Another Michael Jackson first...?

I really like Brook Benton also, have one of his cd's. My favorite is probably Rainy Night In Georgia..

Surely you are not surprised by today's shallow media. Television journalist is an oxymoron.

Whether you like it or not, he was the first black performer to be embraced on that level. He was the first black artist to get heavy rotation on MTV. I'm certainly not part of the love affair with Michael Jackson, but I can understand the remarks about him being embraced by a white audience.

quote:

Originally posted by MonkeysUncleByMarriage:
Whether you like it or not, he was the first black performer to be embraced on that level. He was the first black artist to get heavy rotation on MTV. I'm certainly not part of the love affair with Michael Jackson, but I can understand the remarks about him being embraced by a white audience.

Another pundit said MJ must have hated black people since he altered his own appearance to look white, married two white women and had white kids.

quote:

Originally posted by MonkeysUncleByMarriage:
Whether you like it or not, he was the first black performer to be embraced on that level. He was the first black artist to get heavy rotation on MTV. I'm certainly not part of the love affair with Michael Jackson, but I can understand the remarks about him being embraced by a white audience.

The entertainers that I listed had enormous careers before there was MTV...they did what they did with talent, not a bump and grind, crotch grabbing "dance" routine.

We get it. You didn't care for him.

But yet he seems to be fascinated by him...

quote:

Originally posted by SHELDIVR:


Another pundit said MJ must have hated black people since he altered his own appearance to look white, married two white women and had white kids.

MJ was embraced a way no other black artist had been before. I don't care if you like it or not. And I am fairly certain his skin becoming lighter was the result of a disease/condition, not altered because he wanted to be more white.

And Michael Jackson was very talented. I'm not a big fan of his music, or his style of music, but to ignore his talent is ridiculous.

quote:

Originally posted by David L.:
But yet he seems to be fascinated by him...

Get a life cup cake...your observations are as screwed up as the rest of your life.

quote:

Originally posted by SHELDIVR:

quote:

Originally posted by MonkeysUncleByMarriage:
Whether you like it or not, he was the first black performer to be embraced on that level. He was the first black artist to get heavy rotation on MTV. I'm certainly not part of the love affair with Michael Jackson, but I can understand the remarks about him being embraced by a white audience.

Another pundit said MJ must have hated black people since he altered his own appearance to look white, married two white women and had white kids.

Whether true or not, it's a well known fact that Jackson told many people he had surgery in order not to look so much like his father, whom he hated, and because all his life his brothers called him "big nose."

quote:

Originally posted by SHELDIVR:

quote:

Originally posted by David L.:
But yet he seems to be fascinated by him...

Get a life cup cake...your observations are as screwed up as the rest of your life.

Gee, I wonder how many people will be at your memorial?

Not feelin the love eh?

quote:

Originally posted by SHELDIVR:
Today I had the Michael Jackson fiasco on fourteen channels, okay 15 if you count BET, and while searching for alternate viewing (Animal Planet), I heard one of the network "talkin heads" say MJ was the first "black entertainer" to be embraced by "white folks"....REALLY...??

Ever heard of Nat King Cole??? His audience support was about 25 to 1 white, plus he is the first black entertainer to have his own network television show (not driven by the black population who scarcely made up 11 to 12% of viewership).

How about Ray Charles?? Actually Ray Charles Robinson, a dominant force in the entertainment business and largely supported (fan base) by white folks.

Brook Benton...Yep, I have every thing he ever recorded.

Louis Armstrong did very well with white audiences...I could go on but hopefully, you get the point.

How about Sammy Davis Jr. ... Although Michael Jackson was a great entertainer and did great things such as the "We are the World" project or was a very giving person and an extremely talented dancer that may never be matched for his range and style however "greatest entertainer"? Sammy Davis Jr. was one who also fought much tribulation and barriers to reach places that others failed to reach. Not only a very talented singer but also a great comedian and actor. There are many talented people in every race and many that overcome person obstacles. Michael Jackson could be said to be, along with many others, also a great tragedy. No doubts, with recent information, at best a severe drug addict (to prescription drugs) and an accidental overdose and at worse a potential suicide by overdose to avoid an upcoming concert that he may have felt he didn't have the capacity to complete. Most answers that went to the grave with Michael. Among those answers also the truth of the allegations of misusing children. Possibly innocent and misunderstood but when you pay off families 20+ million to remain quiet and not testify then there will always be shadows of doubt as to his innocence.

Michael wasn't the first in many categories and sadly wont, most likely, be the last but when someone so talented and popular dies at an early age there are always people who look for answers and comfort when most can't be found.

I seem to remember Sammy Davis Jr. saying he battled both drug problems and a sexual addiction.

time and era considered, sammy davis jr. was a bigger hit. IMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by SHELDIVR:

quote:

Originally posted by MonkeysUncleByMarriage:
Whether you like it or not, he was the first black performer to be embraced on that level. He was the first black artist to get heavy rotation on MTV. I'm certainly not part of the love affair with Michael Jackson, but I can understand the remarks about him being embraced by a white audience.

I believe his children are mixed - both black and white. If his kids are considered white by this pundit-does the pundit also consider Obama white?

Another pundit said MJ must have hated black people since he altered his own appearance to look white, married two white women and had white kids.

I watched the Memorial(while snapping and shelling beans to can) and thought it was very well done.

We sing the song @ our Church the choir sang as the casket was being brought in and it was so beautiful. The other singers did so well too. Brooke Shields comments were straight from the heart.

There is just nothing in me to be critical or mean spirited about someone's memorial service.

quote:

Originally posted by MonkeysUncleByMarriage:
And I am fairly certain his skin becoming lighter was the result of a disease/condition, not altered because he wanted to be more white.

You would be at least partially wrong. His skin bleaching treatments were documented quite a few years ago, but in response to his vitiglio. This skin condition causes lightening of skin in patches. Jackson used skin lightening treatments to even out his appearance.

One could argue that his cosmetic surgeries (lip thinning, for example) were to make him appear more caucasian. Personally, I doubt it but really don't care why. I was never a big fan myself, but one must admit he was an amazing showman.

quote:

Originally posted by zippadeedoodah:


You would be at least partially wrong. His skin bleaching treatments were documented quite a few years ago, but in response to his vitiglio. This skin condition causes lightening of skin in patches. Jackson used skin lightening treatments to even out his appearance.

One could argue that his cosmetic surgeries (lip thinning, for example) were to make him appear more caucasian. Personally, I doubt it but really don't care why. I was never a big fan myself, but one must admit he was an amazing showman.

I am aware of the patching issue. My wife has the same problem. Probably not to the degree he did, but she does. But that was still my point, it was in response to his condition. Thanks for saying it better than I did.

Hope she has success, if she is treating it similarly. I'm told the treatments can lead to very dangerous conditions.

Not sure what happened to my post above. This is what I had said concerning MJ's white issue:

I believe his children are mixed - both black and white. If his kids are considered white by this pundit-does the pundit also consider Obama white?

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Originally posted by diddle:

quote:

Originally posted by SHELDIVR:

quote:

Originally posted by David L.:
But yet he seems to be fascinated by him...

Get a life cup cake...your observations are as screwed up as the rest of your life.

Gee, I wonder how many people will be at your memorial?

Not feelin the love eh?

Who gives a rat's ass, I plan to be dead by then...why don't you go diddle...??

quote:

Originally posted by redbull:
Not sure what happened to my post above. This is what I had said concerning MJ's white issue:

I believe his children are mixed - both black and white. If his kids are considered white by this pundit-does the pundit also consider Obama white?

MJ kids look nothing like the Negro children I grew up with in Alabama, and I don't believe they have had cosmetic surgery. He is the parent on paper only, and he bought and paid for them to establish his "ownership". I know his name is on the birth certificate but a mother can put Abe Lincoln on the birth certificate...means nothing...do some DNA testing (like that's really gonna happen)...

I love reading Shels posts he is a hoot reminds me of Archie Bunker,the "Negro children" rofl,well later guys gotta meet up with 2 jive turkeys,1 ****** and maybe a negro

quote:

Originally posted by MonkeysUncleByMarriage:

quote:

Originally posted by SHELDIVR:


Another pundit said MJ must have hated black people since he altered his own appearance to look white, married two white women and had white kids.

MJ was embraced a way no other black artist had been before. I don't care if you like it or not. And I am fairly certain his skin becoming lighter was the result of a disease/condition, not altered because he wanted to be more white.

And Michael Jackson was very talented. I'm not a big fan of his music, or his style of music, but to ignore his talent is ridiculous.

Jackson claimed to have vitiligo, which is a skin condition that produces light-colored PATCHES in the affected person. Ask a dermatologist and he/she will tell you that vitiligo does not suddenly change the color of skin all over the body to a uniformly lighter color.

Just like so much else about Jackson's apearance, his skin tone was MANUFACTURED. It ain't natural and not much else about Jackson and his family is.

quote:

Originally posted by Lionel Richie:
I love reading Shels posts he is a hoot reminds me of Archie Bunker,the "Negro children" rofl,well later guys gotta meet up with 2 jive turkeys,1 ****** and maybe a negro

Its hard to keep up with what they want to be called. I am 53 yrs old, in my lifetime it has been negro, black and now African American. Who cares?

Unless he also bleached his DNA, he had no reproductive connection with blond haired, blue eyes children.

That aside, he raised them from birth, they have his name, they are his children.

He definitely had a heart, I can still recall hearing him asking "Annie are you ok?Are you ok Annie?"

quote:

Originally posted by beternU:

quote:

Originally posted by MonkeysUncleByMarriage:

quote:

Originally posted by SHELDIVR:


Another pundit said MJ must have hated black people since he altered his own appearance to look white, married two white women and had white kids.

MJ was embraced a way no other black artist had been before. I don't care if you like it or not. And I am fairly certain his skin becoming lighter was the result of a disease/condition, not altered because he wanted to be more white.

And Michael Jackson was very talented. I'm not a big fan of his music, or his style of music, but to ignore his talent is ridiculous.

Jackson claimed to have vitiligo, which is a skin condition that produces light-colored PATCHES in the affected person. Ask a dermatologist and he/she will tell you that vitiligo does not suddenly change the color of skin all over the body to a uniformly lighter color.

Just like so much else about Jackson's apearance, his skin tone was MANUFACTURED. It ain't natural and not much else about Jackson and his family is.

I don't know where you've been, but both Jackson and his dermatologist said a long time ago that he did have his skin tone lightened to match the lighter color of the vitiligo. What's wrong with that? It might have taken a lifetime, if ever, for all the skin to become the same light color on its own. He was an entertainer in the limelight much of the time and maybe he didn't want to look like a dalmation. I knew a black girl in high school who had vitiligo. As bad as it looks on a white person, it looks a hundred times worse on a black person. If he had a way and the money to lighten it up all over, I say more power to him.

I don't have a dog in this fight but I will say I think the OP's point wasn't really MJ in this post but the media. And honestly, the media in this country is pitiful. To say that MJ was the first black entertainer to be embraced by white people is patently untrue. They didn't say "the first to be embraced to this extent" - they said the first, period.

And if MJ changed his looks because his father and his brothers, then saying he must have done it because he hated black people is also untrue.

The media talking heads just throw out whatever and some people in the public just kind of nod and go, "yeah, that's right" without thinking about how stupid the statements are.

bbc, agreed! The media stinks and they lie, sensationalize, etc. and some people believe everything they read or hear.

The OP's point was hard to follow he claim's Nat Cole brought whites and blacks together and then states his audience was 25 whites for every 1 black since when do you see a group of 26 with ONE black and think "o look a melting pot"

I was just finally coming to terms with the death of Maurice and now this