A Tribute To Prince Rogers Nelson

This is hard to believe that we are now living in a time when the greats of music in the 1980s: Michael, Whitney, David and Prince Rogers Nelson, are no longer with us. When my brother opened the door of his room and stated, "I have bad news", I would never thought that the news would be that Prince had died. At first, I was in denial and I checked my Facebook account and when I saw the news, I cried. I have to be honest, I am not a hardcore Prince fanatic and never will be. I had time to be one. I am a casual fan of Prince and I am one of those fans that likes the hits. However, I also had a distaste for him because of the comments that he stated about Michael.I soon learned that as time went on, he and Michael were friends. When I got older, I got to really into his music and watched his movies. After the death of Prince, I decided that I had to do a tribute to him on this blog. I want to discuss his career, impact, life, the truth about his "rivalry" with Michael and his legacy. My tribute will not be very detailed but to the point so do not expect this tribute to be a long thesis on how Prince made people think differently about black men and their masculinity and so on. Those types of articles have been done already. This is my version on how I see Prince and I hope you like it. 

Prince in 1991.

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

*Please play this classic song from the group Boyz II Men as you read this blog post*

"It's So Hard To Say Goodbye" from Boyz II Men, 1991

June 25th, 2009 was one of the worst days of my life. I was 25, it was a beautiful, hot day and my favorite entertainer died. Ever since then, my life, in so many ways, changed. At the time of his passing, all I thought about was Michael and that lasted for a few months. I had to figure out how I was going to live my life accepting the fact that Michael, who was part of my life, was gone. There are people who do not understand how can a person loved someone they do not know and never met. That is something that I cannot explain fully and only people who know that feeling understand that feeling. Michael was literally like family to me. I would defend him to anyone that ever bashed him. Yes, I get teased and was called "Mrs. Michael Jackson" in high school but I did not care because all I cared about was that the truth needed to be told. 

Spotlight Series: Michael Jackson Archives

I am starting a new feature on my blog called "Spotlight Series" in which I spotlight a true fan of Michael's that are doing great things for Michael's legacy. Before Michael was murdered, the media did not do anything on Michael that would focus on his legacy and what his impact in popular culture would mean for the future. After Michael's death, the media showed their phony behaviors and started to state kinds things about him and shifted their to focus on his impact and legacy. I have made a mission with my blog to focus on what is true about Michael and the truth is, the media did plenty of damage to Michael's legacy. I will not watch the media tell people about the greatness of Michael when they participated in the hell that he went through when he was alive. It is a slap in the face to the many fans that literally witnessed the media trashed Michael whenever they can.

There is also division in the Michael Jackson fan community that is so bad that I am convinced that the fan community, online and offline, will never recover. There are reasons of why there is an division in the community and often times, we all have to accept that most of the fans that are causing the division are not actual fans. I stated on my last blog post of 2012, I wanted to focus on the fans in a positive light because I do believe that there are fans out there that really do care about Michael and his legacy. This is where this new feature comes into play. I want to put a spotlight on fans who are doing amazing things for Michael's legacy because Michael dedicated his life making lives of his fans better. I need to do my part and put a spotlight on not just my blog but websites that are done by loyal fans of Michael's.  

I want to put the spotlight on a website called "Michael Jackson Archives" that is done by Chris Cadman and Jamison L. (I will not reveal Jamison's last name for privacy reasons.) This website is all about focusing on Michael's amazing career and getting the fans to look into Michael's work for the truth about Michael and not the various stories that the now tabloid media continues to spew. Please read and enjoy this entry and take some time to visit "Michael Jackson Archives". 

Michael in 1988. 

He Would Have Been 54

Every summer since 2009, Michael has been celebrated twice: on the day that he passed on and on the day that he was born. June 25th is a day of remembrance of what Michael was about and stood for. August 29th is a day that we celebrate his life and his achievements. When I started this blog in September 2011, I wanted to make this blog more of a tribute to Michael and not about exposing Michael. This blog entry will be different because it will not deal with my opinions about the Estate/Sony BMG, his family or what happened to Michael. This entry will be about celebrating his life. I will post pictures, videos, stories and articles about Michael. I will do this every August until I have no interest in doing this blog anymore. I hope that this entry reminds the public that Michael lived his life to the fullest. 

How To Define His Legacy

The month of June means Graduations, the end of the school year, Father's day and summer. However for the MJ fans, June is a very difficult time for all of us. June was the month, and the 25th was the day, back in 2009, that Michael passed away and it was one of those moments in life when people ask "where were you when this happened or when that happened?" I have never seemed to and will probably never seem to get over the fact that Michael is no longer with us. There is no way to really explain it - his death is difficult to accept. I think about him every single day and it does not get any better. 

I Refuse To Support the Michael Jackson Estate

I have made it vocal on this blog that I am not a supporter/fan/groupie of the Michael Jackson Estate. Since Michael was murdered in 2009, it has often bothered me how the executors came about, the 2002 will that Michael supposedly signed surfaced and why the third executor decided to not be one of the executors of the estate. On Tuesday April 10^th, the Immortal Tour will come to my hometown Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center. That is one of many things that the estate has plans for this year that I refuse to support. I had a change of heart in the beginning of this year when I stated on my facebook account that I was thinking of going to the event. I have heard and read how good it was and I looked online at the prices and saw that the prices were reasonable. I had a plan of how I was going to plan that day.

Michael in 1984 during a break from the Victory Tour.