Thank you and good night, Michael Jackson...

Making it personal:

In the last two weeks (prior to hearing about MJ's passing) I have had 3 conversations about the man here in Brazil. One with my beautician - 'Heal the World' came on the radio, and we were discussing how we like the song, and she was saying that she never believed that he hurt or abused any children. I went traveling last week to the north of Brazil, and spoke with the front desk guy at my hostel, who was playing older funky Michael Jackson. He said that his favorite Michael Jackson music was Jackson 5, because this is what he grew up with. Then, two days ago, I was talking to a friend who is the owner of an art shop in the historic center of Salvador (the city in Brazil that I traveled to). He has owned his shop for a long time, and Michael Jackson came to Salvador in the 90's to perform a show with the famous Brazil drum group, Olodum. This friend of mine had taken pictures of MJ from that concert, which he had displayed proudly in his shop.

Michael Jackson is famous around the world. What does this mean? Not only have we watched him grow up, but we have grown up with his music. His music has been a part of life now for at least 3 generations of people (the people who were older when he was in the Jackson 5, the people in his age group who were dancing in the clubs to Thriller when it first came out, and the generation of people born in the 80's who grew up with parents who were fans of MJ, and with his music in the 90's) - ALL AROUND THE ENTIRE WORLD. I grew up dancing to his music as a little child in South Africa.

What does Michael Jackson's passing mean to you? Please tell us by leaving a comment in our comment box. Thank you.

Blog contribution we received from someone who sees MJ's message as one of peace and self improvement: Improve Self for Peace Under Sky

Heal the World: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W61Q-EZ8R7M&feature=fvst

Man in the Mirror:

Michael Jackson and Olodum in Salvador, Brazil:

A Few Notes on Culture, Change, and the Future

This is Indian Bollywood actress *Karishma Kapoor* modeling a high fashion Indian *sari*

THE WORLD IS ALREADY DIFFERENT!!! CHANGE HAS ALREADY HAPPENED!!! WE JUST NEED TO REALIZE IT!!!

If you want to know about culture today and what it is that is 'trendy' or whatever, you have to know that race and class don't matter in the way that you might think. They don't matter in that blatant stereotypes and pidgeonholing of people into specific categories is something that has broken down tremendously. In the videos below, you will see two women of color - one African American woman, and one Sri Lankan woman who is English. These two women are trendsetters of today and the influences of a generation that is going to determine our future.

Adults may feel like we have a more 'realistic' vision of the world because we have been here longer. But, the future is not a world in which we are stuck in archaic structures of racism and exotification of non-White peoples and women. The future is people being people, doing what they do, creating what they will, dreaming as big as they want, and fulfilling those dreams, regardless of sexual orientation, race, belief system, religion, nationality, or income level.

So what do you think about THAT?????

Janelle Monae - Many Moons:

M.I.A. - Jimmy: