Michael Jackson

Every American generation has its icon. As my brother and I arrived to the States back in 1983, we were about to experience the hair bands, MTV (when they actually showed music videos 24/7) and of course Michael Jackson.

Michael came out and he swept everything. Everyone wanted to dance like him, dress like him, and of course, the Thriller Jacket. Who doesn't remember this jacket! I wore a copy of it but it was enough to be in the wave of what was going on then. I remember my dad going out and purchasing the Thriller LP even he was excited to own a copy of it! I was thrilled. I was still struggling with the English language, but when I discovered that the album came with lyrics, I was singing and memorizing every word of every song on that album.

So when I was leaving work today, John called and told me the sad news about Michael Jackson. I couldn't believe it. I'm not going to mention any of the bad stuff about him. I'm no one to judge him. But, as soon as I heard the news, I went back to when I was 13 and how much fun it was to watch his videos, dance and sing his music and how funny everyone looked wearing his jacket and glove and then it hit me, I'm getting freaking old. I called my brother to tell him the news and he said, "all the music artist we used to love are dying men!" Yep, we are getting old!

There is one thing everyone agrees on, Michael Jackson looked better as a black person. When he turned white he turned me off and that's when I stopped listening to his music but no one can take away what he did before that. The guy was a music genius and of course the moon walk it was amazing back then! And who can forget "We are the World" song! Ok, I'm crying now. -sandra.