Mommy, He's Got The Same Name As Me!
Before I go, I just wanna say something about Michael Jackson. I was never really a fan of the guy's music, except for Off The Wall and a few songs here and there. But when I was a kid, I grew up loving the Jackson 5. Some of you might not remember, but there was a Jackson 5 cartoon. And I used to watch that show every day. It was like clockwork, literally, I knew it was 5 o'clock because The Jackson 5 was on. And the whole time, the very idea that they were black was something that never dawned on me; it wasn't what mattered, it didn't merit any thought. And when Michael died, it made me think about that, and then I also realized how back in that decade, there were so many pop culture figures who were beloved by children, who were african-american. Besides The Jackson 5, there was Bill Cosby, we loved him. And Muhammad Ali; not exactly a children's figure, but he was so larger than life that he was the closest thing there was to a living superhero. So, when you have a generation of children growing up like this, well, we still have a long way to go, but maybe that's part of the reason racism has declined in this country. And I'm not saying that Michael Jackson was some kind of civil rights leader, but, and while he's probably got some time in Purgatory to serve, if there is a paradise up there, just for that, I hope he ends up in it.
Cheers,
Namaste.
