Remembering a Legend : Micheal Jackson

By Jordan Clark
I feel honored to say I got a chance to see him. 2001 in D.C. at the United We Stand Concert. There were many other stars there that night, Aerosmith, Diddy, ‘Nsync, and James Brown, but everyone was there to see one man. That man of course was one Michael Jackson. It was amazing, almost surreal to think that I saw him live. He wasn’t quite 80’s Michael but he was still damn good and that was good enough for me and everyone else there. The one thing I remember most is the phrase he repeated over and over, “I love you.” He must have said it a hundred times and I’m sure he meant it each and every time.

No one was prepared for what happened last week with his unfortunate passing of Michael and the world is still reeling from it. He was only a few weeks from performing a huge show in London, his first in many years. He was going to do 50 shows in as many nights, which might have jump started another run for the king of pop. Sadly he didn’t make it that far but instead of grieving lets look back and celebrate his life.

I remember the first time I saw the Thriller video (and not just the video, the whole extended making of video with the credits at the end). It was incredible; it’s like everything before and after has paled in comparison to that masterpiece. And the videos kept on coming, from Remember the Time, to Black or White, to Smooth Criminal. Then there was just the music period. Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, and all the Jackson 5 stuff are filled with timeless songs that people have been singing ever since. And who didn’t want to dance like Mike, from the moonwalk, to the spins, he redefined what it was to dance period. Every entertainer since he stepped on the scene has been trying to catch up to the incredible standards he has set. To my generation Michael, was magic, he didn’t seem real, we never thought he’d leave us. He inspired us to dance, to sing, to dream and use our imagination's to the fullest extent.

It’s hard to believe that he’s no longer with us. I always imagined I’d be watching the Grammys with my kids and they’d ask, “whose that guy daddy”, and I’d say that’s Michael Jackson, the greatest entertainer ever. It seems like he’s been with us forever, my parents grew up with Mike, my sister grew up with Mike, and I grew up with Mike, but knowing we were the last ones to do so is truly sad. To the King of Pop rest in peace, and to the world keep rocking to the music, it’s what he’d want us to do.