Tearful daughter Paris speaks at Michael Jackson memorial

July 7, 2:15 PMPortland Humanist ExaminerMicha J. Stone

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Michael Jackson - King of Pop

Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris, said a tearful farewell to her father at the conclusion of a thoughtful and uplifting memorial service for the King of Pop. While approximately 20,000 people attended the service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, a world wide television audience watched in awe.

After a slight delay, Michael Jackson's memorial got off to an emotional beginning as Mariah Carey performed a version of the Jackson 5's biggest hit, "I'll Be There". Nearly 3,000 miles away New Yorkers marked the solemn occasion by gathering to watch the event on a jumbo screen high above Times Square. As the memorial began, a light rain began to fall in New York, scattering the Times Square observers, metaphorical tears from heaven. Fans also gathered to watch the event on a screen in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood. No doubt people gathered around the world, in large groups or small, to watch the spectacle and appreciate a genius passed.

Wherever you were, if you watched you could not help but be moved. The gold casket, the music, the celebrity, the slightly freakish extravaganza that was the memorial service, all part of a shared cultural moment on a global scale. The power in the sudden death of this international superstar is remarkable. In death Michael Jackson drew the world to him, and in so doing left no doubt of the majesty of his genius; a genius that was more than mere music and dance, a genius that transcends the particularity of culture to become universal.

Yet in the end the transcendent genius of Michael was over shadowed by his own humanity, embodied by the love of his daughter, Paris. Michael Jackson's 11 year old daughter Paris Katherine addressed mourners at the memorial, tearfully telling the audience in attendance and the world at large:

I just wanted to say, ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine, and I just wanted to say I love him so much.

The King of Pop is dead; the world mourns the loss of musical genius; a daughter mourns the loss of a father; and we are all human, all too human.

Video:  Paris speaks at father Michael Jackson's memorial