A eulogy for Michael Jackson, in his own words- pt. 1

June 26, 1:32 AMMiami City Buzz ExaminerRobbin Swad

Previous Next

4 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Miami City Buzz Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File

Yesterday's news of Michael Jackson's untimely death has shocked the nation and the world. In combing the internet and other media outlets, thousands of images of Jackson's life can be found.

Many fans and onlookers maintain their own feelings about the man, the performer, the icon. Having been somewhat a recluse in recent years, it is rare to gain any new insight on what really made the man tick. However, perhaps one of the most intimate glimpses into the inner workings of Michael Jackson can be found in the following excerpts from his Heal The Kids speech given by Michael Jackson at Oxford University in March 2001. The words reprinted below offer a lasting remembrance of who Michael Jackson was and the legacy he had hoped to leave behind.

The Words of Michael Jackson, Oxford University, 2001

. . . "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.

. . . 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.

. . . 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.

. . . 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.

. . . 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."

(click here to continue)