Michael Jackson Memorial Service

Following is a series of thoughts that I had while watching the Michael Jackson memorial service online, expressed via comments of 140 characters or less on Twitter.

Hopefully Michael Jackson will be the final black person buried in this country who spent most of his days wishing he was white.

One can at least hope. By far this was the saddest part of his legacy. Fame & fortune & adulation were no match for MJ's racial insecurity

MJ's racial insecurity may have led directly to his death since addiction to drugs was result of addiction to unnecessary surgeries

I've personally known 1 black person who wanted to switch races and wasn't shy about saying so. He was racist against black people. Bizarre

Ironically, had Michael Jackson been born a white person he probably would not have become the SUPERSTAR that he came to be

In terms of popularity & influence I'd put Jackson up there with Ali & Jordan & Elvis at the top of the list. Tiger Woods gaining ground. [Obviously that last sentence was written prior to Tiger's implosion]

Michael Jackson was an amazing performer who will be sorely missed. He revolutionized musical entertainment.

That was the framework of his legacy. Much of the rest was a confused mess of sexual & racial identity issues

Yet I must repeat that I will miss him and pray that his departure from this world ended his torment. And I appreciate that he longed to “heal the world” even though he couldn’t figure out how to heal himself.

This nation's struggle with racial relations and identity is what led me to write Patches of Grey in what I've coined the "pre Obama era"

Once upon a time we were treated to the trinity of James Brown, Michael Jackson & Prince. Only one of them left now.

James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince take turns on stage on a magical day in 1983.



As a writer I'm obviously a fan of well chosen words. There are a number of wicked lyrics spread throughout the body of MJ's work

“Deep In The Darkness Of Passion's Insanity -I Felt Taken By Lust's Strange Inhumanity - This Girl Was Persuasive - This Girl I Could Not Trust - The Girl Was Bad - The Girl Was Dangerous”

“I've learned that love's not possession & I've learned that love won't wait. I've learned that love needs expression but I learned too late”

Most if not all of those who believed MJ to be guilty of child molestation stopped supporting him regardless of their race

Retweet –“ I love when some Blacks speak for all Blacks about MJ. Black Telepathy Implant?” [Agreed. Only fried chicken luv covers all]

When I say all, I mean ALL. What the heck race must you belong to not to enjoy breaded, deep fried chicken? What is there not to love?

Even as Michael Jackson was having his skin bleached, dyed, peeled, whatever, I suspect he was munching on take-out from Popeyes. [This tweet and those preceding it were written prior to Magic Johnson’s KFC anecdote]

Berry Gordy got one thing very right. Lil MJ absolutely tore up Who's Loving You. That performance gets me every time I hear it

You will not make me weep at work, Stevie Wonder. Not going to happen. Time to close my door

Will Reverend Al inspire or agitate? We'll see. Probably the former on this occasion

Yep, Rev. Al was in the zone all right. "Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what he had to deal with. But he dealt with it."

I wish Miles Davis could return from dead right now to play Human Nature and do it true justice. John Mayer will have to do. Talk about mountain to molehill comparison

You can tell John is thinking of his next tweet as he plays. Just joking

Nice job by Mayer. You can't mess up a gem like human Nature if at all competent. Instrumental guitar was wise choice.

It's as if Michael Jackson wrote “Gone Too Soon” for his own funeral. Pretty common thought I'm assuming. Here’s another one. Nice job of performing it by Usher

Michael wisely advised us to 1st look at the man in the mirror b4 juding others. Sadly he thought man in his mirror was too tan & wide nosed

But today is not about his faults. It's about his legacy. You were magical, Michael

The Jackson brothers were boyhood idols of mine. Listening to Marlon now it's so clear that regardless of circumstances we're all just people

Michael Jackson's daughter just killed me

Paris' tribute to her dad http://tinyurl.com/mrohqd - a side of Michael that only she & her brothers knew

Cliché time - Unless you've walked mile in his shoes, if casting 1st stone from glass house - 2day u learned first and foremost that MJ was a man loved by his child

Brooke Shields gave a very touching testimony to "keeping it real" on behalf of her friend

MJ was an enigma, that's 4 sure. As Rev. Sharpton pointed out, he made it cool to be black, made Americans of other races comfortable about it

He also wrote Black or White, claiming it made no difference. Yet it sure seemed that he was very aware of & uncomfortable with his own skin

Smile people http://bit.ly/10Dgdm even if you aren't on Candid Camera

According to recent tweets 85% always idolized MJ, 10% mocked him, 5% were indifferent. In real life % of mockers was easily over 50%

Nothing like dying to bring fans back into the fold. I wonder if it will work for OJ if he's shanked in prison.

I suspect that 25% of anti-Michael Jackson tweets are coming from die-hard Farrah Fawcett fans. Just playing

Ok, Land of Short Attention Span. MJ memorial is over with, what's next to obsess over & tweet about? Better plan - go hug someone you love

- Roy