with the direction the show was going. During an interview, Chappelle told Esquire magazine, "The bottom line was, white people own everything... and where can a black person go and be himself or say something that's familiar to him and not have to explain or apologize? I felt like I was really pressured to settle for something that I didn't necessarily feel like I wanted. The thing about show business is that, in a way, it forces dysfunctional relationships in people." http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/ movies/a1122/esq0506chappelle-92/
DO YOU REMEMBER THAT MEETING? DO YOU REMEMBER THIS LETTER?
Very interesting this link: http://www.theclientkiller.org/ rowe_statement.php
WHAT ABOUT THE TRUTH?
Here a collection of video clips related to the matter : 95
As the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently states:
�Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere�. By the same token, corruption found anywhere in a case before any court undermines the administration of justice in that case and everywhere else unless timely exposed and properly destroyed.
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What Legacy Means to Children and to Adults Michael Jackson’s Legacy 97
The world isn't connected by molecules. It's connected by stories, traditions, memories, hopes, and dreams. We are connected by the legacies passed down from those who came before us and the legacies we pass down to those who come after us.
Said English writer Dorothy Sayers, "Paradoxical as it may seem, to believe in youth is to look backward; to look forward, we must believe in age."
For children, legacy means learning from the past. It separates the timeless from the transient. Children have a feeling of security and continuity that comes from knowing that there are adults who care about them. They come to realize that we all face choices in our lives, often difficult ones, which helps them prepare for whatever may come. They start developing a life plan as they see their life as a whole. Learning about the whole of life as well as its end also helps them establish their values and priorities. And instead of directly telling children all of this, we need to tell them our life stories and our choices and how we made our decisions. That's the way you get children to learn from you and about you.
For adults, legacy means hoping for the future. It means developing and passing on a timeless part of yourself. We feel valued and useful no matter how old we get. We remember our priorities and make life choices based on them. We come to terms with our accomplishments and our disappointments. We create personal meaning and purpose. We realize that as we do our bit in the grand scheme of things, our tiny gestures multiply in significance. We understand that the world we leave behind is the world our children and children's children inherit. We know that we have an obligation to help make the future a little bit better than the past.
For both young and old, the power of legacy enables us to live fully in the present. You understand that you are part of a larger community, a community that must remember its history to build its future. There is caring combined with conscience. There is also wisdom to be found in each other – linking action and reflection to deal with complex problems. Legacy is very much about life and living.
http://www.legacyproject.org/guides/whatislegacy.html
The concept of legacy is a powerful life tool for all ages and a catalyst for social change Susan V. Bosak
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It takes a huge commitment to sponsor a child, and we are fortunate to now have 21 young Haitian children sponsored every single month in Michael's memory, thanks to dedicated and faithful fans across the globe. Our sincerest thanks to all those who have committed to sponsorship and give so faithfully, month after month and year after year. Michael would be so proud! 99
IN RETROSPECT MICHAEL JACKSON 2005 TRIAL
SMOKE AND MIRRORS THE MEDIA CIRCUS LEAVES TOWN NO HUNG JURY; NO RE-TRIAL; NO CONVICTION 100
For Tom Sneddon, A Broken Record By Libby Copeland Wednesday, June 15, 2005
How bad is it to be Tom Sneddon now? For the second time in 12 years, Michael Jackson has gotten away from him. Anyone who sat in that courtroom in Santa Maria saw that Sneddon could be cranky and, perhaps worse for such a high-profile trial, bland. Jim Thomas, a former Santa Barbara County sheriff turned NBC commentator, said that on Monday evening he and Santa Barbara County District Attorney Sneddon and others involved in the prosecution engaged in some post-game analysis at the house in Santa Maria where Sneddon and members of his team had been staying during the trial. They had dinner. There were no tears. Sneddon even talked a little about golf. But he was "disappointed," Thomas says. "They were all disappointed, because they believed this boy." The boy, of course, is the 15-year-old who accused the pop star of molesting him two years ago. His testimony was followed by the testimony of his mother, a combative, melodramatic witness who helped torpedo the prosecution's case. On Monday, several jurors said they disliked her and doubted her motives. At least two complained about the way she snapped her fingers on the stand. ("I thought, 'Don't snap your fingers at me, lady!' " a 79-year-old juror complained.) The foreman speculated that the accuser had been "taught to lie." "They knew there were issues, especially with the mother," Thomas says of the prosecution. "I think they're more sad about that than anything else. . . . They feel the jury didn't give the boy the benefit of the doubt." Yesterday, Sneddon and his colleagues were packing
"all the files and paperwork and everything," and moving it all back to the office in Santa Barbara, according to Susan Tellem, who was brought in to handle the prosecutor's media requests in November 2003, when police first raided Jackson's Neverland ranch. "We did the right thing for the right reasons," Sneddon said Monday during a news conference, after jurors acquitted Jackson on all 10 charges that Sneddon was pursuing. On the verge of retirement, the 64-year-old prosecutor seemed remarkably composed, denying the Jackson camp's contention that he'd been chasing a personal grudge against the pop star. He said he'd learned a long time ago to never look back. Perhaps it's some small comfort that yesterday, Jackson attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told the Associated Press that Jackson would stop letting children sleep in his room, because it "makes him vulnerable to false charges." But still, losing such a high-profile case has got to hurt, especially in light of history. In the early 1990s, Sneddon looked into whether Jackson had molested another boy, but the case was abandoned when the boy's family settled with Jackson out of court, reportedly for $20 million. The prosecutor did not return two calls to his office yesterday, but in the news conference he said he couldn't help wondering if the "celebrity factor" had played a part in the jury's decision to acquit. And then, of course, there was the accuser's mother. She was particularly important to the case because she provided much of the evidence for the conspiracy charge, in which Jackson was accused of imprisoning the accuser 101
and his family and trying to ship them off to Brazil. Some legal analysts suggested during the trial that the conspiracy charge was distracting and weak, and the prosecution should never have pursued it. Thomas says he believes the prosecution wondered the same thing. "I think they still debate that among themselves," he says. "If they had to do it again, I think the consensus would probably be stick to the molestation," and skip the conspiracy. Maybe. Maybe not. These are the sorts of questions that linger with prosecutors. People who know Sneddon say they doubt he regrets pursuing this trial. (On Monday, he said that if new molestation charges surfaced, "We'd review it like any other case.") But they also know how an important loss can stick around long after the jury has gone home. The accused robber who's acquitted, despite testimony about his strange physical characteristic -- a bent toe -- that the prosecutor thinks is compelling. The young man charged with killing his parents who gets off because the evidence was circumstantial. Prosecutors will tell you that they bring only those cases they believe in; when that's true, it must make defeat a nasty pill. "I'm still so outraged that I lost," says Jean Rosenbluth, a former federal prosecutor and now a University of Southern California law professor, recalling a case from six years ago. It involved a man who managed to get his sentence for bank robbery reduced, despite Rosenbluth's best efforts. "I will never stop thinking about how that was the wrong decision and maybe if I had done something different, the appellate court would have found different," she says. Now consider the second-guessing brought on by a case tried under intense public scrutiny. "It's perhaps a little harder to move on, a little more difficult, because of the personal attention focused not only on the case but on you," says Riverside County District Attorney Grover Trask, who considers himself a friend of Sneddon's. He says he last spoke with Sneddon a few weeks ago, when the prosecutor seemed "confident" about the way the trial was going. Trask, for one, wonders whether juries have a higher standard of proof for convicting celebrities than they do for ordinary people, even if they never admit it. Part of that has to do with the scrutiny directed at them, he speculates, and part with any awe they have for the famous defendant. "Because of the celebrity status, they want that smoking gun, they want that videotape." They want absolute certainty, Trask says, not "beyond a reasonable doubt." Trask says that Sneddon, a father of nine, has earned his retirement after six four-year terms in office. Sneddon has said he won't seek another; the new DA will take over in January 2007. Trask doesn't think his friend will be too
wrapped up in regrets. "He's been in big trials before, and he's dealt with the controversy before," he says. "He's extremely disappointed, but I don't think it's going to change anything in his life in terms of his philosophy." It must be a strange feeling, though, to know what the first line of your obituary is going to be: To know that it will involve, of all people, Michael Jackson. To know that it will be about a case everyone watched, and how you lost it. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...061401676.html June 1: Judge Melville gives the Jury the rules of Jury Deliberations. Jurors, who listen to 98 pages of legal guidelines to help them decide case against the pop star, will hear closing arguments starting this morning. Michael sat motionless, staring at the jury, as Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville recited dense legal language for more than 90 minutes. The judge has ruled that one of the lesser charges against the singer can be revised, increasing the likelihood of a guilty verdict. Judge Rodney Melville agreed to a prosecution request that the jury could consider a lesser charge of giving alcohol to a minor. Mr Jackson had been charged with giving alcohol to a minor in order to enable a felony, a charge which carries a sentence of two to four years. If convicted of the lesser charge, which is a misdemeanour, not a felony, Mr Jackson would face a fine and the possibility of less than a year in jail. The jury will consider a lengthy indictment that includes four charges of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a minor, one charge of attempting to commit a lewd act on a minor and one of conspiracy involving child abduction, extortion and false imprisonment.The conspiracy charge alone alleges 28 overt acts. The jury only has to find that Mr Jackson was involved in one of the acts to find him guilty of conspiracy. Should he be found guilty of all charges, he faces up to 20 years in prison. With Melville's instructions fresh in their minds, jurors will hear closing arguments starting this morning before retreating into the jury room for their first discussions about the case. The defense and the prosecution each had long
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as four hours to make their final appeals in a cliffhanger trial that has careened from one dramatic piece of evidence to the next over nearly 14 weeks of testimony. Among Melville's instructions were rules for considering a videotape played just days ago that may be one of the most powerful weapons in the prosecution's arsenal. In the 2003 video, Jackson's young accuser haltingly told Santa Barbara sheriff's deputies that Jackson had molested him. The nervous 13-year-old boy on the tape was a marked contrast to the wisecracking, sometimes prickly 15-year-old who testified at the trial in March. Defense attorneys tried to show that the accuser's mother coached him to come forward with the molestation allegation so the family could sue Jackson. Melville reminded jurors that they could view the videotape only to observe the boy's demeanor and gauge whether he was parroting a fabricated story, and not to decide whether he had been molested. The other videos include "Living With Michael Jackson," a British TV documentary in which the pop star admitted that he enjoyed nonsexual sleepovers with children. The worldwide uproar following that broadcast prompted a "rebuttal video" from Jackson in which the accuser and his family lauded him as a loving father figure. Jurors saw the rebuttal video several times in the trial and are likely to see snippets again. Prosecutors allege that Jackson held the family hostage to force them to make the video. The defense has used the tape to argue that the boy and his family, so enthusiastic about Jackson before the camera, were not captives. In his instructions, Melville also said the jury may opt to find Jackson guilty of a misdemeanor -- furnishing wine to a minor -- rather than the more serious charge of administering alcohol in order to commit a felony. That instruction may offer jurors some room to negotiate. At the end of the court day, Jackson and his entourage left without comment June 2: Ron Zonen gives his closing statement followed by Tom Mesereau who doesn't have time to finish. The Michael Jackson trial reached a climactic phase yesterday as the prosecution and defence presented starkly different views of the singer to a jury expected to start its deliberations today. For the prosecution the trial was "about the exploitation and sexual abuse of a 13-year-old cancer survivor by an international celebrity", said the deputy district attorney Ron Zonen. The defence lawyer Thomas Mesereau told the jury: "The issue before you is the life, future, fortune and reputation of Michael Jackson. That's what is about to be placed in your hands." While both sides concurred on the momentous nature of the decision facing the jury, that was about all they agreed on. Both teams focused much of their closing arguments on the credibility of Gavin Arvizo, the 13-year-old accuser in the case, and his family. Mr Jackson is accused of sexually molesting Gavin Arvizo and conspiring to imprison the Arvizo family. If found guilty on all counts he faces up to 20 years in prison."If you don't believe [the Arvizos]," Mr Mesereau said, "Michael Jackson must go free." Mr Zonen told the court: "There are two themes, that Michael Jackson inserted himself into the Arvizo family, not the other way around," and that, "Janet Arvizo never asked Michael Jackson for a penny." He then launched a withering attack on Mr Jackson's defence. Reminding the jury
that Mr Mesereau had made several promises in his opening statement, Mr Zonen said: "He was inviting us to judge him. Let's begin the judgment." The defence, he said, had promised evidence that the Arvizo family had tried to "shake down" numerous celebrities for money. He said the promised parade of celebrities had failed to materialise and those who had testified had not backed up Mr Mesereau's assertions. He also disputed the defence's assertion that Mr Jackson, 46, had taken time out from his career to help the young cancer patient. He had, Mr Zonen admitted, made numerous calls to the boy. "That's what he does with all the boys who end up in his bed," he said. "That's how Michael Jackson functions. That's what he does. That has nothing to do with benevolence." He went on to 103
describe Neverland as "the world of the forbidden. Michael Jackson's room was a veritable fortress with locks and codes which the boys were given ... They learned about sexuality from someone only too willing to be their teacher." Pouring scorn on the prosecution's conspiracy charge, Mr Mesereau said: "Does he look like the kind of person capable of masterminding a criminal conspiracy of this magnitude? It's absurd." He also defended Mr Jackson's practice of inviting children into his bedroom, arguing that Mr Jackson was often taken advantage of by the children. "They like you to think it was all Michael Jackson taking these innocent lambs and corrupting their lives. That's all baloney," he said. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jun/03/michaeljacksontrial.music June 3 : Tom Mesereau completes his closing arguments. Michael Jackson's fate is now in the hands of the eight women and four men of the jury, who began their deliberations shortly after noon on Friday with the task of deciding whether he is a predatory pedophile or Peter Pan. Lawyers for Mr. Jackson and for the state ended their closing arguments on Friday with two videotapes portraying him in starkly different lights. The defense showed a videotaped interview in which Mr. Jackson proclaimed his innocent love of children and complained that he was maligned and misunderstood by other adults. "No matter what you do," Mr. Jackson says in his breathy voice, "there's always some jerk, some mean-spirited person who wants to bring you down." The other tape, shown by the prosecution for the second time in a week, shows the accuser, then 13, haltingly telling a police detective how Mr. Jackson served him alcohol and molested him in bed at Mr. Jackson's Neverland ranch near here. "You have just witnessed the worst seven minutes of this young man's life," said Ronald J. Zonen, the deputy district attorney who delivered the closing argument for the prosecution. "This is an absolutely sincere revelation by a child about a man he had been close to." Outside the courtroom, crowds have grown somewhat this week as the denouement of the 14-week trial approaches. On Friday morning, about 75 fans stood outside the fence ringing the courthouse, jeering reporters and chanting, "Michael's innocent." They cheered again as Mr. Jackson left the courthouse shortly after noon accompanied by his parents and his brothers Jermaine and Randy. On most days, only a handful of Jackson fans showed up. Mr. Jackson's sisters, Janet, LaToya and Rebbie, were in court as his lead lawyer, Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., ended his closing argument with a ringing denunciation of the accuser and his family as grifters who were "trying to pull the biggest con of their careers." The pop star's sisters left the courtroom before Mr. Zonen took to the lectern to complete his summation. "They found listening to their brother being vilified like that very difficult," said Raymone K. Bain, a Jackson family publicist. Mr. Jackson faces 10 felony counts - four of child molesting, one of attempted child molesting, four of administering alcohol to aid in the commission of a felony, and conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to more than 18 years in prison. Calling the accuser's family "con artists, actors and liars," Mr. Mesereau said that the accuser, his brother, his sister and his mother had repeatedly lied on the witness stand."It only takes one lie under oath for you to throw this case out of court," he told the jury. "Just one." "This case is a fraud," Mr. Mesereau said. He concluded by saying to the jury, "Ladies and gentlemen, this has been a nightmare for Michael Jackson." He acknowledged that Mr. Jackson had mismanaged his fortune and had been foolish to befriend the accuser and his family, who have now turned on him. But he said voluminous evidence in the trial had shown them to be dishonest and not to be trusted in anything they said. 104
Under the law and the facts," Mr. Mesereau said, "you must return a verdict of not guilty on all counts. It's the only right verdict." Mr. Zonen reminded jurors that no one had contested that Mr. Jackson shared his bed with a succession of young boys, in one case over the period of a year on two world concert tours. "Why would Mr. Jackson do it? Because he could," Mr. Zonen said. "He has no restraints on his impulses." He said that Mr. Jackson had prepared the accuser, who is now 15, for weeks before ultimately molesting him on at least four occasions. "This child was in love with him and would do anything he said," the prosecutor said. "His opportunity was there and the child was ripe." He answered Mr. Mesereau's assertion that the accuser's family had repeatedly committed perjury by saying that the defense could point out only about 40 minutes of inconsistent testimony during the 12 days that family members spent on the witness stand. Before sending the jury off to deliberate, Judge Rodney S. Melville of Santa Barbara Superior Court delivered a few lastminute instructions. He told the jurors, who are not being sequestered, to be in no rush to reach consensus and not to enter the jury room with fixed opinions. "You are not partisans or advocates in this matter," the judge said. "You are the impartial judges of the facts." Ms. Bain, the Jackson family spokeswoman, said that Mr. Jackson was relieved that the trial was over and was proud of his defense team. "He is hoping and believing that the jury will acquit him of these false charges," she said. She said that he was healthy, despite his gaunt appearance and at times glazed look in his eyes. "He is not falling apart," she said. But Ms. Bain added that the next days, as the jury deliberates, will be difficult. "This is the hardest part now," she said, "the waiting game." JURY BEGINS DELIBERATIONS IN MICHAEL JACKSON TRIAL
THE MEDIA CIRCUS MEANWHILE…. June 3-13 : While Jury deliberations take place, the whole Jackson family waits for the verdict at Neverland. Here an excerpt of the miserable “Waiting games — and bets”. Jurors in the Michael Jackson case are heading home for the weekend after wrapping up a sixth day of deliberations in the star’s child molestation trial . So far the jury has spent 28 hours behind closed doors without reaching a verdict. This leaves Michael Jackson’s future up in the air— and lots of speculation on the final outcome. Some of it is just idle speculation around the courthouse. But there’s also serious speculation on the Jackson verdict with dollar signs attached. These range from offshore betting sites to Dublinbased online trading exchange intrade.com. The Website claims their traders called every state and the District of Columbia correctly in the 2004 election. Here’s how it works: Traders can choose from one of two sets of charges (the molestation charges or the administering an intoxicating agent to a minor charges). Then they choose to bet whether Jackson is guilty or not. They decide to buy or sell depending on their prediction. As the percentage chance of guilty goes up or down in the minds of the traders, some people are losing while others are making money. For example, before Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau made his closing arguments, the smart money was on him to sway the jury. Guilty contracts dropped down to 35, meaning they generally believed there was just a 35 percent chance of a conviction. But when the traders found his closing disappointing, contracts for “guilty on molestation” went up from 35 to 45— meaning those who had bought at 35 were making some big money. The “he is innocent” crowd who had put money on an acquittal were suddenly losing money. If they wanted out they would have to pay the difference. As the jury deliberations have continued, many are thinking a compromise verdict could mean Jackson is only found guilty on the alcohol charges. Right now a “lewd act” conviction for Jackson is trading around 50 percent with “intoxicating liquor” over 72. As that “market” trades up and down on the futures… let’s not forget that Michael Jackson’s future really hangs in the balance. It’s hard to imagine Jackson going from the magical place called Neverland— with almost 3,000 acres of child-like fun complete with amusement park rides and a petting zoo— to the confines of a drab eight by 12 foot jail cell in the California Department of Correction if he is convicted. MSNBC.com
Media wait for the verdict at Santa Barbara Court House—California 105
Worldwide on the News‌. June 3 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Jennifer London Defense Cl. arguments
June 9 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Katie Couric/ MJ in hospital 2 June 9 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Dan Abrams Jesse Jackson
June 6 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Abrams Reports MJ's prison cell.
June 10 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Jennifer London/ Fans at the courthouse
June 7 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Jennifer London Jesse Jackson visits
June 11 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: F Cascio/ J Tacopina on Court TV
June 9 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Jennifer London/verdict watch
JACKSON JURY CONSIDERING VERDICT Jurors have been sent home for the weekend, after starting to consider their verdict in the child abuse trial of American pop star Michael Jackson. The jury was sent out after rival lawyers finished closing statements. Mr Jackson's lawyer tried to discredit his accusers and dismiss their claims. Michael Jackson denies all 10 charges against him, including giving alcohol to a boy of 13 and abusing him.He could be jailed for 20 years if convicted on all charges. The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for two hours on Friday, before going home for the weekend. They will return on Monday, and are expected to deliberate for about six hours a day until they either reach verdicts or announce a deadlock. In his closing arguments, Mr Jackson's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, told jurors that the abuse allegations by Gavin Arvizo were the work of a family intent on capitalising on his client's fame and wealth. "Why did they bring this case against Michael Jackson? Because he is a megacelebrity, and they hope they can get away with it," Mr Mesereau said. In their closing argument, prosecutors portrayed the star as a serial paedophile who should be held responsible for abusing boys. Prosecutor Ron Zonen said "something terribly illegal" happened at Mr
Jackson's Neverland ranch after the Arvizo family went to stay with the singer in 2003. He recalled testimony from Gavin and his younger brother, Star - two of 80 prosecution witnesses called - alleging that Gavin was molested as he stayed with Mr Jackson. Gavin Arvizo testified on 10 March. He told the jury that Mr Jackson had told him about masturbation and allegedly gave him wine, vodka and brandy. Days earlier, the jury was shown a video in which Gavin had said Mr Jackson "treats me like he's my father". Gavin's mother, Janet, told the trial when she took the stand: "He really didn't care about children. He just cared about what he was doing with the children." She has been one of the most compelling witnesses - but also a loose cannon who hardly helped the case against Mr Jackson, says the BBC's Peter Bowes, who has followed the trial. Neither did Mr Jackson's second wife, Debbie Rowe, help matters, he says. She did not blame her former husband and father of their two children for anything - focusing instead on the singer's associates who she described as "opportunistic vultures". The witness list the defence hinted it would call as they began their case read like a Who's Who of Hollywood. They included long-time Jackson friend Elizabeth Taylor and music icons such as Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder. In the event they were spared a courtroom appearance - and only 50 defence witnesses were called. But the defence's top witnesses included actor Macaulay Culkin who called the allegations against Jackson "absolutely ridiculous" and told jurors that the singer "never" sexually molested him or touched him in an improper or offensive way when he was a boy. The 24-year-old rejected earlier testimony from two former Neverland employees who said they saw Mr Jackson behaving inappropriately with him in the early 1990s, when he visited the ranch. Michael Jackson's former lawyer, Mark Geragos, told the trial that he had "grave concerns" about the intentions of the singer's accuser and had hired a private detective to follow them. Mr Geragos said he thought they would try to concoct a story about Mr Jackson for financial gain. But if Debbie Rowe was a disappointment for the prosecution, US comedian and TV chat show host Jay Leno, was as much for the defence. He told the jurors that he was suspicious of the singer's accuser when they spoke on the phone - but that he had never been asked for money. (BBC log report) 106
2005 June 13, Full Coverage Before the Verdict Pt. 1 / 5 - MSNBC Coverage Before The Michael Jackson Verdict - 6/13/05 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiuZwUQlRAg Pt. 2 / 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nV2_fiePno Pt. 3 / 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07MZvvbuxFQ Pt. 4 / 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea8nYfLkcok Pt. 5 / 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XslBN2ah9ic
Michael Jackson NOT GUILTY Court verdict: NOT GUILTY http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=eTlGM2hw0LY Michael Jackson exit the Court Room after the Verdict https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgn6QZQsIiQ
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Michael Jackson going back to Neverland after verdict reading (wonderful video shot by some french fans who followed MJ during his sad journey) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUHZQYlRzHA Victory of Verdict Neverland Party
Abrams Report/ MJ not guilty June 14 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Today Show/ Couric, Mesereau June 13 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Dileo reacts after the verdict Good Morning America" Interviews the Jury that Acquitted Michael Jackson.PROOF THAT HE WAS INNOCENT MJJ Source Victory video June 13 2005 in the Michael Jackson Trial: Mike Taibbi abt the verdict
Jackson not guilty Michael Jackson Not Guilty On All Charges
Michael Jackson cleared of abuse BBC News Michael Jackson Is Acquitted on All Counts in Molestation Michael Jackson Cleared After 14-Week Child Molesting Trial Michael Jackson Case: Not Guilty | The Smoking Gun ... Michael Jackson not guilty on all counts - Today How Michael Jackson Got Away With It Jackson found not guilty | World news | The Guardian Michael Jackson: 'Guilty' verdict after acquittal? 108
I would like to conclude this with the articles of Ishmael Reed dated JUNE 29, 2009
THE PERSECUTION OF MICHAEL JACKSON Last Thursday, while working on some writing deadlines, I was switching channels on cable. On CNN they were promoting “Black In America,” an exercise meant to boost ratings by making whites feel good by making blacks look bad, the marketing strategy of the mass media since the 1830s, according to a useful book entitled “The Showman and the Slave,” by Benjamin Reiss. The early penny press sold a “whiteness” upgrade to newly arriving immigrants by depicting blacks in illicit situations. By doing so they were marketing an early version of a self esteem boosting product. One of the initial sensational stories was about the autopsy of a black woman named Joice Heth, who claimed to be George Washington’s nurse and over one hundred years old. It was the O.J. story of the time. Circus master, P.T. Barnum, charged admission to her autopsy, which attracted the perverted in droves. And so, if the people broadcasting cable news appear to be inmates of a carnival, there is a connection since the early days of the mass media to that form of show business. According to Reiss, early newspapers were not
only influenced by P.T. Barnum, but actually cooperated with him on some hoaxes and stunts. I would classify CNN’s “Black in America” as a stunt. In preparing for a sequel to the first “Black In America,” which boosted the networks ratings (the O.J. trial saved CNN!), CNN rolled out the usual stereotypes about black Americans. Unmarried black mothers were exhibited, without mentioning that births to unmarried black women have plunged since 1976 - more than that of any other ethnic group. Then we got some footage that implied that blacks as a group were homophobes even though Charles Blow, a statistician for The New York Times, recently published a chart showing that gays have the least to fear from blacks. Recently, the media perpetrated a hoax that blacks were responsible for the passage of Proposition 8, the California proposition that banned gay marriage. An academic study refuted this claim, but that didn’t deter The New York Times from hiring Benjamin Schwarz to explain
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black homophobia. Schwarz is the writer who wrote in The Los Angeles Times that blacks who were victims of lynchings in the south were probably guilty. In the last “Black in America,” Soledad O’Brien, CNN’s designated tough love agent against the brothers and sisters, scolded a black man for not attending his daughter’s birthday party. The aim of this scene was meant to humiliate black men as neglectful fathers. Ms. O’Brien won’t be permitted by her employers to mention that 75 per cent of white children will live at one time or another in a single parent household and that the Gov. of South Carolina’s not showing up for Father’s Day isn’t just a lone aberration in “White America.” How would CNN promote a “White in America?” The thousands of meth addicts who have abandoned their children? The California rural and suburban white women who do more dope than Latino and black youth? The suburban Dallas white teenagers who are overdosing on “cheese” heroin? Why not? Can’t get State Farm, Ford and McDonald’s to sponsor such a program? All of these companies are sponsoring “Black in America,” the aim of which is to cast collective blame on blacks for the country’s social problems. For ratings. During CNN’s carnival act disguised as news, the scene of Zimbabwe’s Prime Minster being urinated upon by a monkey while sitting in his garden drew snickers in the newsroom. This is what passes for coverage of the African continent by CNN. When the bulletin that Michael Jackson had died flashed across the screen, I was prepared for TV at it’s worst and I wasn’t disappointed. The man wasn’t cold before the familiar adjectives were rolled out. “Weird, bizarre, eccentric,” the traditional language used to disparage artists by the bourgeoisie. Dan Abrams, who made his reputation by convicting O. J. Simpson before the opening arguments of his criminal trial, made a snarky comment about Jackson’s weirdness. Mr. Abrams, a higher up at MSNBC, employs a Hitler admirer named Pat Buchanan. Given Abram’s background, why isn’t that considered weird? Former Calfornia poet laureate Al Young called to inform me that CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin, another O. J. alumni, and a man who said that blacks shouldn’t be “patted on the head” or “patronized” for believing in O. J. Simpson’s innocence, had made some ugly comments about Jackson. (A star who has had at least a dozen facelifts called into the “Larry King Show” to comment about MJ’s altering his appearance). It was the prosecution of Michael Jackson by District Attorney Thomas W. Sneddon Jr, who, among other things, violated Jackson’s fourth amendment rights, and made disparaging remarks about the star during a press conference, and the side-show pro prosecution media coverage that killed Jackson. Also weird was MSBC’s Savanah Guthries’ air-headed depiction of the trial. (For a list of Ms. Guthries’ false reportings see MediaMatters.com). She said that the evidence against Jackson in the trial was “devastating.”
So devastating that some legal experts said that Jackson should never have been brought to trial and that the aim of the trial was to seek a pound of flesh from Jackson for being uppity and for putting the name of Thomas W. Sneddon Jr., a vindictive District Attorney, into a song. In my opinion it was the prosecution of Jackson by this District Attorney, who, among other things, violated Jackson’s fourth amendment rights, and made disparaging remarks about the star during a press conference, and the side-show pro prosecution media coverage that killed Jackson. In my lengthy examination of the trial printed in my book, “Mixing It Up, Taking on The Media Bullies,” I concluded that though millions of Jackson’s fans celebrated his acquittal, the District Attorney, who was allowed to squander the California taxpayers’ money so that he might humiliate a rich black man, whom he felt had sassed him, was the victor. At the beginning of the trial, Jackson was dancing on top of a van. During the trial he had to be hospitalized. At the end, he was a frail emaciated wreck. Because of the malicious prosecution of Jackson by Sneddon and Sneddon’s claque in the media, Jackson will always be regarded as a pedophile. (When the trial opened, a USA Today / CNN / Gallup Poll found that 72% of whites and 51% of Blacks believed that the charges against Jackson were “Definitely” or “Probably” true.) Wherever “Mad Dog” Sneddon, this hateful man might be in his retirement, he can gloat over the death of the man against whom he waged a vendetta with all of the power of the state at his disposal. Sneddon even tried to introduce photos of Jackson’s genitals during the 2005 trial, which proved too much even for the pro prosecution judge. Of course, none of Sneddon’s abuse or the abuse of Jackson by his accusers was mentioned by an old corporate media, out of touch and on life supports. For infotainers like Katie Couric, Jackson’s father Joe was MJ’s sole abuser. In the eyes of yesterday’s media, black fathers are the principal actors in domestic violence. Guthrie also said that the prosecution “had conducted mini trials within the trial,” which brought up “a whole history of prior bad acts of molestation.” She was referring to 1994 case in which Jackson was accused of pedophilia by a youngster who, according to writer Mary Fisher, a serious journalist, was used by his father to wrest some cash from Jackson. In”Mixing It Up,” I summarized Mary Fisher’s serious and thorough investigation that was originally published in GQ, October, 1994, under the title “Was Michael Jackson Framed?” Jackson settled out of court because Johnnie Cochran didn’t want him to face one of those all white suburban juries that O. J. faced. Fisher wrote: “It’s a story of greed, ambition, misconceptions of part of police and prosecutors, a lazy and sensation-seeking media and the use of a powerful, hypnotic drug. It may also be a story about how a case was simply invented.” Fisher claimed that the first case arose from the ambitions of the thirteen-year-old accuser’s stepfather, Evan Chandler, who exploited Jackson’s friendship with his
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son. At one point, he asked Jackson to build him a house. Fisher said that the child denied being abused by Jackson until he was administered the drug sodium amytal, which is known to induce false memory. Chandler refused to be interviewed for the article and refused to appear on the Today Show, where Fisher repeated her charges before a nationwide audience. She said that the whole scheme was concocted by the child’s stepfather to destroy the superstar. None of the media descriptions of Jackson’s career, including a superficial pop-driven survey of the star’s career by Anderson Cooper, referred to the 2005 plaintiff’s lies and his mother’s shabby history of conning individuals and institutions including J. C. Penney’s, which she accused of sexual abuse. She claimed that she had been “fondled inappropriately” by store personnel. Documents also hinted that “…the mom rehearsed her children to corroborate her story.” During the 2005 trial, Jackson’s Attorney, Tom Mesereau Jr. got the teenage boy to admit that he lied under oath during the J. C. Penny case. USA Today reported on March 1, 2005, that the mother used the boy as a prop to get money from Mike Tyson, Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Jay Leno and others, “even though insurance was paying his bills.” Linda Deutsch, one of the last of hard-nosed shoe leather journalists, reporting for the Associated Press on March of 2005. said that Mesereau got the 15 year old to admit that he’d told Jeffrey Alpert, a school official that “nothing happened” between Jackson and him.
Because of the malicious prosecution of Jackson by Sneddon and Sneddon’s claque in the media, Jackson will always be regarded as a pedophile. Connie Keenan, editor of Mid Valley News, wrote of a hoax that the boy’s mother perpetrated on that newspaper. She made a pitch that her son needed medical care and that she had no financial means to provide it. During the first week of the newspaper’s appeal, the mother received $965 in donations. It turned out that the boy was being treated at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles with no cost to the family. Connie Keenan concluded that “My gut level, she’s a shark. She was after money. My readers were used. My staff was used. It’s sickening.” While referring to Jackson as “bizarre” none of the cable reporting about Jackson’s death cited the bizarre courtroom testimony of the plaintiff’s mother, Janet Arvizo. At one point during her testimony, she said that feared her children would disappear from Neverland, Jackson’s ranch, in a hot air balloon. On Apr 18, 2005, Agence France-Presse reported “The mother of Michael Jackson’s young molestation accuser claimed that she feared her children would be spirited away from the star’s Neverland Ranch in a hot air balloon. In some of the most bizarre testimony of Jackson’s frequently surreal trial, the woman revealed that she told police she feared her three kids would vanish from Neverland into California’s blue skies. “Did you tell the sheriff that you thought your children might disappear in a hot air balloon from Neverland?” Jackson’s lead lawyer Thomas Mesereau asked the woman under cross-examination. “I made them aware,” she said. Finally, in November of 2006, according to TMZ, Janet Arvizo pleaded no contest to a welfare fraud charge in Los Angeles. She was ordered to 150 hours of community service and to pay $8,600 in restitution. During Jackson’s trial, Arvizo invoked the Fifth regarding welfare fraud. Seems that she applied for welfare even though she’d received a $150,000 settlement from J.C. Penny’s. Even with the mother’s behavior and the boys lies, Nancy Grace, commenting on the death of Jackson, said that she was surprised by the not guilty verdict in the Jackson trial. No wonder Ms. Grace has been called” a cheerleader for the prosecution.” Yet, these journalists insist that their news product is superior to that of bloggers. (Journalistic bottom feeder, Diane Dimond, a Sneddon fan and Jackson stalker was invited by MSNBC to weigh in during which she was allowed to engage in doofus speculation much of it ugly about Jackson’s life and death.) GQ’s Mary Fisher accused her colleagues of lazy journalism of the sort that defamed Jackson in life and in death. Maureen Orth from Vanity Fair didn’t read Mary Fisher’s findings. She was on the Chris Matthews Show accusing Jackson of “serious felonies” involving pedophilia. Another reporter who seemed to nullify the 2005 Jackson jury’s decision was “Morning Joe’s” adjunct bimbo, Courtney Hazlett. She said that there would be no pilgrimage to Neverland as there was to Graceland because “bad things happened at Neverland.” We are led to believe that Presley and his entourage spent their days at Graceland drinking milk and reading each other passages from the scriptures. All of these opinions seem to indicate that cable’s talking heads have taken it upon themselves to nullify the judgment of juries whenever they please. This all white electronic jury has placed itself 111
above the law. But at least Jackson didn’t suffer from the kind of hi tech lynching accorded the tragic Patsy Ramsey. For years cable, which now not only calls elections but acts as judge and jury, accused her of murdering her child. Only after her death was it found that she was innocent. If the reporting on Jackson’s death by the media wasn’t salacious and ignorant enough, it didn’t get any better the next day, June 26.
Ignoring Jackson’s philanthropic pursuits and contributions to 40 charities, on the “Today Show,” it was all about what happened to all of the nigger’s money and whether he died from too many drugs and what’s to become of his children, questions meant to attract the prurient. Again, Diane Dimod was invited on to spread scurrilous unconfirmed rumors about the dead star. Some of the modern day carnival barkers like Chris Matthews expressed surprise that Jackson’s death resulted in such an outpouring of worldwide mourning. This is what happens to people like Matthews who dwell in an insulated white supremacist bubble (that includes the Anglo wannabe and Churchill admiring Irish among them) which holds that a narrow cultural strip between New York and Washington represents the world. I would like to have seen more independent African-American journalists comment on the passing of Michael Jackson, but, according to Richard Prince, who runs a media blog for the Maynard journalism Institute, hundreds have lost their jobs over the last two years, including Pulitzer Prize winners like Les Payne. With the absence of black and Latinos from journalism, the media have become a spare all white jury always ready to take down a black celebrity for the entertainment of the types who used to attend those acts created by P.T. Barnum. http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/06/29/the-persecution-of-michael-jackson/ ISHMAEL REED is the publisher of Konch. His book, “Mixing It Up, Taking On The Media Bullies” was published by De Capo.
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~ Tributes~
Enrique Moonwalker Torres Hunter Kelley David Little Gertrud Broers 113
MICHAEL JACKSON... LOOK AT THE IMPACT YOU LEFT BEHIND...LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE INSPIRED IN THESE TWO AMAZING YOUNG MEN!! MY BELOVED MICHAEL YOUR SPIRIT WILL ALWAYS STAY ALIVE FOREVER!!!! LOOK WHAT THESE 2 HAVE IN COMMON… BJ MJ Spirit Go
ENRIQUE MOONWALKER TORRES... is 16 years old and was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old. Six years ago he taught himself to dance like Michael Jackson after Michael's untimely passing. Enrique has been dancing with Wespac Dance for 4 years earning top awards with his self-choreographed solos, duets, and group pieces. Michael Jackson's influence and spirit continues to live within Enrique as he now fuses Michael's spirit with his own unique style of dance. Under the mentorship and management of Jaseida Mojica, Enrique choreographs for Wespac Dance Center's competition team and teaches Hip Hop helping to pass his knowledge to the next generation of dancers. Enrique Moonwalker Torres pictured below
https://www.facebook.com/enrique.moonwalkertorres?fref=ts Enrique Moonwalker Torres will also be participating in this years Bronze and Gold Production “The Gloved One” Event on Saturday, June 20th. THE 4th ANNUAL GLOVED ONE ULTIMATE FAN COMPETITION/ MJ TRIBUTE EVENT
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Hunter Kelley Thirteen Year Old Michael Jackson Tribute Artist
HUNTER KELLEY is no average tribute artist. Hunter has autism. He was not sociable, and could not skip or dance, simple things we take for granted every day. Hunter didn't know who Michael Jackson was until his untimely death. With Michael's death all over the TV Hunter then began showing interest in Michael and began watching his videos. Every since Hunter watched the first video he began giving interviews at Holly Terrace, dancing, kicking, spinning and singing, Michael style. For Michael said the children are our future. For Hunter Michael Jackson was his miracle. For now there is no stopping Hunter from continuing Michael's message. Heal the world, it starts with our children. Hunter will also be participating in this years Bronze and Gold Production “The Gloved One� Event on Saturday, June 20th. THE 4th ANNUAL GLOVED ONE ULTIMATE FAN COMPETITION/ MJ TRIBUTE EVENT
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June 18, 2015 Hello Mrs. Katherine, My name is David Little. In a few days it will be 6 years since Michael went to make his music in the Heavens. 09 was very hard for me, my mother passed away on October 20, 2009 I still cry when I think about Michael and I cry often over my mother. I'm of mixed race, black and white, and was born in 1965. I will turn 50 on Oct 28th. I was born in St. Louis the same day as the St. Louis Arch Anniversary. I related a lot with your son, Michael, not only with his music, but in many ways; the way he perceived life and helped others. I had a hard time as a child because of my race, so my childhood was not very happy. I hate what they did to Michael, and never left him alone, but he will live forever. I never got a chance to see the Jackson5 or Michael as my family couldn't afford things like concerts; there was 7 of us.
I want to let you know that I respect you so very much, you did a great job. I hope Michael’s children are doing great and I know they are with you as their Grandmother. Please tell them I said hello, and a Hello to Joe also. I do miss Michael so very much. I know you probably don't have much or any, but if you could send me an autograph of Michael I would forever keep it and frame it, and if you can't I truly understand. I'm sure you get this all the time. Katherine God Bless You and Joe, the children and your entire family and thank you so very much for taking your time to read this message. David Little 302 S. Main Ave Republic MO 65738
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Gertrud Broers - MJ Embroidery Germany 117
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SPECIAL FATHER’S DAY MESSAGES Michael Jackson was beyond gifted and talented by the grace of God. He loved his kids and took very good care of them. MJ is the man that you can learn and listen from to make your life better than it was before. No matter what MJ went through, he still made his fans happy. Just listening to his music and watching his videos, gives me a peace of mind and enjoyment. Yes, he is the "King of Pop"! No one will ever take his Throne. He will always be in our heart. Threw his loyal fans, his legacy will still leave on. Poppa Joe Jackson has always been a wonderful father to his family. He was known as the Talent Manager for his sons, The Jackson5. He was the eldest of five children. Mr. Joe Jackson enjoyed working with his children. He has always been a serious businessman. No matter what people say bad about Poppa Joe Jackson, he’s still awesome in my book. I am so grateful that Poppa Joe Jackson was strict on his children because they could have been getting into trouble. I have so much respect for him. God gave the Jackson Family all a gift. God Bless them all.
~Lisa Burnette~
A Father Means.... A Father means so many things... A understanding heart, A source of strength and of support Right from the very start. A constant readiness to help In a kind and thoughtful way. With encouragement and forgiveness No matter what comes your way. A special generosity and always affection too A Father means so many things When he's a man like you...
By me: Phyllis Bell
Michael A fathers love never guessed amongst the stars one couldn't count that far.....TammyJ
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Happy Father’s Day. I LOVE you Daddy ~Tiffany~
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IT ALL BEGAN With Joe Jackson...Born to Crystal Lee(ni'e King) and Samuel Jackson ( a school teacher) in Fountain Hill, Arizona. After his parents divorced, he lived with his mother for awhile then went to live with his father in Oakland, Calif. for a few years. Coming back to East Chicago, taking a job at the Inland Steel Co plus a 2nd one working at the American Foundries Food Store. In 1948 He met Katherine and they married and in 1950 he bought their home in Gary, Indiana. In the 50's, Joe created his band called the Falcons which failed and it dissolved shortly after trying to get recordings which never happened...But his music dreams never totally died... Now Katherine and Joe having 9 children to support, it was no easy feat living back in those days and raising a family with one child let alone a family of that size. We are products of our environment and Joe Jackson is no different. Having a very domineering and strict father, also became one himself and raised his family in the like...It's what he knew... Well, Joe Jackson, you and Katherine must of done something right as all your children were born with the music in their veins and look at where they are today...So can we really say if you weren't who you are or raised your children like you did, if they would be where they are today??? Maybe, maybe not but it was God's journey for you...and the entire world is more Blessed because of it.... THANK YOU JOE JACKSON... ~Ellie Hollingsworth~
Sending Love to Joe Jackson on Father’s Day 122
On July 19, 1910, the governor of the U.S. state of Washington proclaimed the nation’s first “Father’s Day.” However, it was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, that the day became a nationwide holiday in the United States. ORIGINS OF FATHER’S DAY The campaign to celebrate the nation’s fathers did not meet with the same enthusiasm–perhaps because, as one florist explained, “fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal that mothers have.” On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, but it was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday. The next year, a Spokane,Washington woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. She went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to drum up support for her idea, and she was successful: Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on July 19, 1910. Slowly, the holiday spread. In 1916, President Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C.In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day. However, many men continued to disdain the day. As one historian writes, they “scoffed at the holiday’s sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving, or they derided the proliferation of such holidays as a commercial gimmick to sell more products–often paid for by the father himself.” FATHER’S DAY: CONTROVERSY AND COMMERCIALISM During the 1920s and 1930s, a movement arose to scrap Mother’s Day and Father’s Day altogether in favor of a single holiday, Parents’ Day. Every year on Mother’s Day, pro-Parents’ Day groups rallied in New York City’s Central Park–a public reminder, said Parents’ Day activist and radio performer Robert Spere, “that both parents should be loved and respected together.” Paradoxically, however, the Depression derailed this effort to combine and de-commercialize the holidays. Struggling retailers and advertisers redoubled their efforts to make Father’s Day a “second Christmas” for men, promoting goods such as neckties, hats, socks, pipes and tobacco, golf clubs and other sporting goods, and greeting cards. When World War II began, advertisers began to argue that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, Father’s Day may not have been a federal holiday, but it was a national institution. In 1972, in the middle of a hard-fought presidential re-election campaign, Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father’s Day a federal holiday at last. Today, economists estimate that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father’s Day gifts.
History of Father’s Day
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THE INVOLVED FATHER Fathers are just as essential to healthy child development as mothers. Psychology Today explained, "Fatherhood turns out to be a complex and unique phenomenon with huge consequences for the emotional and intellectual growth of children."1 Erik Erikson, a pioneer in the world of child psychology, asserts that a father's love and a mother's love are qualitatively different. Fathers "love more dangerously" because their love is more "expectant, more instrumental" than a mother's love.2 A father brings unique contributions to the job of parenting a child that no one else can replicate. Following are some of the most compelling ways that a father’s involvement makes a positive difference in a child's life.
FATHERS PARENT DIFFERENTLY. Fathering expert Dr. Kyle Pruett explains that fathers have a distinct style of communication and interaction with children. By eight weeks of age, infants can tell the difference between their mother’s and father’s interaction with them. This diversity, in itself, provides children with a broader, richer experience of contrasting relational interactions. Whether they realize it or not, children are learning, by sheer experience, that men and women are different and have different ways of dealing with life, other adults and children. This understanding is critical for their development.
mothers and fathers are different. Mothers will simplify their words and speak on the child's level. Men are not as inclined to modify their language for the child. The mother's way facilitates immediate communication; the father's way challenges the child to expand her vocabulary and linguistic skills — an important building block of academic success.
FATHERS DISCIPLINE DIFFERENTLY. Educational psychologist Carol Gilligan tells us that fathers stress justice, fairness and duty (based on rules), while mothers stress sympathy, care and help (based on relationships). Fathers tend to observe and enforce rules systematically and sternly, teaching children the consequences of right and wrong. Mothers tend toward grace and sympathy, providing a sense of hopefulness. Again, either of these disciplinary approaches by themselves is not good, but together, they create a healthy, proper balance.
FATHERS PREPARE CHILDREN FOR THE REAL WORLD. Involved dads help children see that attitudes and behaviors have consequences. For instance, fathers are more likely than mothers to tell their children that if they are not nice to others, kids will not want to play with them. Or, if they don't do well in school, they will not get into a good college or secure a desirable job. Fathers help children prepare for the reality and harshness of the world.
FATHERS PLAY DIFFERENTLY.
FATHERS PROVIDE
Fathers tickle more, they wrestle, and they throw their children in the air (while mother says . . . "Not so high!"). Fathers chase their children, sometimes as playful, scary "monsters." Fathering expert John Snarey explains that children who roughhouse with their fathers learn that biting, kicking and other forms of physical violence are not acceptable.3 They learn self-control by being told when "enough is enough" and when to settle down. Girls and boys both learn a healthy balance between timidity and aggression.
Men and women are different. They eat differently. They dress differently. They cope with life differently. Girls and boys who grow up with a father are more familiar and secure with the curious world of men.
FATHERS BUILD CONFIDENCE. Go to any playground and listen to the parents. Who is encouraging kids to swing or climb just a little higher, ride their bike just a little faster, throw just a little harder? Who is encouraging kids to be careful? Mothers protect and dads encourage kids to push the limits. Either of these parenting styles by themselves can be unhealthy. One can tend toward encouraging risk without consideration of consequences. The other tends to avoid risk, which can fail to build independence and confidence. Together, they help children remain safe while expanding their experiences and increasing their confidence.
FATHERS COMMUNICATE DIFFERENTLY.
A LOOK AT THE WORLD OF MEN.
Girls with involved, married fathers are more have healthier relationships with the opposite cause they learn from their fathers how proper toward women. They know which behaviors are priate.
likely to sex bemen act inappro-
They also have a healthy familiarity with the world of men — they don't wonder how a man's facial stubble feels or what it's like to be hugged by strong arms. This knowledge builds emotional security and safety from the exploitation of predatory males. Boys who grow up with dads are less likely to be violent. They have their masculinity affirmed and learn from their fathers how to channel their masculinity and strength in positive ways. Fathers help sons understand proper male sexuality, hygiene and behavior in age-appropriate ways. As noted sociologist David Popenoe explains, "Fathers are far more than just 'second adults' in the home. Involved fathers — especially biological fathers — bring positive benefits to their children that no other person is as likely to bring." FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: Glenn Stanton
A major study showed that when speaking to children, 124
Blues legend B.B. King
Michael J. Jackson 125
BLUES
LEGEND
B.B. KING DIES AT AGE 89
CNN)—Riley B. King, the legendary guitarist known as B.B. King, whose velvety voice and economical, expressive style brought blues from the margins to the mainstream, died Thursday night. He was 89. His daughter, Patty King, said he died in Las Vegas, where he announced two weeks ago that he was in home hospice care after suffering from dehydration.
The Mississippi native's reign as "king of the blues" lasted more than six decades and straddled two centuries, influencing a generation of rock and blues musicians, from Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Sheryl Crow and John Mayer. His life was the subject of the documentary "B.B. King: The Life of Riley" and the inspiration for the the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, which opened in Mississippi in 2008.
Slowing down King finally started showing signs of his age last year after decades of living with Type II diabetes. A shaky show in St. Louis prompted his reps to issue an apology for "a performance that did not match Mr. King's usual standard of excellence." He fell ill in October after a show at Chicago's House of Blues due to dehydration and exhaustion, prompting a rare cancellation of the remainder of his tour. He was hospitalized for dehydration in April in Las Vegas, a long way from his modest roots as the son of a sharecropper. King was born on September 16, 1925, on a cotton plantation between Indianola and what is now Itta Bena, Mississippi. He sang with church choirs as a child and learned basic guitar chords from his uncle, a preacher. In his youth, he played on street corners for dimes, saying he earned more in one night singing on the corner than he did in one week working in the cotton field. Beale Street Blues Boy
King's enduring legacy came from his refusal to slow down even after cementing his status as an American music icon.
He enlisted in the Army during World War II but was released because he drove a tractor, an essential homefront occupation.
Even with a long list of honors to his name -- a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, a Presidential Medal of Freedom -- he maintained a relentless touring schedule well into his 80s.
In 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, Tennessee, home to a thriving music scene that supported aspiring black performers. He stayed with his cousin Bukka White, one of the most celebrated blues performers of his time, who schooled King further in the art of the blues.
Throughout his career, King evolved with the times to incorporate contemporary trends and influences without straying from his Delta blues roots. Whether he was sharing the stage with U2 on "When Loves Comes to Town" -- a scene memorialized in the 1988 concert film "Rattle and Hum" -- or playing in the East Room of the White House with Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and others, King's singlestring guitar notes trilled with an unmistakable vibrato from his hollow-bodied Gibson affectionately known as Lucille.
King took the Beale Street Blues Boy, or BB for short, as a disc jockey for radio station WDIA- AM Memphis. He got his first big break in 1948 by performing on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program out of West Memphis, leading to steady engagements at the Sixteenth Avenue Grill in West Memphis and a 10minute spot on WDIA. s "King's Spot" grew in popularity on WDIA, King shortened "Beale Street Blues Boy" to "Blues Boy King" and eventually B.B. King. His ascent continued in 1949 with his first record126
ings, "Miss Martha King/Take a Swing with Me" and "How Do You Feel When Your Baby Packs Up and Goes/I've Got the Blues." His first hit record "Three O'Clock Blues" was released in 1951 and stayed on the top of the charts for four months. Beloved Lucille It was during this era that King first named his beloved guitar Lucille. In the mid-1950s, King was performing at a dance in Twist, Arkansas, when a few fans became unruly and started a fire. King ran out, forgetting his guitar, and risked his life to go back and get it.
on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Over the years, he racked up 30 Grammy nominations and 15 wins, including two in 2000: one along with Eric Clapton for Best Traditional Blues Album for "Riding with the King" and another with Dr. John for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Is You Is, or Is You Ain't (My Baby)." His last was in February 2009 for Best Traditional Blues Album for "One Kind Favor" (2008).
He later found out that two men fighting over a woman named Lucille knocked over a kerosene heater that started the fire. He named the guitar Lucille, "to remind myself never to do anything that foolish." King used various models of Gibson guitars over the years and named them each Lucille. In the 1980s, Gibson officially dropped the model number ES-355 on the guitar King used, and it became a custommade signature model named Lucille, manufactured exclusively for the "King of the Blues."
By Todd Leopold, CNN ARTICLE BB KING OFFICIAL WEBSITE
30 Grammy nominations In the '50s and '60s, King was a peripatetic figure, idolized by musicians and R&B fans, known for putting on some of the best live shows around. By the late '50s, he was traveling in a chauffeur-driven Cadillac accompanied by a custom Greyhound bus, called Big Red, which housed his band. Even after his bluesier R&B became less commercial -- he observed that "they (once) called guys like me rhythm and blues, so somewhere along the line, I guess I lost my rhythm" -- he still maintained a following, this time among white musicians. Eric Clapton was a fan. Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac modeled his sound on King's. John Lennon said he "wanted to play guitar like B.B. King." In 1967, his changing fan base was enough to get him booked in San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium. "We used to play the Fillmore all the time, but it was then about 90% black," he told PBS. "But this time ... it was long-haired white people, men and women, sitting body to body going up to the door. I told my road manager, 'I think they booked us in the wrong place.' " He received a standing ovation. He returned to the Fillmore several more times. In 1970, he won his first Grammy for his trademark song, "The Thrill is Gone." That same year, he debuted an all-blues show at Carnegie Hall and appeared 127
BB King - The Thrill Is Gone
REMEMBERING OUR FATHERS John L. Knox, Sr.
John Allen
Clifton Gray
James W. Walker
Cleothus Gray
Earl S. Cuff, Sr .
Cleophus Gray
Wallace Cuff Sr .
Willie Davis Chew aka W.D.
Thomas Speller
Stan Rocchi
Albert Heinrich Ellies
Jack E. Anderson
Heinz Baur
Nehemiah Anderson
Gerhard Pfeiffer
John Anderson
Melvin Flannel
Hiawatha Bell Sr
Claude Manuel Carter
Norbert Gahagan James E. Burnette James E. Burnette, Sr. 128
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Michael Jackson – Innocent Voices Nourish the Child - Michael Jackson with Jude
http://michaeljackson-innocentvoices.com/voices-of-the-innocents/
CHARLES THOMSON Freelance Writer/Reporter
One of the Most Shameful Episodes In Journalistic History Ten years ago twelve jurors unanimously acquitted Michael Jackson on various charges of child molestation, conspiracy and providing alcohol to a minor. It is difficult to know how history will remember the Michael Jackson trial. Perhaps as the epitome of western celebrity obsession. Perhaps as a 21st century lynching. Personally, I think it will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in journalistic history. (CE Thomson)
June 29, 2009 The Mad Dog DA and the Mad Dog Media
The Persecution of Michael Jackson By: Ishmael Reed One of the initial sensational stories was about the autopsy of a black woman named Joice Heth, who claimed to be George Washington’s nurse and over one hundred years old. It was the O. J. story of the time. Circus master, P. T. Barnum, charged admission to her autopsy, which attracted the perverted in droves. And so, if the people broadcasting cable news appear to be inmates of a carnival, there is a connection since the early days of the mass media to that form of show business. According to Reiss, early newspapers were not only influenced by P. T. Barnum, but actually cooperated with him on some
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ADVOCACY VINDICATION DISPELLING MYTHS & RUMORS Adllaw/Cadeflaw Initiative Petitioning the U.S. Senate to author a bill that would make it unlawful to defame a person who is deceased.
Defamation of the Deceased: First Amendment Gives Media Right To Slander
Dispelling Myths & Rumors LunaJo67 What did happen to michael Jackson after the trial? Pt 32 "May 2006: Tangled Web"
Advocacy/Vindication SAVING NEVERLAND OR PRESERVING A LEGACY
MONIQUE JORDAN
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DEFAMATION OF THE DECEASED: FIRST AMENDMENT GIVES MEDIA RIGHT TO SLANDER
Recently I’ve found more evidence that the media is, time and time again, given the right of passage to defame the deceased with impunity. A Briefing Paper written by Michael Potter of the “Northern Ireland Assembly” suggest this situation should be regulated by the media. How many believe that the medial is going to police themselves? So far that has not happened so why are we to believe it will happen now. It’s just another excuse to allow the media to hide behind the freedom of speech so they can continue their slander against the deceased. Everyone knows there are big bucks in defaming someone like “Michael Jackson”. Any headline with his name in it will certainly bring extraordinary traffic whether the readers be those who love him or antagonists.
http://niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/Documents/ RaISe/Publications/2014/ finance_personnel/6214.pdf
Republic of Ireland: Defamation Act of 2009 – Article 14.47 reads this way: The only remedy available should be a declaratory order and, where appropriate, an injunction. A Legal Advisory Group on Defamation, which reported in 2003, proposed that defamation of the dead was an issue that could be dealt with by a regulatory body rather than through legislation17: The Law Reform Commission had recommended that there should be a new cause of action in respect 133
of defamatory statements made about a person who is dead at the time of publication. While disinclined to endorse this particular recommendation, the Group notes that its essential aim -to provide some mechanism whereby the reputation of a deceased person can be vindicated -can largely be realised by way of an effective Press Council, subject to the proviso that the role assigned to such a Council has the appropriate breadth This remedy may come highly recommended but it is doubtful that the media will cooperate. Unless the media is forced to publish articles that are true the defamation of the decease will continue. The truth does NOT sell newspapers or magazines and positive stories do not last long. Margaret Watson the mother of a boy who killed himself after reading derogatory articles about his dead sister had this to say on the “Anti-Defamation Legacy Law Advocates” Facebook Community Page: Although defamation legislation is not the sole preserve of the UK government and is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Parliament has left it up to the UK government to decide if Scotland should implement defamation of the deceased legislation in full knowledge the UK government had made it clear they will not implement defamation of the deceased legislation. That said, there is a small glimmer of hope as you note from this link https://inforrm.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/case-law-strasbourg-putitstin-v-ukraine-court-recognisesclaims-for-defamation-of-the-dead-hugh-tomlinson-qc/ Seems there may be some glimmer of hope according to Case Law, Strasbourg, Putitstin v Ukraine: court recognises claims for defamation of the dead – Hugh Tomlinson QC READ STORY HERE. The argument of defamation of the deceased as presented by James and Margaret Watson to the Scottish government may now have been overtaken by the Court of Human Rights’ expansive interpretation of Article 8. There would be a strong argument that, in a case like that of the Watsons, the state has a positive obligation to protect the Article 8 rights of the parents and siblings of a deceased child from attacks on the child’s reputation. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights The estate of a decedent can be sued but the estate cannot sue on behalf of the decedent because they cease to have personal rights at death. REALLY? So now we have another supposedly satirical article on guardianlv.com site titled: Michael Jackson Became a White Woman Before Bruce Jenner, Was He a Hero? But it is clearly defamation of Michael Jackson’s character. He is deceased and therefore not able to comment on this subject. The author attempts to give the impression that it is a positive article, however she failed in a MAJOR way to do so. The author has no idea what Michael was thinking or what the situation may or may not have been. She had no right to compare him to “Bruce Jenner” but did so anyway because the first amendment protects her. Articles like this is the reason we need http://antidefamationlegacylawadvocates.org/2013/10/22/whats-so -special-about-the-adllaw-initiative-and-petition/ We ask everyone reading yellow journalism to support the “AdLLaw Initiative” by signing the global petition and sharing it. It is the opinion of the Anti-Defamation Legacy Law Advocates that the U.S. should have an Article 8 or a bill similar to it. Protecting and Preserving the Legacy of a decedent should be important not only to their memory but also to provide a right to respect the decedent’s family. PERHAPS THEN THE “MEDIA” WILL GET RID OF THEIR RIGHT TO
“SLANDER THE DECEASED” CARD.
Support the AdLLaw Initiative by signing the petition, contacting your two U.S. Senators and sharing it. Together, we must insist that the media stop tarnishing the memory of the deceased. Help us give the family members of the deceased an avenue to protect the name of their deceased loved ones. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/protect-the-legacy-of ADLLAW ADVOCATES ON FACEBOOK 134
We are petitioning the U.S. Congress to author a bill that would make it unlawful to defame a person who is deceased. Slander and libel are not protected under the First Amendment while a person is living. The same protection should be extended to a person after they are deceased. The loved ones of someone who has passed on should not have to live with the continued defamatory stories and false accusations that can so easily be paraded as fact.
Petition
By means of the Mummy, mankind, it is said, Attests to the gods its respect for the dead. We plunder his tomb, be he sinner or saint, Distil him for physic and grind him for paint, Exhibit for money his poor, shrunken frame, And with levity flock to the scene of the shame. O, tell me, ye gods, for the use of my rhyme: For respecting the dead what's the limit of time? ~Scopas Brune~ 135
SAVING NEVERLAND OR PRESERVING A LEGACY Just a passing thought that needs to be expressed simply because it weighs heavy on my heart I find it incredibly interesting that there are fans out there trying to get one million dollars together to save Neverland yet they won't take ten seconds to sign a petition which would not only protect the dignity of Michael Jackson's family, but so too his legacy. Why is it so important to rescue a place Michael once loved but brought him such heart-ache?? It might be part of the History of Michael but it's far from a positive element in his legacy even though his intentions were sincere and noble, his personal integrity suffered dearly and he himself moved away from such a memory. Isn't it more important to protect his real legacy rather than his declining history?? Neverland was the beginning of the end for his happiness. AdLLaw is about giving that dignity back in a unique and loving way. Saving Neverland is about forever keeping alive what drove us to lose him, doesn't anyone get that?? Stop trying to save a bad memory which over empowered any good memories Michael had there, he proved that by walking off and leaving it... Let's focus on protecting his legacy, life, and family, by signing this law into existence. We are not doing Michael justice by trying to save Neverland ~ We would be doing him justice by protecting his privacy.... what's more important ?? Let us not use Neverland as a physical structure to feel close to Michael but rather use AdLLaw to spiritually appreciate and honor him as a human being rather than an Idol... After all there is nothing left there of Michael, except his unwanted memories ~ Michael Jackson was Neverland heart and soul, without him it does not exists. .#justhadtogetthatoffmymind ~ Monique Jordon ~ AdLLaw Petition Link: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/protect-the-legacy-of
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WRGO MAGAZINE WATCHMAN The People v. The Watchman
To date, those discussions have included controversial topics like Was Michael Jackson Sexy and Did Michael Jackson Believe His Own Hype. Both times, I took extra care to structure the columns to anticipate all sides of the argument: could Michael have been sexy? What is sexy 137
anyway? At which point did his hype become his reality and was any of it his fault? As the column evolved, articles used examples from MJ’s life as jumping off points to provoke introspection in our lives. For example, “Dancing With the Dead” implored us to examine ourselves and the dead weight we drag around that keeps us from living our best life. Still, there are those for whom open discussion is a bridge too far. Those folks remain willfully closed-minded and continue painting pictures of Michael Jackson as a deity. In short, they don’t want a Watchman on the Wall. They want a whisperer in their ear. According to them, Michael Jackson was a superhuman who now sits at the right hand of the Almighty and woe unto anyone who dares to voice an alternate opinion. So, there you have it, Reader-Jury. I’ve stated my case and will leave it to you to deliberate the fate of this column. See you next month. Or not. Sincerely, ~ The Watchman ~
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CONTACT US can contact us at the following: Group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/whatreallygoingon Group email address: whatreallygoingon@yahoogroups.com Facebook Community Page Here
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NOTES FROM THE EDITORS INTERESTED IN SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE , EVENT OR PROJECT
If you have a story, photos you’ve created, an advocacy or vindication project, a human interest story, children’s project, legacy project, special video, a book, artwork or you may be a support group; we will be delighted to promote you or your group in this new fan based magazine. Our goal is to support the Michael Jackson fan community by sharing your journey with Michael before and after June 25, 2009. We are very interested in your creations and reading about your journey with Michael. Your story may be that prescription that encourages beginners to move forward with the gift that they have been holding onto out of trepidation to share. What you have to offer is important to us. We consider no person or project to be mediocre. You are important to us. If you wish for anonymity, we will honor that request. Many of the fans have been bullied and aren’t comfortable sharing for fear of being ridiculed. We’re happy to report that the community has more Love than Hate. Let us promote you or your project in “What’s REALLY Going ON” magazine.
Time for your Light to Shine It’s all for L.O.V.E. Send Submissions to: whatsreallygoingonmagazine@yahoo.com
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WRGO MAGAZINE DISCLAIMERS Disclaimers: This is a Not for profit magazine and was created to share, with the world, the beautiful people and projects inspired by Michael Jackson. This magazine can be read online or a hard copy issue may be purchased via the online hosting website owners. The cost of printing, perfect binding and shipping cost will be determined by the price list of the host magazine owner(s). Many of the photos and graphic images are not the property of “What’s REALLY Going ON” magazine and were obtained from different sites on the web. We claim only ownership of the name, logo and wherever content is not credited to another source. The Jackson family or the Michael Jackson Estate Managers are engaged in or have anything to do with this magazine. This is solely a fan magazine. The content in the magazine is the opinion of the blogger or person(s) submitting and is not intended to “malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.” Our “intention” is to do no harm. To not injure others, defame, or libel. What is written in this magazine is not to be taken as fact nor absolute. Where information is taken from another site a “link” will be provided redirecting the reader to that site. It is not our “intent” to violate any copyright that belong to someone else. If we have knowledge of the origin of information or if it is copyright protected that information will be provided. Again, This magazine was created to support the Michael Jackson Community endeavors and to share with the community and the world the gift he had and still have for connecting people, globally. Disclaimer of Endorsement The inclusion in this Magazine of advertising, logos or Web site links, or reference to any products, process, service, trade name, trademark, or manufacturer, is not an endorsement by "What's Really Going On?" Magazine of any such advertisers, links, entities, products, services, names or marks. External links are made available to assist the Internet user in his or her search. WRGO has not screened individual links or organizations that appear in this magazine or that may be electronically linked to the magazine. WGRO strongly urges all users of this site to conduct their own investigation of any individual, organization, product or service appearing in the magazine or that is electronically linked to the magazine. WGRO neither endorses links nor approves of links external to this magazine. WGRO has no control over and takes no responsibility for any such link's operation or content.
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Michael Jackson: Innocent 28 February 2005 By: D. Francis
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On 13 June 2005 Michael Jackson was acquitted of 10 felony charges and 4 misdemeanors. Those disgruntled in the media, labelled the acquittal celebrity justice. If you want to find out the truth, start reading this book. This is a unique book looking at the trial testimony. It provides an indepth look at the trial from the first day. It offers the reader an insight into the case that was not provided by the media coverage in 2005. This mini series shines a light on the defence case, and the trial testimony.
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ATTRIBUTIONS Imperfect quotes: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/imperfect.html#O7sf2JQmMpwHDtLd.99 Father’s Day Songs: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/1566901/dear-daddyplaylist-25-songs-for-fathers-day?page=0%2C2 The Persecution of Michael Jackson: http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/06/29/the-persecution-ofmichael-jackson/#.VX2FGeD3LQ9.facebook Happy Father’s Day Poster: http://happydayquote.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Free-HappyFathers-Day-Pictures-2.png The Involved Father: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-roles/the-involved-father/ fathers-matter http://soulreflectionz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/harvard25n-2-web.jpg http://soulreflectionz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Lets-Send-Kids-to-Harvard.jpg http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jackierobi164443.html Michael Jackson 2005 Trial Photo: June 3, 2005 http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/michael-jackson/ images/11318738/title/trial-photos-june-2005-june-3-2005-photo Rose Flower Background Image: http://ak.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/460297/preview/stock footage-rose-flower-backgrounds.jpg
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“A star can never die. It just turns into a smile and melts back into the cosmic music,the dance of life.” ― Michael Jackson, Dancing the Dream 145