I grew up listening to Michael Jackson.  My father played the Jackson 5, I saw the Thriller video on MTV, I attened the “We ARE the World” event, I danced to his songs with my friends.  There is no doubt that he was the most famous person of our lifetimes.  He was an amazing musician, and incredibly talented singer, and a gifted dancer.  His music will always be a part of my life.

Still, his life was a bit of a tragedy.  The amount of pressure we put on celebrities to constantly be in the limelight, to give up a part of themselves to be in the public eye, to become icons (demi-gods) and give up something inately human and fallible in themselves is one of the worst parts of our culture.  We have no idea who Michael Jackson really was.  We know the stories, we’ve seen the tabloids, and we’ve heard countless accusations, but we ignored the fact that he was just a man.  My hear goes out to the family of Michael Jackson.  Oney they truly knew the man.