As a music fanatic, I am contemplating what pop music would be today without Michael Jackson. Cable news is busy retelling 1,000 sordid details of his tragic life, but I urge you to turn to MTV instead and consider what he contributed to the world of music. One of those contributions is harnessing the power of pop music to make statements about “what is” in world events and “what could be” through taking action.
There is some piece of my own activism that can be traced back to Live Aid and We are the World.
Another potent contribution from Jackson includes the images of the hungry in Africa, homeless in America, MLK, John and Bobby Kennedy and even John Lennon in the video for “Man in the Mirror.” In addition to confronting our ideals with reality, pop music also works to unite groups. The Michael Jackson sing-a-long at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin sold out last night and the NYTimes posted a video of people dancing in the street outside the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
This reminds me of the always-relevant debate regarding politicians and their personal lives. Should a representative (broadest meaning) be judged solely on her/his accomplishments? I have no idea what the governor of South Carolina has done for its people, but right now he’s being run though the moral gamut and values wringer because of his extra-marital affair.
I think many folks wonder whether a representative can hold the people’s interests at the highest level when he can’t maintain his family’s.
The same suspicions apply to Michael. He did do so much for the world’s children, yet the shadow of accusation exists.
Personally, I disagree with this tact. Representatives of the people are people themselves (and thank goodness for that). They will have flaws, and it will be a huge move toward political maturity once we move past these Puritanical witch hunts.
Innocence until proven guilt is a Constitutional principle. And although an affair doesn’t come near to the innuendo surrounding Jackson, said innuendo is just that.
Regarding affairs, our former mayor here in Detroit was recently run out of town, not because of his trysts, but because he used public funds to promote that affair and withheld information in a court trial in order to hide his infidelity: a clear violation of the public trust.
I had a bit of an exchange with a friend from high school who was on edge about everyone forgetting the bad stuff to mourn Jackson’s passing as though he were some sort of hero. I had to point out that Jackson participated in a number of really successful initiatives to increase awareness and raise funds for Africa.
Few of us are as simple as the media or punditry (formal or informal) like to make people in the public eye. It’s fair to remember a complete picture of Jackson–a very complex and sad picture. I also would like to worry less about the intricate details of adultery in the political sphere and focus our concern on the use and abuse of power. An elected official who believes he is above the law or has become the office itself so he/she is beyond reproach is a perversion that gets lost in the tawdry details of e-mails and secret trips.