How Sweet is This?

From Stockholm, Sweden - July 8, 2009

Human Nature: Learning from the "Michael Jackson Cacophony"

Cacophony. That is what the late great James Baldwin, who died 22 years before Michael Jackson's own passing, called the height of Michael Jackson's popularity during his Thriller days. Specifically, Baldwin stated, "The Michael Jackson cacophony is fascinating in that it is not about Jackson at all. I hope he has the good sense to know it and the good fortune to snatch his life out of the jaws of carnivorous success."

Interesting words from back in 1984. Yet, James Baldwin wasn't so much a prophet as he was a keen observer and wise man with his hand on the racial pulse of America. If anyone understands astutely the national race consciousness of America, it was Baldwin, and what fascinates me more than anything about this quote is how he knew to be cynical in his response to the mainstream acceptance of Michael Jackson long before that same mainstream wave of love turned rancorous. Baldwin died before witnessing MJ's slow transformation from a brown-skinned man into a colorless, wigged out, chiseled faced manikin. Or, the various legal and financial allegations that plagued him, or even the masking of white-appearing children that he claimed as his own, before they were finally revealed to the world yesterday at a moving tribute that, above all, highlighted MJ's humanity as well as his legendary status.

The reason for Baldwin's cynicism is so clearly made manifest in the media hoopla that we faced in the days following Michael Jackson's death. In another reflection piece in the New York Times, What's Driving the Michael Jackson Mania, conservative critic John McWhorter offers, "To black people, the bleaching and chiseling was the tragic self-negating behavior of our wide-nosed boy singer with an Afro, grown up and lost. But whites have opened up to blackness to such an extent that they were often just as dismayed by the surgery. “Cosby” became a runaway hit, Will Smith became Hollywood’s biggest star, hip hop went mainstream, America elected a black president — and Michael died looking like Greta Garbo."

While there may be a kernel of truth in what McWhorter surmises (except I really don't think looking like a "Greta Garbo" is all that horrible), I think it's safe to say that he has neither the keen observation or intelligent measure of America's racial pulse as Brother Baldwin. I myself have not overlooked the fact that, it wasn't until MJ started looking paler that he began to be vilified as a freak, a pervert, a monster, a pale version of the black bogeyman that has accounted for many primal fears in the culture. That is not simply a manifestation of a tragic figure that both black and white Americans gaze upon with pity as they shake their heads. No. The vilification is a visceral reaction to a body that literally transcended the color line, that refused to "know its place," and that served as both aspiration to and critique of whiteness. In short, Michael Jackson offered a performative critique of the "passing for white" narrative, in which our "passing" protagonists often dwell among whites and adopt white culture while simultaneously growing more radical and antiracist in their message. "Passing" figures struggle with race all the time, and I've always found it ironic that it wasn't until he appeared "white" that he started moving away from "Heal the World" / "We Are the World" / "Black or White" messages to accusing SONY of racism or coming up with protest lyrics in "Stranger in Moscow" and "They Don't Really Care About Us" that speak out against isolation, hatred, racism, and imperialism. What can I say? MJ was a complicated man.

So, it's no surprise, really, that when the white-appearing black man started singing explicitly about racism, it was much easier to vilify him as a freak. And, had the white media not started in on him, black America might have joined in too, but we always pause when a black man is perceived as being lynched by a white mob - physically or figuratively. Still, this perceived transgression of race, gender, class, sexuality, etc. through MJ's body has merely contributed to the noise - whether it's the noise of adulatory screams or angry disapproval. And, I would argue as Baldwin does, that the disappproval, like the adulation, is also not about Jackson at all. The black body has often functioned as the Other, fulfilling dominant culture's desires and fears. During the '80s, there was a definite investment in seeing Michael Jackson as an innocent sexless being whose whole existence was to entertain the masses. The '90s - that great demise of our race relations, from Rodney King to the LA riots to OJ Simpson - was no longer invested in black male innocence, so no one was trying to feel MJ's claims of "Neverland" childhood in which he didn't want to grow up. All these little boys at his ranch? Hmmph, the thinking went, ain't nothing innocent going on there; hence, the molestation allegations, which forced him to eventually grow up since eccentric black millionaires should not indulge their fantasies. Not surprisingly, he was forced into adulthood, first through marriage, than later through fatherhood.

But, he was a still a "freak" and later a "monster." Sure, some of these public distortions were of his own making, but I would argue that these distortions were designed to contain the transgressive black body that dared to transcend its racial status. I may be off in my interpretation of his physical transformation as racial subversion, but trust me when I tell you that, if this were merely aspiration to whiteness, something I might add that many Americans work hard at - regardless of their racial background - so why are we angry at MJ's attempts, most of us wouldn't have a problem with his embodied performance. Otherwise, where is the outrage when a Beyonce or Lil' Kim shows up on stage looking like a Barbie Doll? Where's the outrage when any public woman - regardless of race - shows up with fake breasts and hair? Some interesting gender and racial issues are on display here in terms of whose bodies should change and whose shouldn't.

All I know is, when Michael Jackson died on June 25, two days after I swore off the blogosphere and, thus, had to cut my blog break short to share my public grief over a public man in a public outlet, I found that the Michael Jackson cacophony revealed more about who we are, as a collective humanity, than about the man himself. I cried, then was moved by the global outpouring of grief - expressed through vigils and mass moonwalks - then was angered by the shoddy attempts at a tribute by the BET Awards Show, before I finally felt contempt at many of our news networks which did not know basic differences between "news" and "gossip." Unlike certain commenters who felt that we were giving this "freak," this "pervert" too much attention - which was a safer way of saying, "How dare you give any attention to this N----" - my problem with the Michael Jackson noise is that it didn't distinguish between Michael Jackson, the legendary musical entertainer, and the Michael Jackson freak show concoction that had no real bearing on any real "facts," and, yes, I do expect journalists to know the difference. When I attended the Apollo Theater tribute last Tuesday, I encountered black, white, Asians, Latinos/as, and various internationals. I even stood in line with a contingent that drove in from Toronto! That's not the response of people who had come to celebrate the life of a "freak." He provided the soundtrack to our childhood or our entire lives, indeed sacrificed his own childhood so that we could have joy in ours. And boy, did we unleash that joy when we finally got into the Apollo and danced our butts off!

Our musicians are important. No, they don't start revolutions, but they do unite the masses to get that revolution moving.

And when I saw so many from my own generation and older and younger stand still to mark this man's passing, I thought it was a profound moment. I felt like I was part of a global community, and that felt special. However, no sooner was I feeling the global love than Big Media started in on their 24/7 persecution, even in death, of the "strange man" that was Michael Jackson. That's why Al Sharpton had to speak directly to the children, reminding them that their father "wasn't strange, but it was strange what he went through." I hope the words sink in, for I heard some news pundits remark about whether or not it was biologically possible for someone like MJ to father children that looked like them, or whether his children were created in a "lab," or if they would be appropriately cared for by his family. Even if they were not his biologically, what's the big deal since I have yet to hear anyone criticize Steven Spielburg, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, or Angelina Jolie for raising black children? Poor Blanket looked like he wanted to hide his face from the world, still, and can you blame him when ignorant people abound who think they are just as "freakish"as their father?

This, ladies and gentleman, is what 21st-century racism sounds like (the passive-aggressive kind). I mean, these are the conversations I expect from a Jim Crow segregationist or some 19th-century white imperialist scientist who thinks African people are monkeys. What kind of simple-minded nonsense was I hearing on my TV or on the Internet? And, no, McWhorter, these are not words of a people who "have opened up to blackness." These are words of a people who are still afraid of it, who are still doubtful that we, black people (no matter how pale we appear) are human.

When Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris, spoke at the end of yesterday's memorial and basically owned the show with her simple, heartwrenching words, she exposed to all of us how, beneath the "Michael Jackson cacophony," was a real man with real feelings and real relationships. He was a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a cousin, a friend, a colleague, and a revered artist. And he will be missed.

He was not a demi-god or a monster. He was a human being. Imagine that.

Or, in the words of his immortal song, "Human Nature," which is by far my favorite MJ song:

If they say why why / tell 'em that it's human nature
why why / does he do me that way
If they say why why / tell 'em that it's human nature /
why why / does he do me that way
I like livin' this way / I like lovin' this way

It's the humanity of Michael Jackson that I'm now just learning to mourn this week. Sometimes we need to listen for the silence in all the noise.

Highlights of the Michael Jackson Memorial Service

Or, rather, the parts that made me cry:

Stevie Wonder, "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer"

The Jacksons bid farewell:



Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris, speaks:

Beyonce's Tribute to MJ

Now, why didn't she do this performance at last Sunday's BET Awards Show?

5 1/2 Hours (and an Hour in the Pouring Rain)

That's what I endured to pay tribute to Michael Jackson at the Apollo Theater in Harlem yesterday.  As a fellow fan said, while we waited all day on line (and at one point in the pouring rain): "I know I wouldn't be standing in no rain for a relative! I hope he appreciates it, wherever he is."

Someone else said: "That's okay 'cause he is family!"

And, it felt like we were family, all of New York turning out for a lost brother.  

Here's my shaky camera work (from all my dancing - ha!) of the event, which I tried to edit down to some highlights:

UPDATE: Some extra footage from same event: