by Yeshe G. Muhammad

Created on: June 27, 2009

After hearing the untimely news of Michael Jackson's death, I immediately realized how fond I am of that man. I fondly referred to him as the "man without a childhood" because I first met him as a child performer. I first met the Jackson 5 at the Chicago Confidential a nightclub on the Westside of Chicago. The talent of the Jackson 5 was so admired, especially that little 5 year old who could dance so magically, it was like he had wings. I thought him to be one of the most talented peoples I had ever met.

At such an early age, he was an example to us as dancers of one who could really shake um down. I was in school doing the time, so dancing for me was just a hobby and a way to finance my education. But watching Michael dance, gave us the incentive to improve our show. We took the liberty to use some of his steps that gave our performances a big boost. He was so outstanding that people came from far and near to see that five year old and his brothers 'throw down. We often wondered how they could be so young and still perform in an adult environment without sacrificing their childhood. Performing in the night clubs during those days was challenging because the club owner wasted so much of your time between the performance and the pay off. Because of this policy, Michael and his brothers spent long nights and into the morning just waiting to get paid, therefore depriving him and his brothers of the privilege of some of their childhood.

After he became really famous and the media started beating up on his reputation, I remembered those days back at the Chicago Confidential and remembered that his experience as a child and the things that he missed could have easily contributed to his behavior as an adult. I do not believe he deserved the bad rap he was getting from the media. That young man was a genius in his performances and I believe they will be unduplicated for a long time to come. He was so good at what he did that envy could have been at the root of negative publicity against him and the never ending lawsuits.

I can never believe a man with Michael Jackson's compassion would ever cause harm to a child. For someone of Michael's aptitude, there were always predators surrounding him to still his joy. These people had the nature of a spider. The spider spends the web to trap its prey and the prey must be able to free itself within three seconds or the spider consumes it after liquefying the prey with an enzyme. Such was the nature of people surrounding Michael, be it doctors, lawyers or the greedy parents with children, Having missed most of his childhood, I believe Michael tried to regain what he had lost of his own childhood by enhancing the lives of children who surrounded him and loved him. Would children love someone who hurt them? I think not.

Michael Jackson will always be remembered as a phenomenal human being who tried to bring joy to the lives of young people and the world through his giving of his talent and his finances to make the world a better place for people all over it. His scheduled World tour should continue in our hearts and minds by trying to remember him as the person he was and not the one the media buried with their slander and malicious attacks. May God be pleased with the life of our beloved Michael Jackson.

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