Thank u.. really thank u mjj4ever777 <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
i can frankly say that i'm a believer from the very beginning..<!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
however, there were moments (especially lately) when i started losing hope..faith.. why? maybe b/c it was too long for me.. i was left on the rack cuz i wanted it to come to the end.. i was so excited when June 25 came.. cuz i thought that this would be it..this would be the day..<!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
but nothing happened..
i spent all night crying and wondering how long..how long do we still have to wait..
however..then something changed inside me.. i reached the conclusion that i'm simply being stupid and that i cannot behave like that!!
although Mike didn't come back it doesn't mean that it's the end and that i can stop believing!! no i can't!! i must believe..
i'm his Soldier of Love.. and the soldier never deserts from the Army!! Army of Love!
and after reading ur post i'm reassured that i made a good decision.. and i'm glad that i'm one of u ..the believers..<!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
Thank u !
L.O.V.E
I refuse to be anything but a BeLIEver and after trying and trying to make peace with non BeLIEvers I am done with that issue. They hurt me to the core until I was suicidal just reading the hate they were spewing my way over and over. I gave it the best I have and my heart just cannot take any more of the fussing and arguing and pain they were causing me. The way they are like these touchy, jump down your throat in an instant, do what we do or else, be like us or else and then the nasty emails and the hate words. NO more of that for me. I'm staying right here. And then one of them pretended to be my friend and just stopped talking to me when she found out I was coming over here, dumped me as if I'm not good enough for her, like I'm dirt. And not one single person has treated me that way here on this forum. It's like another world here, a very pleasant one.
Hello my friends! I just wanted to comment to Nefari for a sec. Please do not be discouraged, by those who don't Believe, I know it hurts and I myself have been a victim of their "hate," but I think of it this way, in the end, when all is revealed, it will be those that didn't "believe", that will be berating themselves for not opening their minds to the possibility of Michael being alive. They will be the ones who will be saying to themselves, "I let Michael down, because I was narrow-minded". If Michael has taught us anything, he has taught us to "BE AWARE". We are all on this site because our minds told us that something just wasn't right about Michael's "death", right? We didn't take the "media's" word as being gospel and why didn't we do that? Because Michael has taught us through the years about how corrupt the "system" is. The non believers want "JUSTICE4MJ" and I do not fault them for that.They love him just as much as we do, but look at it this way, we all want "JUSTICE4MJ", the only difference is that they want Conrad Murray to be charged with Murder( we all should know by now that the whole Murray thing is to prove how easily an innocent black man can be convicted of a crime, when in fact no crime has been committed...hehe...good one Michael) "We" want to help Michael expose all the corruption in the Music industry, Government, Illuminate, etc. and we want to help him bring love and peace back into this world! At least I hope that is what you all want. You can't lose perspective here, Michael didn't do this just for the" hell of it", he did it because he had a PURPOSE, an extremely important purpose!!
I really don't think that some people realize just how brilliant Michael is, I mean this whole "hoax" has been planned by an absolute "genius". Think about it my dear friends...Michael has taken us on quite a journey, he not only used his "smarts", but he used his "imagination" to create an experience, that no one before him or after him, will ever top!! It's all about awareness!! He has given so much to this world and even in "death" he is giving to us He is giving us the chance to change this world, Something that never would have had happened, if he hadn't "died".But Michael did all of this with a "twist". Michael loves magic, he has THE most creative mind in the world and he has created something so "unreal" so,"Fantastical" that it makes us all question whetherany of this could be "real"...ABSOLUTE BRILLIANCE!!!! Think, open your eyes to all possibilities. Do your homework by investigating and then relish in the realization, that WE, Michael's family, can be a part of HISTORY...we can all hold our heads high, when the truth comes out and say that "WE" were a part of " What will go down in history of the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation!"
Michael has given us a gift and he has let us have fun along the way, but we are in a "different" "Phase" of his "mission"now. Now is the time for "action". Now is the time to fight for Michael! Fight for all the injustice he has endured! Fight the corruption! Open your eyes, your mind and your heart to Michael's Cause! Corruption is EVERYWHERE, whether we want to believe it or not and the only way to change that is to do your homework and get out of your "comfort zone" and become Aware of what is really happening.
I can almost hear some voices now saying..."but what can we really do about it?" Every single person that changes and becomes aware, is one more step in the right direction, "1and1and1 is 3...come together, right now..over me!" We NEED to come together...for Michael!
One last plea here then I will shut up <!-- s --><!-- s -->
There is only one person in this whole world that could pull something of this magnitude off... Michael Jackson!! The genius going on here is above and beyond the likes of anything we have ever witnessed or ever will witness again in our lifetime! Michael is on a mission and we owe it to him to stand behind him the whole way. He has given us the ability, to be a part of something sooo huge and sooo important and like I said before, and I will continue to say, WE OWE MICHAEL, he has "sacrificed" his life, for US!!!!!!
And, he took us on a wonderful adventure along the way...come on my friends,this last year has kept us glued to our computer screens, waiting and wondering what will happen next? Michael's creativity has given us an escape from the reality from the mundane everyday life most of us lead, he has once again, given, given, given...to us, his fans, he has once again "sacrificed" for us, his fans and now it is time to give back to this sweet, loving, wonderful man...my friend, my heart and my soul...Michael.
Everything is done for a reason...and Michael's reason is to expose the corruption in this place we call "Home"
So...isn't it time that we let Michael come home? Doesn't he deserve to tuck his children in bed at night?...we take all these things for granted, but Michael gave up his LIFE for US!! This really is "all for love"...we can stop this madness, but you need to break out of that comfort zone and open your eyes to the powers that be...so once again I am asking you to show Michael that we stand behind him...that we are ready to expose the corruption, that we are ready for love to rule the world...this really is the last chance...so please my friends, please help him, let him know that we are here for the right reasons. We would not be here,on this site, if it wasn't for MICHAEL...think about that please.
Thanks again for listening...now go STUDY my wonderful MJ Family...I love you all and God Bless all of us!
Dayna
P.S...Remember this. You don't need to try and convince people that Michael is alive, it's all about getting people opening their minds to the "message". Spread his message, try to send some of the videos out there on all the corruption, to people you know, This is the internet after all...this is the outlet that Michael chose to expose the truth, but without us spreading that message, it will be a lost cause...Think,...where else can you get your message to the masses?? Only on the internet...people will know Michael is alive when all is revealed. Michael has given us this job and his family has the job of clearing Michael's name on TV and with the media...I believe that everything is going as planned!
This is wonderful to read - and you hit on something that I've been trying to work through:
But Michael did all of this with a "twist". Michael loves magic, he has THE most creative mind in the world and he has created something so "unreal" so,"Fantastical" that it makes us all question whetherany of this could be "real"...ABSOLUTE BRILLIANCE!!!!
Most of the time now I believe, but there are still times when, as you put it, I question whether any of this could be "real" and it's because of MJ's utterly unique, mindblowing BRILLIANCE!
Your welcome Curls...I wouldn't be doing this if I truly didn't BELIEVE that "everything happens for a reason". This is some powerful stuff happening and the sooner more people realize that the ultimate power lies with us, the sooner the story will unfold...I truly have faith in Michael and his abilities...we just need to open our eyes and do our part...Its all for LOVE...it really is! This isn't some "hair brain scheme" that he just thought up in the spur of the moment, this has been "expertly" thought out and planned...
God Bless You
WE OWE MICHAEL, he has "sacrificed" his life, for US!!!!!!
that's great! this is so strong..<!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) --> mjj4ever777.. thank u again.. <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) --> i forgot to say that i'm going to translate what u wrote (your firt post in this topic and this long one above). i will translate it into polish and post it on forums about MJ here in Poland <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->
i want ppl to know ur message!! it's so powerful.. u gonna open many minds..
L.O.V.E
i'm going to keep what i say short.
first i loved reading this post. it really really says a lot.
through out it all we all must come together if not for each other
then for MJ.
it doesnt matter if you think he is alive or not
it matters how you continue the message he has been sending everyone
look deep in your heart and the answers should be there
there is no need to argue over theories people have
i've seen people argue on here for little or no cause at all
look at this. what if MJ saw wouldn't that be a bad thing to see?
everyone divided
yes people need to be aware. if one person is they can pass it on
and the list will continue, more people will look into it.
it all matters how it is brought out there. if its done in a careless way no one will care
but do it with love and it will be stronger. don't fight each other
the greatest "weapon" is love ...
it doesnt matter if you think he is alive or not
it matters how you continue the message he has been sending everyone
look deep in your heart and the answers should be there
there is no need to argue over theories people have
i've seen people argue on here for little or no cause at all
I totally agree. Imo it's not about where MJ is, it's about what we take away from being part of his life. What have we learnt, and now, what can we teach others? Can he be proud of us and see, that in even just a small way, he has made a difference? My heart at this point says sadly, no.
We all have two things in common, believer or no, we loved MJ and we are all human. We must be able to make a difference. How? We can keep searching for the truth, wherever that leads. No one, apart from MJ and a few close confidants, know at this time exactly what the truth is. We have to accept that. It's not about who's right or wrong, it's about TRUTH & JUSTICE. This is not the first time in history something similar has happened (Jimi Hendrix) and the establishment/industry responsible must finally be held accountable. How we do this, apart from pouring our hearts out in grief and indignation on a forum, I have no idea, but for sure we MUST remain united. We must also DO something that draws public attention to the situation, among the people who could care less about MJ.
In my daily activities I often wonder who around me loved MJ and how many of them find the situation of his "death" unacceptable. I find it sometimes taboo to even mention his name and often have to brace myself for the hate talk that ensues if I do. I'm sure the general populace write MJ fans off as totally crazy and therefore whatever we have to say is crazy as well.
So I stay quiet and come here. It's not enough. We have to find a way of "raising our voices". We have to stand up for MJ because at the moment he can't do it himself. I know this, but do not know how. How do we clear MJ's name once and for all, how do we open people's minds to the bigger picture, how do we make people realise that they are constantly lied to and make them care enough to say "enough"! Do we just sit back and hope that the slow wheels of enquiry will vindicate MJ and all of us? We must also remember that as hard as we work to expose the truth, others are working harder to suppress it.
Maybe we can have a society of Michael Jackson lovers- his Army of LOVE. Maybe we can wear something each day that states clearly to everyone around us our unity and our position on the matter- something that we don't even have to talk about to convey the message. Even if it's just a small sunflower on our lapels or a "justice for Michael" sticker on our cars...then when we are out and about, we can at least smile/victory salute at each other in honour of MJ. At least it would be a start...
Any one have any better ideas or is this just one big, bad idea? <!-- s:? -->:?<!-- s:? -->
I think its a great idea!!!!My husband just said that we should all wear a red armband like his children wore at the Grammys. to honor Michael, let him know we support the cause...red for Love..MJ's army...the Love Revolution <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D --> <!-- s --><!-- s -->
<!-- s --><!-- s --> I had thought of the armband too. MJ was very fond of them, in all colours.
May be a little "in your face" for general everyday wearing however and possibly not specific enough- they could be mistaken for a general sign of mourning. We need something subtly but unmistakenly MJ. Here's another idea- what about the bandaids he wore on his right hand? Very unmistakenly MJ...
But lets get a few ideas going. If we can organise something at least we will prove we can behave in a cohesive manner. That will keep us unified, motivated (a good thing to be when you are sad) and give us a strong sense of empowerment.
Even though we seem to be spread out all over the planet, surely we can connect to those of us who live close to each other? If I could spot an MJ fan at my local grocery checkout and just smile at them, that would absolutely make my day.
United we stand! For MJ and humanity! For L.O.V.E. *victory salute*
I think its a great idea!!!!My husband just said that we should all wear a red armband like his children wore at the Grammys. to honor Michael, let him know we support the cause...red for Love..MJ's army...the Love Revolution <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D --> <!-- s --><!-- s -->
Thank you so much for your incredibly inspirational and powerful words. Your 6 children and grandchild are very blessed to have you.
I'd just been sulking and not reading posts anymore so upset that we're not getting Michael's message or perhaps we forget and just need to be reminded. I get upset that our humanity hasn't evolved enough to embrace a man who was filled with so much love, goodness, genius and generosity. The powers that be always assassinate those who bring awareness and love to this world. Let's listen to MJ sing "We've Had Enough" and also his speech at Oxford which I think is up there with the greatest speeches of all time. I read and reread this speech all of the time, I share it with everyone I know, and I try my hardest to live his dream of a better world for our children. My life work is helping youth - adolescents.
I have never stopped loving Michael - always have, always will.
I love the idea of red arm bands. Perhaps we break out in these all over the world on his birthday, August 29th. We use the next two months to prepare ourselves by teaching and sharing his message and then we come together as one. Believers and non-believers, Michael had a message. Let's share it. Brava, Dayna, Brava!
Heal The Kids - Oxford Speech
Oxford University, March 2001 by Michael Jackson Thank you, thank you dear friends, from the bottom of my heart, for such a loving and spirited welcome, and thank you, Mr President, for your kind invitation to me which I am so honoured to accept. I also want to express a special thanks to you Shmuley, who for 11 years served as Rabbi here at Oxford. You and I have been working so hard to form Heal the Kids, as well as writing our book about childlike qualities, and in all of our efforts you have been such a supportive and loving friend. And I would also like to thank Toba Friedman, our director of operations at Heal the Kids, who is returning tonight to the alma mater where she served as a Marshall scholar, as well as Marilyn Piels, another central member of our Heal the Kids team.
I am humbled to be lecturing in a place that has previously been filled by such notable figures as Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein, Ronald Reagan, Robert Kennedy and Malcolm X. I've even heard that Kermit the Frog has made an appearance here, and I've always felt a kinship with Kermit's message that it's not easy being green. I'm sure he didn't find it any easier being up here than I do!
As I looked around Oxford today, I couldn't help but be aware of the majesty and grandeur of this great institution, not to mention the brilliance of the great and gifted minds that have roamed these streets for centuries. The walls of Oxford have not only housed the greatest philosophical and scientific geniuses - they have also ushered forth some of the most cherished creators of children's literature, from J.R.R. Tolkien to CS Lewis. Today I was allowed to hobble into the dining hall in Christ Church to see Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland immortalised in the stained glass windows. And even one of my own fellow Americans, the beloved Dr Seuss graced these halls and then went on to leave his mark on the imaginations of millions of children throughout the world.
I suppose I should start by listing my qualifications to speak before you this evening. Friends, I do not claim to have the academic expertise of other speakers who have addressed this hall, just as they could lay little claim at being adept at the moonwalk - and you know, Einstein in particular was really TERRIBLE at that.
But I do have a claim to having experienced more places and cultures than most people will ever see. Human knowledge consists not only of libraries of parchment and ink - it is also comprised of the volumes of knowledge that are written on the human heart, chiselled on the human soul, and engraved on the human psyche. And friends, I have encountered so much in this relatively short life of mine that I still cannot believe I am only 42. I often tell Shmuley that in soul years I'm sure that I'm at least 80 - and tonight I even walk like I'm 80! So please harken to my message, because what I have to tell you tonight can bring healing to humanity and healing to our planet.
Through the grace of God, I have been fortunate to have achieved many of my artistic and professional aspirations realised early in my lifetime. But these, friends are accomplishments, and accomplishments alone are not synonymous with who I am. Indeed, the cheery five-year-old who belted out Rockin' Robin and Ben to adoring crowds was not indicative of the boy behind the smile.
Tonight, I come before you less as an icon of pop (whatever that means anyway), and more as an icon of a generation, a generation that no longer knows what it means to be children.
All of us are products of our childhood. But I am the product of a lack of a childhood, an absence of that precious and wondrous age when we frolic playfully without a care in the world, basking in the adoration of parents and relatives, where our biggest concern is studying for that big spelling test come Monday morning.
Those of you who are familiar with the Jackson Five know that I began performing at the tender age of five and that ever since then, I haven't stopped dancing or singing. But while performing and making music undoubtedly remain as some of my greatest joys, when I was young I wanted more than anything else to be a typical little boy. I wanted to build tree houses, have water balloon fights, and play hide and seek with my friends. But fate had it otherwise and all I could do was envy the laughter and playtime that seemed to be going on all around me.
There was no respite from my professional life. But on Sundays I would go Pioneering, the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah's Witnesses do. And it was then that I was able to see the magic of other people's childhood.
Since I was already a celebrity, I would have to don a disguise of fat suit, wig, beard and glasses and we would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door-to-door or making the rounds of shopping malls, distributing our Watchtower magazine. I loved to set foot in all those regular suburban houses and catch sight of the shag rugs and La-Z-Boy armchairs with kids playing Monopoly and grandmas baby-sitting and all those wonderful, ordinary and starry scenes of everyday life. Many, I know, would argue that these things seem like no big deal. But to me they were mesmerising.
I used to think that I was unique in feeling that I was without a childhood. I believed that indeed there were only a handful with whom I could share those feelings. When I recently met with Shirley Temple Black, the great child star of the 1930s and 40s, we said nothing to each other at first, we simply cried together, for she could share a pain with me that only others like my close friends Elizabeth Taylor and McCauley Culkin know.
I do not tell you this to gain your sympathy but to impress upon you my first important point : It is not just Hollywood child stars that have suffered from a non-existent childhood. Today, it's a universal calamity, a global catastrophe. Childhood has become the great casualty of modern-day living. All around us we are producing scores of kids who have not had the joy, who have not been accorded the right, who have not been allowed the freedom, or knowing what it's like to be a kid.
Today children are constantly encouraged to grow up faster, as if this period known as childhood is a burdensome stage, to be endured and ushered through, as swiftly as possible. And on that subject, I am certainly one of the world's greatest experts.
Ours is a generation that has witnessed the abrogation of the parent-child covenant. Psychologists are publishing libraries of books detailing the destructive effects of denying one's children the unconditional love that is so necessary to the healthy development of their minds and character. And because of all the neglect, too many of our kids have, essentially, to raise themselves. They are growing more distant from their parents, grandparents and other family members, as all around us the indestructible bond that once glued together the generations, unravels.
This violation has bred a new generation, Generation O let us call it, that has now picked up the torch from Generation X. The O stands for a generation that has everything on the outside - wealth, success, fancy clothing and fancy cars, but an aching emptiness on the inside. That cavity in our chests, that barrenness at our core, that void in our centre is the place where the heart once beat and which love once occupied.
And it's not just the kids who are suffering. It's the parents as well. For the more we cultivate little-adults in kids'-bodies, the more removed we ourselves become from our own child-like qualities, and there is so much about being a child that is worth retaining in adult life.
Love, ladies and gentlemen, is the human family's most precious legacy, its richest bequest, its golden inheritance. And it is a treasure that is handed down from one generation to another. Previous ages may not have had the wealth we enjoy. Their houses may have lacked electricity, and they squeezed their many kids into small homes without central heating. But those homes had no darkness, nor were they cold. They were lit bright with the glow of love and they were warmed snugly by the very heat of the human heart. Parents, undistracted by the lust for luxury and status, accorded their children primacy in their lives.
As you all know, our two countries broke from each other over what Thomas Jefferson referred to as "certain inalienable rights". And while we Americans and British might dispute the justice of his claims, what has never been in dispute is that children have certain inalienable rights, and the gradual erosion of those rights has led to scores of children worldwide being denied the joys and security of childhood.
I would therefore like to propose tonight that we install in every home a Children's Universal Bill of Rights, the tenets of which are:
1. The right to be loved without having to earn it
2. The right to be protected, without having to deserve it
3. The right to feel valuable, even if you came into the world with nothing
4. The right to be listened to without having to be interesting
5. The right to be read a bedtime story, without having to compete with the evening news
6. The right to an education without having to dodge bullets at schools
7. The right to be thought of as adorable - (even if you have a face that only a mother could love).
Friends, the foundation of all human knowledge, the beginning of human consciousness, must be that each and every one of us is an object of love. Before you know if you have red hair or brown, before you know if you are black or white, before you know of what religion you are a part, you have to know that you are loved.
About twelve years ago, when I was just about to start my Bad tour, a little boy came with his parents to visit me at home in California. He was dying of cancer and he told me how much he loved my music and me. His parents told me that he wasn't going to live, that any day he could just go, and I said to him: "Look, I am going to be coming to your town in Kansas to open my tour in three months. I want you to come to the show. I am going to give you this jacket that I wore in one of my videos." His eyes lit up and he said: "You are gonna GIVE it to me?" I said "Yeah, but you have to promise that you will wear it to the show." I was trying to make him hold on. I said: "When you come to the show I want to see you in this jacket and in this glove" and I gave him one of my rhinestone gloves - and I never usually give the rhinestone gloves away. And he was just in heaven.
But maybe he was too close to heaven, because when I came to his town, he had already died, and they had buried him in the glove and jacket. He was just 10 years old. God knows, I know, that he tried his best to hold on. But at least when he died, he knew that he was loved, not only by his parents, but even by me, a near stranger, I also loved him. And with all of that love he knew that he didn't come into this world alone, and he certainly didn't leave it alone.
If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can he dealt with. A professor may degrade you, but you will not feel degraded, a boss may crush you, but you will not be crushed, a corporate gladiator might vanquish you, but you will still triumph. How could any of them truly prevail in pulling you down? For you know that you are an object worthy of love. The rest is just packaging.
But if you don't have that memory of being loved, you are condemned to search the world for something to fill you up. But no matter how much money you make or how famous you become, you will still fell empty. What you are really searching for is unconditional love, unqualified acceptance. And that was the one thing that was denied to you at birth.
Friends, let me paint a picture for you. Here is a typical day in America - six youths under the age of 20 will commit suicide, 12 children under the age of 20 will die from firearms - remember this is a DAY, not a year - 399 kids will be arrested for drug abuse, 1,352 babies will be born to teen mothers. This is happening in one of the richest, most developed countries in the history of the world.
Yes, in my country there is an epidemic of violence that parallels no other industrialised nation. These are the ways young people in America express their hurt and their anger. But don't think that there is not the same pain and anguish among their counterparts in the United Kingdom. Studies in this country show that every single hour, three teenagers in the UK inflict harm upon themselves, often by cutting or burning their bodies or taking an overdose. This is how they have chosen to cope with the pain of neglect and emotional agony.
In Britain, as many as 20% of families will only sit down and have dinner together once a year. Once a year! And what about the time-honoured tradition of reading your kid a bedtime story? Research from the 1980s showed that children who are read to, had far greater literacy and significantly outperformed their peers at school. And yet, less than 33% of British children ages two to eight have a regular bedtime story read to them. You may not think much of that until you take into account that 75% of their parents DID have that bedtime story when they were that age.
Clearly, we do not have to ask ourselves where all of this pain, anger and violent behaviour comes from. It is self-evident that children are thundering against the neglect, quaking against the indifference and crying out just to be noticed. The various child protection agencies in the US say that millions of children are victims of maltreatment in the form of neglect, in the average year. Yes, neglect. In rich homes, privileged homes, wired to the hilt with every electronic gadget. Homes where parents come home, but they're not really home, because their heads are still at the office. And their kids? Well, their kids just make do with whatever emotional crumbs they get. And you don't get much from endless TV, computer games and videos.
These hard, cold numbers which for me, wrench the soul and shake the spirit, should indicate to you why I have devoted so much of my time and resources into making our new Heal the Kids initiative a colossal success.
Our goal is simple - to recreate the parent/child bond, renew its promise and light the way forward for all the beautiful children who are destined one day to walk this earth.
But since this is my first public lecture, and you have so warmly welcomed me into your hearts, I feel that I want to tell you more. We each have our own story, and in that sense statistics can become personal.
They say that parenting is like dancing. You take one step, your child takes another. I have discovered that getting parents to re-dedicate themselves to their children is only half the story. The other half is preparing the children to re-accept their parents.
When I was very young I remember that we had this crazy mutt of a dog named "Black Girl," a mix of wolf and retriever. Not only wasn't she much of a guard dog, she was such a scared and nervous thing that it is a wonder she did not pass out every time a truck rumbled by, or a thunderstorm swept through Indiana. My sister Janet and I gave that dog so much love, but we never really won back the sense of trust that had been stolen from her by her previous owner. We knew he used to beat her. We didn't know with what. But whatever it was, it was enough to suck the spirit right out of that dog.
A lot of kids today are hurt puppies who have weaned themselves off the need for love. They couldn't care less about their parents. Left to their own devices, they cherish their independence. They have moved on and have left their parents behind.
Then there are the far worse cases of children who harbour animosity and resentment toward their parents, so that any overture that their parents might undertake would be thrown forcefully back in their face.
Tonight, I don't want any of us to make this mistake. That's why I'm calling upon all the world's children - beginning with all of us here tonight - to forgive our parents, if we felt neglected. Forgive them and teach them how to love again.
You probably weren't surprised to hear that I did not have an idyllic childhood. The strain and tension that exists in my relationship with my own father is well documented. My father is a tough man and he pushed my brothers and me hard, from the earliest age, to be the best performers we could be.
He had great difficulty showing affection. He never really told me he loved me. And he never really complimented me either. If I did a great show, he would tell me it was a good show. And if I did an OK show, he told me it was a lousy show.
He seemed intent, above all else, on making us a commercial success. And at that he was more than adept. My father was a managerial genius and my brothers and I owe our professional success, in no small measure, to the forceful way that he pushed us. He trained me as a showman and under his guidance I couldn't miss a step.
But what I really wanted was a Dad. I wanted a father who showed me love. And my father never did that. He never said I love you while looking me straight in the eye, he never played a game with me. He never gave me a piggyback ride, he never threw a pillow at me, or a water balloon.
But I remember once when I was about four years old, there was a little carnival and he picked me up and put me on a pony. It was a tiny gesture, probably something he forgot five minutes later. But because of that moment I have this special place in my heart for him. Because that's how kids are, the little things mean so much to them and for me, that one moment meant everything. I only experienced it that one time, but it made me feel really good, about him and the world.
But now I am a father myself, and one day I was thinking about my own children, Prince and Paris and how I wanted them to think of me when they grow up. To be sure, I would like them to remember how I always wanted them with me wherever I went, how I always tried to put them before everything else. But there are also challenges in their lives. Because my kids are stalked by paparazzi, they can't always go to a park or a movie with me.
So what if they grow older and resent me, and how my choices impacted their youth? Why weren't we given an average childhood like all the other kids, they might ask? And at that moment I pray that my children will give me the benefit of the doubt. That they will say to themselves: "Our daddy did the best he could, given the unique circumstances that he faced. He may not have been perfect, but he was a warm and decent man, who tried to give us all the love in the world."
I hope that they will always focus on the positive things, on the sacrifices I willingly made for them, and not criticise the things they had to give up, or the errors I've made, and will certainly continue to make, in raising them. For we have all been someone's child, and we know that despite the very best of plans and efforts, mistakes will always occur. That's just being human.
And when I think about this, of how I hope that my children will not judge me unkindly, and will forgive my shortcomings, I am forced to think of my own father and despite my earlier denials, I am forced to admit that me must have loved me. He did love me, and I know that.
There were little things that showed it. When I was a kid I had a real sweet tooth - we all did. My favourite food was glazed doughnuts and my father knew that. So every few weeks I would come downstairs in the morning and there on the kitchen counter was a bag of glazed doughnuts - no note, no explanation - just the doughnuts. It was like Santa Claus.
Sometimes I would think about staying up late at night, so I could see him leave them there, but just like with Santa Claus, I didn't want to ruin the magic for fear that he would never do it again. My father had to leave them secretly at night, so as no one might catch him with his guard down. He was scared of human emotion, he didn't understand it or know how to deal with it. But he did know doughnuts.
And when I allow the floodgates to open up, there are other memories that come rushing back, memories of other tiny gestures, however imperfect, that showed that he did what he could. So tonight, rather than focusing on what my father didn't do, I want to focus on all the things he did do and on his own personal challenges. I want to stop judging him.
I have started reflecting on the fact that my father grew up in the South, in a very poor family. He came of age during the Depression and his own father, who struggled to feed his children, showed little affection towards his family and raised my father and his siblings with an iron fist. Who could have imagined what it was like to grow up a poor black man in the South, robbed of dignity, bereft of hope, struggling to become a man in a world that saw my father as subordinate. I was the first black artist to be played on MTV and I remember how big a deal it was even then. And that was in the 80s!
My father moved to Indiana and had a large family of his own, working long hours in the steel mills, work that kills the lungs and humbles the spirit, all to support his family. Is it any wonder that he found it difficult to expose his feelings? Is it any mystery that he hardened his heart, that he raised the emotional ramparts? And most of all, is it any wonder why he pushed his sons so hard to succeed as performers, so that they could be saved from what he knew to be a life of indignity and poverty?
I have begun to see that even my father's harshness was a kind of love, an imperfect love, to be sure, but love nonetheless. He pushed me because he loved me. Because he wanted no man ever to look down at his offspring.
And now with time, rather than bitterness, I feel blessing. In the place of anger, I have found absolution. And in the place of revenge I have found reconciliation. And my initial fury has slowly given way to forgiveness.
Almost a decade ago, I founded a charity called Heal the World. The title was something I felt inside me. Little did I know, as Shmuley later pointed out, that those two words form the cornerstone of Old Testament prophecy. Do I really believe that we can heal this world, that is riddled with war and genocide, even today? And do I really think that we can heal our children, the same children who can enter their schools with guns and hatred and shoot down their classmates, like they did at Columbine? Or children who can beat a defenceless toddler to death, like the tragic story of Jamie Bulger? Of course I do, or I wouldn't be here tonight.
But it all begins with forgiveness, because to heal the world, we first have to heal ourselves. And to heal the kids, we first have to heal the child within, each and every one of us. As an adult, and as a parent, I realise that I cannot be a whole human being, nor a parent capable of unconditional love, until I put to rest the ghosts of my own childhood.
And that's what I'm asking all of us to do tonight. Live up to the fifth of the Ten Commandments. Honour your parents by not judging them. Give them the benefit of the doubt.
That is why I want to forgive my father and to stop judging him. I want to forgive my father, because I want a father, and this is the only one that I've got. I want the weight of my past lifted from my shoulders and I want to be free to step into a new relationship with my father, for the rest of my life, unhindered by the goblins of the past.
In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.
To all of you tonight who feel let down by your parents, I ask you to let down your disappointment. To all of you tonight who feel cheated by your fathers or mothers, I ask you not to cheat yourself further. And to all of you who wish to push your parents away, I ask you to extend you hand to them instead. I am asking you, I am asking myself, to give our parents the gift of unconditional love, so that they too may learn how to love from us, their children. So that love will finally be restored to a desolate and lonely world.
Shmuley once mentioned to me an ancient Biblical prophecy which says that a new world and a new time would come, when "the hearts of the parents would be restored through the hearts of their children". My friends, we are that world, we are those children.
Mahatma Gandhi said: "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Tonight, be strong. Beyond being strong, rise to the greatest challenge of all - to restore that broken covenant. We must all overcome whatever crippling effects our childhoods may have had on our lives and in the words of Jesse Jackson, forgive each other, redeem each other and move on.
This call for forgiveness may not result in Oprah moments the world over, with thousands of children making up with their parents, but it will at least be a start, and we'll all be so much happier as a result.
And so ladies and gentlemen, I conclude my remarks tonight with faith, joy and excitement.
From this day forward, may a new song be heard.
Let that new song be the sound of children laughing.
Let that new song be the sound of children playing.
Let that new song be the sound of children singing.
And let that new song be the sound of parents listening.
Together, let us create a symphony of hearts, marvelling at the miracle of our children and basking in the beauty of love.
Let us heal the world and blight its pain.
And may we all make beautiful music together.
God bless you, and I love you.
First of all, let me say I enjoyed reading this and everything is so true.He honestly deserves way more respect and support than he is getting. But it is sad to say that I think most of the non-believers WILL turn on him when/if he returns. I'm afraid of the anger and backlash of the ones that feel they have been hurt (not remembering his hurt), betrayed (forgetting the betrayal he faced everyday),and lied to (forgetting how he couldnt trust anyone because of lies). For most that believe he is dead; they have mourned him, buried him, and will now only remember him. Giving up on finding out exactly why he is gone. Most non-believers are divided themselves over who "killed" him, how and why. Same with people that believe he is alive, as I do. we all seem to have different theories and reasons. BUT, there is one important thing that we need to remember....Michael is gone, either from the earth or just from our sight, but he is gone, and WE have to find out why. I was in LA for the 1 yr anniversary, and I was amazed at the lack of interest in what happened to him. It made my heart ache. I know it has been a year, everyone is tired and frustrated,but we have yet to find one inkling of a clue of what happened to him. I am just as terrified and scared about that now then I was a year ago. Sony seems to be on cloud nine, Branca is making all kinds of deals, they have all been caught in numerous lies, Branca and Dileo are on Sonys payrole, Thome has fallen off the face of the earth, it has been said that Katherine and the children have yet to see any money, and from the way she is acting right now with the book and movies, it wouldnt surprise me. So, the way I see it, we have a few things to consider:
1. Michael has done this as a way for us to smarten up and see what mess our world is in.
2. He was ill and didnt want us to see him suffer, so he "left us" ahead of time.
3. He just wanted to have a peaceful life with his children, away from the stage he loved for 40 yrs.
4. He knew they wanted to kill him, and he stayed 1 step ahead.
5. They did murder him, and because nobody is really digging into it and investigating them, they feel pretty safe to live off of Michaels blood, sweat and tears.
6. Murray is a true idiot and it was an accident.
7. He is really truely gone.
I myself lean towards 1, 4,or 5
I just think its time that we start truely looking into what happened to him, instead of when he is coming back. His life could raelly be in danger right now.
<!-- m -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB7PE_rS<!-- m --> ... 8qzuwqosAQ
SoldierofLOVE, I have never seen Michaels full speech. You're right, it is beautiful and inspiring. Maybe we can start sending it around to our friends as an email attachment. I know I will. My father has one as I speak! And yes, to organise something for MJ's birthday is a must.
I just thought of a quirky way to wake the public up. What if we all planted sunflowers EVERYWHERE. Everywhere there is a spare plot of dirt, kick open the ground and throw in a few seeds. Shopping centres, parks, roadside verges, anywhere. If we threw seeds the same way people like to throw litter and cigarette butts we'd soon have sunflowers all over the place. I know for a fact the black ones you buy for livestock grow rampant if dropped, sometimes without even being covered. Then it'd be like '"what's with all the sunflowers??". Then WE announce (somehow) it's "MJ's army and you can't stop us. <!-- s:twisted: -->:twisted:<!-- s:twisted: --> <!-- s --><!-- s --> "
I know, now I'm babbling, but I like the thought of it.... <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->
SoldierofLOVE, I have never seen Michaels full speech. You're right, it is beautiful and inspiring. Maybe we can start sending it around to our friends as an email attachment. I know I will. My father has one as I speak! And yes, to organise something for MJ's birthday is a must.
I just thought of a quirky way to wake the public up. What if we all planted sunflowers EVERYWHERE. Everywhere there is a spare plot of dirt, kick open the ground and throw in a few seeds. Shopping centres, parks, roadside verges, anywhere. If we threw seeds the same way people like to throw litter and cigarette butts we'd soon have sunflowers all over the place. I know for a fact the black ones you buy for livestock grow rampant if dropped, sometimes without even being covered. Then it'd be like '"what's with all the sunflowers??". Then WE announce (somehow) it's "MJ's army and you can't stop us. <!-- s:twisted: -->:twisted:<!-- s:twisted: --> <!-- s --><!-- s --> "
I know, now I'm babbling, but I like the thought of it.... <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->
Love the Sunflower idea!!! My grandaughter and I planted 51 sunflowers in my garden on the 25th of June for Michael.
Soldieroflove, thank you for posting Michael's Oxford Speech...it truly is inspirational...pass it on!!!!
I have been extremely busy the last few days, posting videos all over the web, trying to open peoples minds and eyes to the madness that is rampant in our world...we really need to bring awareness to people. We DO have a voice, but if we don't use that voice, we all lose. I know that some people just don't want to believe that NWO, Illuminate etc. exists, but it does and Michael has been trying to get this message to the masses for years! Please, if you haven't already watched a video about this, take the time to at least watch 1 or 2 of them...please...for Michael...I truly, truly, know that this is what he wants us to do...we need to put our fears aside and open our minds...to all possibilities. Change won't happen unless we make it happen!
To my dearest Michael, wherever you may be, I just want you to know that I "get it" and you have my solemn promise that I will continue on my "mission" in hopes that we will someday be blessed with your presence again...to lead us on this "crusade for LOVE" You are my heart...my friend....I Love you more...always....
Because there is no way he's gonna come back
to this mess, that some have created.
If we don't initiate the cause and take a stand
against ALL he's shown us... he may never come back.
We need to shift the focus from BAMS day and clues
to paying our dues to him!
By being that army of LOVE.
It's gonna be a long and hard road, but attempts have to be made.
Humanity has been programmed, to be in its current state.
And like an onion there are layers to be folded back, to get to the hearts of people.
Because naturally there's gonna be ignorance and fear of what they don't understand.
I know personally, that all this happen to be timed;and be included on MY path.
So I got "IT" months ago! <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D --> (no such thing as a coincidence)
In fact, we all got "IT" months ago... so why all the selfish behavior?
***Be careful of your own agendas or this adventure will never end.
And NEVER be unveiled to the rest of the world, like he/we want it, to!
Light and LOVE to all. Hotep! <!-- s --><!-- s -->
hope, is what I want to know , what happened to Michael?
I know. I hate to think about it too, but we cant even be sure he is even safe right now. People need to really start looking at the big boys like Sony, Branca, etc. I dont like seeing what Katherine is going through right now. I feel he is alive, but may not be in control of things right now. <!-- s:? -->:?<!-- s:? -->
Just thought I'd share.....This is what it is all about <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) --> Listen carefully to the words of this song...it tells The Story <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) -->
[youtube:assrs7v6]
hope, is what I want to know , what happened to Michael?
I know. I hate to think about it too, but we cant even be sure he is even safe right now. People need to really start looking at the big boys like Sony, Branca, etc. I dont like seeing what Katherine is going through right now. I feel he is alive, but may not be in control of things right now. <!-- s:? -->:?<!-- s:? -->
Yes.. we need to stop being distracted by diversions.. Karen Faye, Dave Dave, LaToyh. Tito, etc.. these are all distractions and are not helping us.
In order to uncover what has happened we need to focus on the main players like Sony, Branca, Mottollo, DiLeo, Murray, Sony, AEG, Neverland... the key is to FOLLOW THE MONEY.
Once we know WHY this has happened.. then we can find out WHAT happened.. then hopefully discover where he is....
Comments
i can frankly say that i'm a believer from the very beginning..<!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
however, there were moments (especially lately) when i started losing hope..faith.. why? maybe b/c it was too long for me.. i was left on the rack cuz i wanted it to come to the end.. i was so excited when June 25 came.. cuz i thought that this would be it..this would be the day..<!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
but nothing happened..
i spent all night crying and wondering how long..how long do we still have to wait..
however..then something changed inside me.. i reached the conclusion that i'm simply being stupid and that i cannot behave like that!!
although Mike didn't come back it doesn't mean that it's the end and that i can stop believing!! no i can't!! i must believe..
i'm his Soldier of Love.. and the soldier never deserts from the Army!! Army of Love!
and after reading ur post i'm reassured that i made a good decision.. and i'm glad that i'm one of u ..the believers..<!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
Thank u !
L.O.V.E
I really don't think that some people realize just how brilliant Michael is, I mean this whole "hoax" has been planned by an absolute "genius". Think about it my dear friends...Michael has taken us on quite a journey, he not only used his "smarts", but he used his "imagination" to create an experience, that no one before him or after him, will ever top!! It's all about awareness!! He has given so much to this world and even in "death" he is giving to us He is giving us the chance to change this world, Something that never would have had happened, if he hadn't "died".But Michael did all of this with a "twist". Michael loves magic, he has THE most creative mind in the world and he has created something so "unreal" so,"Fantastical" that it makes us all question whetherany of this could be "real"...ABSOLUTE BRILLIANCE!!!! Think, open your eyes to all possibilities. Do your homework by investigating and then relish in the realization, that WE, Michael's family, can be a part of HISTORY...we can all hold our heads high, when the truth comes out and say that "WE" were a part of " What will go down in history of the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation!"
Michael has given us a gift and he has let us have fun along the way, but we are in a "different" "Phase" of his "mission"now. Now is the time for "action". Now is the time to fight for Michael! Fight for all the injustice he has endured! Fight the corruption! Open your eyes, your mind and your heart to Michael's Cause! Corruption is EVERYWHERE, whether we want to believe it or not and the only way to change that is to do your homework and get out of your "comfort zone" and become Aware of what is really happening.
I can almost hear some voices now saying..."but what can we really do about it?" Every single person that changes and becomes aware, is one more step in the right direction, "1and1and1 is 3...come together, right now..over me!" We NEED to come together...for Michael!
One last plea here then I will shut up <!-- s
There is only one person in this whole world that could pull something of this magnitude off... Michael Jackson!! The genius going on here is above and beyond the likes of anything we have ever witnessed or ever will witness again in our lifetime! Michael is on a mission and we owe it to him to stand behind him the whole way. He has given us the ability, to be a part of something sooo huge and sooo important and like I said before, and I will continue to say, WE OWE MICHAEL, he has "sacrificed" his life, for US!!!!!!
And, he took us on a wonderful adventure along the way...come on my friends,this last year has kept us glued to our computer screens, waiting and wondering what will happen next? Michael's creativity has given us an escape from the reality from the mundane everyday life most of us lead, he has once again, given, given, given...to us, his fans, he has once again "sacrificed" for us, his fans and now it is time to give back to this sweet, loving, wonderful man...my friend, my heart and my soul...Michael.
Everything is done for a reason...and Michael's reason is to expose the corruption in this place we call "Home"
So...isn't it time that we let Michael come home? Doesn't he deserve to tuck his children in bed at night?...we take all these things for granted, but Michael gave up his LIFE for US!! This really is "all for love"...we can stop this madness, but you need to break out of that comfort zone and open your eyes to the powers that be...so once again I am asking you to show Michael that we stand behind him...that we are ready to expose the corruption, that we are ready for love to rule the world...this really is the last chance...so please my friends, please help him, let him know that we are here for the right reasons. We would not be here,on this site, if it wasn't for MICHAEL...think about that please.
Thanks again for listening...now go STUDY my wonderful MJ Family...I love you all and God Bless all of us!
Dayna
P.S...Remember this. You don't need to try and convince people that Michael is alive, it's all about getting people opening their minds to the "message". Spread his message, try to send some of the videos out there on all the corruption, to people you know, This is the internet after all...this is the outlet that Michael chose to expose the truth, but without us spreading that message, it will be a lost cause...Think,...where else can you get your message to the masses?? Only on the internet...people will know Michael is alive when all is revealed. Michael has given us this job and his family has the job of clearing Michael's name on TV and with the media...I believe that everything is going as planned!
But Michael did all of this with a "twist". Michael loves magic, he has THE most creative mind in the world and he has created something so "unreal" so,"Fantastical" that it makes us all question whetherany of this could be "real"...ABSOLUTE BRILLIANCE!!!!
Most of the time now I believe, but there are still times when, as you put it, I question whether any of this could be "real" and it's because of MJ's utterly unique, mindblowing BRILLIANCE!
Thanks again for another inspirational post.
God Bless You
that's great! this is so strong..<!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
mjj4ever777.. thank u again.. <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) --> i forgot to say that i'm going to translate what u wrote (your firt post in this topic and this long one above). i will translate it into polish and post it on forums about MJ here in Poland <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->
i want ppl to know ur message!! it's so powerful.. u gonna open many minds..
L.O.V.E
first i loved reading this post. it really really says a lot.
through out it all we all must come together if not for each other
then for MJ.
it doesnt matter if you think he is alive or not
it matters how you continue the message he has been sending everyone
look deep in your heart and the answers should be there
there is no need to argue over theories people have
i've seen people argue on here for little or no cause at all
look at this. what if MJ saw wouldn't that be a bad thing to see?
everyone divided
yes people need to be aware. if one person is they can pass it on
and the list will continue, more people will look into it.
it all matters how it is brought out there. if its done in a careless way no one will care
but do it with love and it will be stronger. don't fight each other
the greatest "weapon" is love ...
so before i blab on because i do tend to do that
i will end this with saying...
i really did enjoy reading this
but with each step taken we are closer to achieving "mission complete"
i think ....
I totally agree. Imo it's not about where MJ is, it's about what we take away from being part of his life. What have we learnt, and now, what can we teach others? Can he be proud of us and see, that in even just a small way, he has made a difference? My heart at this point says sadly, no.
We all have two things in common, believer or no, we loved MJ and we are all human. We must be able to make a difference. How? We can keep searching for the truth, wherever that leads. No one, apart from MJ and a few close confidants, know at this time exactly what the truth is. We have to accept that. It's not about who's right or wrong, it's about TRUTH & JUSTICE. This is not the first time in history something similar has happened (Jimi Hendrix) and the establishment/industry responsible must finally be held accountable. How we do this, apart from pouring our hearts out in grief and indignation on a forum, I have no idea, but for sure we MUST remain united. We must also DO something that draws public attention to the situation, among the people who could care less about MJ.
In my daily activities I often wonder who around me loved MJ and how many of them find the situation of his "death" unacceptable. I find it sometimes taboo to even mention his name and often have to brace myself for the hate talk that ensues if I do. I'm sure the general populace write MJ fans off as totally crazy and therefore whatever we have to say is crazy as well.
So I stay quiet and come here. It's not enough. We have to find a way of "raising our voices". We have to stand up for MJ because at the moment he can't do it himself. I know this, but do not know how. How do we clear MJ's name once and for all, how do we open people's minds to the bigger picture, how do we make people realise that they are constantly lied to and make them care enough to say "enough"! Do we just sit back and hope that the slow wheels of enquiry will vindicate MJ and all of us? We must also remember that as hard as we work to expose the truth, others are working harder to suppress it.
Maybe we can have a society of Michael Jackson lovers- his Army of LOVE. Maybe we can wear something each day that states clearly to everyone around us our unity and our position on the matter- something that we don't even have to talk about to convey the message. Even if it's just a small sunflower on our lapels or a "justice for Michael" sticker on our cars...then when we are out and about, we can at least smile/victory salute at each other in honour of MJ. At least it would be a start...
Any one have any better ideas or is this just one big, bad idea? <!-- s:? -->:?<!-- s:? -->
May be a little "in your face" for general everyday wearing however and possibly not specific enough- they could be mistaken for a general sign of mourning. We need something subtly but unmistakenly MJ. Here's another idea- what about the bandaids he wore on his right hand? Very unmistakenly MJ...
But lets get a few ideas going. If we can organise something at least we will prove we can behave in a cohesive manner. That will keep us unified, motivated (a good thing to be when you are sad) and give us a strong sense of empowerment.
Even though we seem to be spread out all over the planet, surely we can connect to those of us who live close to each other? If I could spot an MJ fan at my local grocery checkout and just smile at them, that would absolutely make my day.
United we stand! For MJ and humanity! For L.O.V.E. *victory salute*
Thank you so much for your incredibly inspirational and powerful words. Your 6 children and grandchild are very blessed to have you.
I'd just been sulking and not reading posts anymore so upset that we're not getting Michael's message or perhaps we forget and just need to be reminded. I get upset that our humanity hasn't evolved enough to embrace a man who was filled with so much love, goodness, genius and generosity. The powers that be always assassinate those who bring awareness and love to this world. Let's listen to MJ sing "We've Had Enough" and also his speech at Oxford which I think is up there with the greatest speeches of all time. I read and reread this speech all of the time, I share it with everyone I know, and I try my hardest to live his dream of a better world for our children. My life work is helping youth - adolescents.
I have never stopped loving Michael - always have, always will.
I love the idea of red arm bands. Perhaps we break out in these all over the world on his birthday, August 29th. We use the next two months to prepare ourselves by teaching and sharing his message and then we come together as one. Believers and non-believers, Michael had a message. Let's share it. Brava, Dayna, Brava!
Heal The Kids - Oxford Speech
Oxford University, March 2001 by Michael Jackson
Thank you, thank you dear friends, from the bottom of my heart, for such a loving and spirited welcome, and thank you, Mr President, for your kind invitation to me which I am so honoured to accept. I also want to express a special thanks to you Shmuley, who for 11 years served as Rabbi here at Oxford. You and I have been working so hard to form Heal the Kids, as well as writing our book about childlike qualities, and in all of our efforts you have been such a supportive and loving friend. And I would also like to thank Toba Friedman, our director of operations at Heal the Kids, who is returning tonight to the alma mater where she served as a Marshall scholar, as well as Marilyn Piels, another central member of our Heal the Kids team.
I am humbled to be lecturing in a place that has previously been filled by such notable figures as Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein, Ronald Reagan, Robert Kennedy and Malcolm X. I've even heard that Kermit the Frog has made an appearance here, and I've always felt a kinship with Kermit's message that it's not easy being green. I'm sure he didn't find it any easier being up here than I do!
As I looked around Oxford today, I couldn't help but be aware of the majesty and grandeur of this great institution, not to mention the brilliance of the great and gifted minds that have roamed these streets for centuries. The walls of Oxford have not only housed the greatest philosophical and scientific geniuses - they have also ushered forth some of the most cherished creators of children's literature, from J.R.R. Tolkien to CS Lewis. Today I was allowed to hobble into the dining hall in Christ Church to see Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland immortalised in the stained glass windows. And even one of my own fellow Americans, the beloved Dr Seuss graced these halls and then went on to leave his mark on the imaginations of millions of children throughout the world.
I suppose I should start by listing my qualifications to speak before you this evening. Friends, I do not claim to have the academic expertise of other speakers who have addressed this hall, just as they could lay little claim at being adept at the moonwalk - and you know, Einstein in particular was really TERRIBLE at that.
But I do have a claim to having experienced more places and cultures than most people will ever see. Human knowledge consists not only of libraries of parchment and ink - it is also comprised of the volumes of knowledge that are written on the human heart, chiselled on the human soul, and engraved on the human psyche. And friends, I have encountered so much in this relatively short life of mine that I still cannot believe I am only 42. I often tell Shmuley that in soul years I'm sure that I'm at least 80 - and tonight I even walk like I'm 80! So please harken to my message, because what I have to tell you tonight can bring healing to humanity and healing to our planet.
Through the grace of God, I have been fortunate to have achieved many of my artistic and professional aspirations realised early in my lifetime. But these, friends are accomplishments, and accomplishments alone are not synonymous with who I am. Indeed, the cheery five-year-old who belted out Rockin' Robin and Ben to adoring crowds was not indicative of the boy behind the smile.
Tonight, I come before you less as an icon of pop (whatever that means anyway), and more as an icon of a generation, a generation that no longer knows what it means to be children.
All of us are products of our childhood. But I am the product of a lack of a childhood, an absence of that precious and wondrous age when we frolic playfully without a care in the world, basking in the adoration of parents and relatives, where our biggest concern is studying for that big spelling test come Monday morning.
Those of you who are familiar with the Jackson Five know that I began performing at the tender age of five and that ever since then, I haven't stopped dancing or singing. But while performing and making music undoubtedly remain as some of my greatest joys, when I was young I wanted more than anything else to be a typical little boy. I wanted to build tree houses, have water balloon fights, and play hide and seek with my friends. But fate had it otherwise and all I could do was envy the laughter and playtime that seemed to be going on all around me.
There was no respite from my professional life. But on Sundays I would go Pioneering, the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah's Witnesses do. And it was then that I was able to see the magic of other people's childhood.
Since I was already a celebrity, I would have to don a disguise of fat suit, wig, beard and glasses and we would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door-to-door or making the rounds of shopping malls, distributing our Watchtower magazine. I loved to set foot in all those regular suburban houses and catch sight of the shag rugs and La-Z-Boy armchairs with kids playing Monopoly and grandmas baby-sitting and all those wonderful, ordinary and starry scenes of everyday life. Many, I know, would argue that these things seem like no big deal. But to me they were mesmerising.
I used to think that I was unique in feeling that I was without a childhood. I believed that indeed there were only a handful with whom I could share those feelings. When I recently met with Shirley Temple Black, the great child star of the 1930s and 40s, we said nothing to each other at first, we simply cried together, for she could share a pain with me that only others like my close friends Elizabeth Taylor and McCauley Culkin know.
I do not tell you this to gain your sympathy but to impress upon you my first important point : It is not just Hollywood child stars that have suffered from a non-existent childhood. Today, it's a universal calamity, a global catastrophe. Childhood has become the great casualty of modern-day living. All around us we are producing scores of kids who have not had the joy, who have not been accorded the right, who have not been allowed the freedom, or knowing what it's like to be a kid.
Today children are constantly encouraged to grow up faster, as if this period known as childhood is a burdensome stage, to be endured and ushered through, as swiftly as possible. And on that subject, I am certainly one of the world's greatest experts.
Ours is a generation that has witnessed the abrogation of the parent-child covenant. Psychologists are publishing libraries of books detailing the destructive effects of denying one's children the unconditional love that is so necessary to the healthy development of their minds and character. And because of all the neglect, too many of our kids have, essentially, to raise themselves. They are growing more distant from their parents, grandparents and other family members, as all around us the indestructible bond that once glued together the generations, unravels.
This violation has bred a new generation, Generation O let us call it, that has now picked up the torch from Generation X. The O stands for a generation that has everything on the outside - wealth, success, fancy clothing and fancy cars, but an aching emptiness on the inside. That cavity in our chests, that barrenness at our core, that void in our centre is the place where the heart once beat and which love once occupied.
And it's not just the kids who are suffering. It's the parents as well. For the more we cultivate little-adults in kids'-bodies, the more removed we ourselves become from our own child-like qualities, and there is so much about being a child that is worth retaining in adult life.
Love, ladies and gentlemen, is the human family's most precious legacy, its richest bequest, its golden inheritance. And it is a treasure that is handed down from one generation to another. Previous ages may not have had the wealth we enjoy. Their houses may have lacked electricity, and they squeezed their many kids into small homes without central heating. But those homes had no darkness, nor were they cold. They were lit bright with the glow of love and they were warmed snugly by the very heat of the human heart. Parents, undistracted by the lust for luxury and status, accorded their children primacy in their lives.
As you all know, our two countries broke from each other over what Thomas Jefferson referred to as "certain inalienable rights". And while we Americans and British might dispute the justice of his claims, what has never been in dispute is that children have certain inalienable rights, and the gradual erosion of those rights has led to scores of children worldwide being denied the joys and security of childhood.
I would therefore like to propose tonight that we install in every home a Children's Universal Bill of Rights, the tenets of which are:
1. The right to be loved without having to earn it
2. The right to be protected, without having to deserve it
3. The right to feel valuable, even if you came into the world with nothing
4. The right to be listened to without having to be interesting
5. The right to be read a bedtime story, without having to compete with the evening news
6. The right to an education without having to dodge bullets at schools
7. The right to be thought of as adorable - (even if you have a face that only a mother could love).
Friends, the foundation of all human knowledge, the beginning of human consciousness, must be that each and every one of us is an object of love. Before you know if you have red hair or brown, before you know if you are black or white, before you know of what religion you are a part, you have to know that you are loved.
About twelve years ago, when I was just about to start my Bad tour, a little boy came with his parents to visit me at home in California. He was dying of cancer and he told me how much he loved my music and me. His parents told me that he wasn't going to live, that any day he could just go, and I said to him: "Look, I am going to be coming to your town in Kansas to open my tour in three months. I want you to come to the show. I am going to give you this jacket that I wore in one of my videos." His eyes lit up and he said: "You are gonna GIVE it to me?" I said "Yeah, but you have to promise that you will wear it to the show." I was trying to make him hold on. I said: "When you come to the show I want to see you in this jacket and in this glove" and I gave him one of my rhinestone gloves - and I never usually give the rhinestone gloves away. And he was just in heaven.
But maybe he was too close to heaven, because when I came to his town, he had already died, and they had buried him in the glove and jacket. He was just 10 years old. God knows, I know, that he tried his best to hold on. But at least when he died, he knew that he was loved, not only by his parents, but even by me, a near stranger, I also loved him. And with all of that love he knew that he didn't come into this world alone, and he certainly didn't leave it alone.
If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can he dealt with. A professor may degrade you, but you will not feel degraded, a boss may crush you, but you will not be crushed, a corporate gladiator might vanquish you, but you will still triumph. How could any of them truly prevail in pulling you down? For you know that you are an object worthy of love. The rest is just packaging.
But if you don't have that memory of being loved, you are condemned to search the world for something to fill you up. But no matter how much money you make or how famous you become, you will still fell empty. What you are really searching for is unconditional love, unqualified acceptance. And that was the one thing that was denied to you at birth.
Friends, let me paint a picture for you. Here is a typical day in America - six youths under the age of 20 will commit suicide, 12 children under the age of 20 will die from firearms - remember this is a DAY, not a year - 399 kids will be arrested for drug abuse, 1,352 babies will be born to teen mothers. This is happening in one of the richest, most developed countries in the history of the world.
Yes, in my country there is an epidemic of violence that parallels no other industrialised nation. These are the ways young people in America express their hurt and their anger. But don't think that there is not the same pain and anguish among their counterparts in the United Kingdom. Studies in this country show that every single hour, three teenagers in the UK inflict harm upon themselves, often by cutting or burning their bodies or taking an overdose. This is how they have chosen to cope with the pain of neglect and emotional agony.
In Britain, as many as 20% of families will only sit down and have dinner together once a year. Once a year! And what about the time-honoured tradition of reading your kid a bedtime story? Research from the 1980s showed that children who are read to, had far greater literacy and significantly outperformed their peers at school. And yet, less than 33% of British children ages two to eight have a regular bedtime story read to them. You may not think much of that until you take into account that 75% of their parents DID have that bedtime story when they were that age.
Clearly, we do not have to ask ourselves where all of this pain, anger and violent behaviour comes from. It is self-evident that children are thundering against the neglect, quaking against the indifference and crying out just to be noticed. The various child protection agencies in the US say that millions of children are victims of maltreatment in the form of neglect, in the average year. Yes, neglect. In rich homes, privileged homes, wired to the hilt with every electronic gadget. Homes where parents come home, but they're not really home, because their heads are still at the office. And their kids? Well, their kids just make do with whatever emotional crumbs they get. And you don't get much from endless TV, computer games and videos.
These hard, cold numbers which for me, wrench the soul and shake the spirit, should indicate to you why I have devoted so much of my time and resources into making our new Heal the Kids initiative a colossal success.
Our goal is simple - to recreate the parent/child bond, renew its promise and light the way forward for all the beautiful children who are destined one day to walk this earth.
But since this is my first public lecture, and you have so warmly welcomed me into your hearts, I feel that I want to tell you more. We each have our own story, and in that sense statistics can become personal.
They say that parenting is like dancing. You take one step, your child takes another. I have discovered that getting parents to re-dedicate themselves to their children is only half the story. The other half is preparing the children to re-accept their parents.
When I was very young I remember that we had this crazy mutt of a dog named "Black Girl," a mix of wolf and retriever. Not only wasn't she much of a guard dog, she was such a scared and nervous thing that it is a wonder she did not pass out every time a truck rumbled by, or a thunderstorm swept through Indiana. My sister Janet and I gave that dog so much love, but we never really won back the sense of trust that had been stolen from her by her previous owner. We knew he used to beat her. We didn't know with what. But whatever it was, it was enough to suck the spirit right out of that dog.
A lot of kids today are hurt puppies who have weaned themselves off the need for love. They couldn't care less about their parents. Left to their own devices, they cherish their independence. They have moved on and have left their parents behind.
Then there are the far worse cases of children who harbour animosity and resentment toward their parents, so that any overture that their parents might undertake would be thrown forcefully back in their face.
Tonight, I don't want any of us to make this mistake. That's why I'm calling upon all the world's children - beginning with all of us here tonight - to forgive our parents, if we felt neglected. Forgive them and teach them how to love again.
You probably weren't surprised to hear that I did not have an idyllic childhood. The strain and tension that exists in my relationship with my own father is well documented. My father is a tough man and he pushed my brothers and me hard, from the earliest age, to be the best performers we could be.
He had great difficulty showing affection. He never really told me he loved me. And he never really complimented me either. If I did a great show, he would tell me it was a good show. And if I did an OK show, he told me it was a lousy show.
He seemed intent, above all else, on making us a commercial success. And at that he was more than adept. My father was a managerial genius and my brothers and I owe our professional success, in no small measure, to the forceful way that he pushed us. He trained me as a showman and under his guidance I couldn't miss a step.
But what I really wanted was a Dad. I wanted a father who showed me love. And my father never did that. He never said I love you while looking me straight in the eye, he never played a game with me. He never gave me a piggyback ride, he never threw a pillow at me, or a water balloon.
But I remember once when I was about four years old, there was a little carnival and he picked me up and put me on a pony. It was a tiny gesture, probably something he forgot five minutes later. But because of that moment I have this special place in my heart for him. Because that's how kids are, the little things mean so much to them and for me, that one moment meant everything. I only experienced it that one time, but it made me feel really good, about him and the world.
But now I am a father myself, and one day I was thinking about my own children, Prince and Paris and how I wanted them to think of me when they grow up. To be sure, I would like them to remember how I always wanted them with me wherever I went, how I always tried to put them before everything else. But there are also challenges in their lives. Because my kids are stalked by paparazzi, they can't always go to a park or a movie with me.
So what if they grow older and resent me, and how my choices impacted their youth? Why weren't we given an average childhood like all the other kids, they might ask? And at that moment I pray that my children will give me the benefit of the doubt. That they will say to themselves: "Our daddy did the best he could, given the unique circumstances that he faced. He may not have been perfect, but he was a warm and decent man, who tried to give us all the love in the world."
I hope that they will always focus on the positive things, on the sacrifices I willingly made for them, and not criticise the things they had to give up, or the errors I've made, and will certainly continue to make, in raising them. For we have all been someone's child, and we know that despite the very best of plans and efforts, mistakes will always occur. That's just being human.
And when I think about this, of how I hope that my children will not judge me unkindly, and will forgive my shortcomings, I am forced to think of my own father and despite my earlier denials, I am forced to admit that me must have loved me. He did love me, and I know that.
There were little things that showed it. When I was a kid I had a real sweet tooth - we all did. My favourite food was glazed doughnuts and my father knew that. So every few weeks I would come downstairs in the morning and there on the kitchen counter was a bag of glazed doughnuts - no note, no explanation - just the doughnuts. It was like Santa Claus.
Sometimes I would think about staying up late at night, so I could see him leave them there, but just like with Santa Claus, I didn't want to ruin the magic for fear that he would never do it again. My father had to leave them secretly at night, so as no one might catch him with his guard down. He was scared of human emotion, he didn't understand it or know how to deal with it. But he did know doughnuts.
And when I allow the floodgates to open up, there are other memories that come rushing back, memories of other tiny gestures, however imperfect, that showed that he did what he could. So tonight, rather than focusing on what my father didn't do, I want to focus on all the things he did do and on his own personal challenges. I want to stop judging him.
I have started reflecting on the fact that my father grew up in the South, in a very poor family. He came of age during the Depression and his own father, who struggled to feed his children, showed little affection towards his family and raised my father and his siblings with an iron fist. Who could have imagined what it was like to grow up a poor black man in the South, robbed of dignity, bereft of hope, struggling to become a man in a world that saw my father as subordinate. I was the first black artist to be played on MTV and I remember how big a deal it was even then. And that was in the 80s!
My father moved to Indiana and had a large family of his own, working long hours in the steel mills, work that kills the lungs and humbles the spirit, all to support his family. Is it any wonder that he found it difficult to expose his feelings? Is it any mystery that he hardened his heart, that he raised the emotional ramparts? And most of all, is it any wonder why he pushed his sons so hard to succeed as performers, so that they could be saved from what he knew to be a life of indignity and poverty?
I have begun to see that even my father's harshness was a kind of love, an imperfect love, to be sure, but love nonetheless. He pushed me because he loved me. Because he wanted no man ever to look down at his offspring.
And now with time, rather than bitterness, I feel blessing. In the place of anger, I have found absolution. And in the place of revenge I have found reconciliation. And my initial fury has slowly given way to forgiveness.
Almost a decade ago, I founded a charity called Heal the World. The title was something I felt inside me. Little did I know, as Shmuley later pointed out, that those two words form the cornerstone of Old Testament prophecy. Do I really believe that we can heal this world, that is riddled with war and genocide, even today? And do I really think that we can heal our children, the same children who can enter their schools with guns and hatred and shoot down their classmates, like they did at Columbine? Or children who can beat a defenceless toddler to death, like the tragic story of Jamie Bulger? Of course I do, or I wouldn't be here tonight.
But it all begins with forgiveness, because to heal the world, we first have to heal ourselves. And to heal the kids, we first have to heal the child within, each and every one of us. As an adult, and as a parent, I realise that I cannot be a whole human being, nor a parent capable of unconditional love, until I put to rest the ghosts of my own childhood.
And that's what I'm asking all of us to do tonight. Live up to the fifth of the Ten Commandments. Honour your parents by not judging them. Give them the benefit of the doubt.
That is why I want to forgive my father and to stop judging him. I want to forgive my father, because I want a father, and this is the only one that I've got. I want the weight of my past lifted from my shoulders and I want to be free to step into a new relationship with my father, for the rest of my life, unhindered by the goblins of the past.
In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.
To all of you tonight who feel let down by your parents, I ask you to let down your disappointment. To all of you tonight who feel cheated by your fathers or mothers, I ask you not to cheat yourself further. And to all of you who wish to push your parents away, I ask you to extend you hand to them instead. I am asking you, I am asking myself, to give our parents the gift of unconditional love, so that they too may learn how to love from us, their children. So that love will finally be restored to a desolate and lonely world.
Shmuley once mentioned to me an ancient Biblical prophecy which says that a new world and a new time would come, when "the hearts of the parents would be restored through the hearts of their children". My friends, we are that world, we are those children.
Mahatma Gandhi said: "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Tonight, be strong. Beyond being strong, rise to the greatest challenge of all - to restore that broken covenant. We must all overcome whatever crippling effects our childhoods may have had on our lives and in the words of Jesse Jackson, forgive each other, redeem each other and move on.
This call for forgiveness may not result in Oprah moments the world over, with thousands of children making up with their parents, but it will at least be a start, and we'll all be so much happier as a result.
And so ladies and gentlemen, I conclude my remarks tonight with faith, joy and excitement.
From this day forward, may a new song be heard.
Let that new song be the sound of children laughing.
Let that new song be the sound of children playing.
Let that new song be the sound of children singing.
And let that new song be the sound of parents listening.
Together, let us create a symphony of hearts, marvelling at the miracle of our children and basking in the beauty of love.
Let us heal the world and blight its pain.
And may we all make beautiful music together.
God bless you, and I love you.
1. Michael has done this as a way for us to smarten up and see what mess our world is in.
2. He was ill and didnt want us to see him suffer, so he "left us" ahead of time.
3. He just wanted to have a peaceful life with his children, away from the stage he loved for 40 yrs.
4. He knew they wanted to kill him, and he stayed 1 step ahead.
5. They did murder him, and because nobody is really digging into it and investigating them, they feel pretty safe to live off of Michaels blood, sweat and tears.
6. Murray is a true idiot and it was an accident.
7. He is really truely gone.
I myself lean towards 1, 4,or 5
I just think its time that we start truely looking into what happened to him, instead of when he is coming back. His life could raelly be in danger right now.
<!-- m -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB7PE_rS<!-- m --> ... 8qzuwqosAQ
I just thought of a quirky way to wake the public up. What if we all planted sunflowers EVERYWHERE. Everywhere there is a spare plot of dirt, kick open the ground and throw in a few seeds. Shopping centres, parks, roadside verges, anywhere. If we threw seeds the same way people like to throw litter and cigarette butts we'd soon have sunflowers all over the place. I know for a fact the black ones you buy for livestock grow rampant if dropped, sometimes without even being covered. Then it'd be like '"what's with all the sunflowers??". Then WE announce (somehow) it's "MJ's army and you can't stop us. <!-- s:twisted: -->:twisted:<!-- s:twisted: --> <!-- s
I know, now I'm babbling, but I like the thought of it.... <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->
Love the Sunflower idea!!! My grandaughter and I planted 51 sunflowers in my garden on the 25th of June for Michael.
Soldieroflove, thank you for posting Michael's Oxford Speech...it truly is inspirational...pass it on!!!!
I have been extremely busy the last few days, posting videos all over the web, trying to open peoples minds and eyes to the madness that is rampant in our world...we really need to bring awareness to people. We DO have a voice, but if we don't use that voice, we all lose. I know that some people just don't want to believe that NWO, Illuminate etc. exists, but it does and Michael has been trying to get this message to the masses for years! Please, if you haven't already watched a video about this, take the time to at least watch 1 or 2 of them...please...for Michael...I truly, truly, know that this is what he wants us to do...we need to put our fears aside and open our minds...to all possibilities. Change won't happen unless we make it happen!
To my dearest Michael, wherever you may be, I just want you to know that I "get it" and you have my solemn promise that I will continue on my "mission" in hopes that we will someday be blessed with your presence again...to lead us on this "crusade for LOVE" You are my heart...my friend....I Love you more...always....
we have to find out what happened..not when he will be back...
Because there is no way he's gonna come back
to this mess, that some have created.
If we don't initiate the cause and take a stand
against ALL he's shown us... he may never come back.
We need to shift the focus from BAMS day and clues
to paying our dues to him!
By being that army of LOVE.
It's gonna be a long and hard road, but attempts have to be made.
Humanity has been programmed, to be in its current state.
And like an onion there are layers to be folded back, to get to the hearts of people.
Because naturally there's gonna be ignorance and fear of what they don't understand.
I know personally, that all this happen to be timed;and be included on MY path.
So I got "IT" months ago! <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D --> (no such thing as a coincidence)
In fact, we all got "IT" months ago... so why all the selfish behavior?
***Be careful of your own agendas or this adventure will never end.
And NEVER be unveiled to the rest of the world, like he/we want it, to!
Light and LOVE to all. Hotep! <!-- s
[youtube:assrs7v6]
OMG, I love that video!
It makes me cry every time I see it. Stop making me cry mjj4ever777! Gahhhh... Must be the most aptly named song in history.
Yes, this what it is all about. *group hug*
Yes.. we need to stop being distracted by diversions.. Karen Faye, Dave Dave, LaToyh. Tito, etc.. these are all distractions and are not helping us.
In order to uncover what has happened we need to focus on the main players like Sony, Branca, Mottollo, DiLeo, Murray, Sony, AEG, Neverland... the key is to FOLLOW THE MONEY.
Once we know WHY this has happened.. then we can find out WHAT happened.. then hopefully discover where he is....