I've been thinking for a while now how and what I would write about Michael Jackson that would convince people that he was a leader in the sustainability movement.
OK, this is not crazy talk. Remember that sustainability is not just about driving less, using non-toxic soap and bringing your own bag to the grocery store. It is equally about community, social responsibility, social equity and social justice.
Right now, millions of people around the world are watching and listening to Jackson's memorial service from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Millions of people with one thing in common, from Europe and Asia and Africa and Kansas and New York City and Seattle, me on my couch.
What are they celebrating? His great music, for sure. But there was a lot more and Rev. Al Sharpton gave the best speech of the afternoon. If you think all this MJ business is a bunch of media hoopla, and you only watch one thing from the insane news coverage of this topic today, make it this one.
Jackson's life went from the beginning of the civil rights movement through the first black president, and Sharpton makes the point that many of the children who saw Jackson break the race barriers in music grew up to be adults who helped break the political barrier and elect the first black president of the United States of America.
I don't think it's stupid to be upset by Jackson's death. It doesn't mean you don't care about Iran, national healthcare or the City of Los Angeles spending $2-4mm to pay for the memorial service. But it would be a community moment bigger than the sum of its parts if everyone mourning the King of Pop could see beyond the celebrity to the major social changes he effected, and perhaps the global awareness of interconnectedness that we're all having right now.
When I first hear that Jackson died and saw the outpouring of global grief, I tweeted that I wish we could move this many people around the world together to solve some of our greatest international challenges. What I didn't realize then is that Jackson already had.
RIP MJ. My pop culture heart and sustainable soul know that your legacy will help Heal the World long after you're gone.
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Beyond that, he wrote a - I think - pretty kick-ass song about environmental destruction: Earth Song.
ReplyDeleteNice post, Nicole.
OH YEAH! I totally forgot about that! Add save the planet to the list.
ReplyDeleteThere's also "Man in the mirror". And that's from little ol' me who was just a bit, uh, cynical/grouchy about all the media hoopla surrounding Mr. Jackson. However, my issue was less about Mr. Jackson's claim to history and more about how his death just subsumed everything else.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I don't think MJ should have gotten less attention, however I wish that others had gotten more. There is plenty room in the media with a diverse enough audience that people like Farrah Fawcett, for example, could have gotten more than a 1x1 in the bottom corner of the nytimes...
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, he's touched a lot of people alright. Ten year old boys for one.
ReplyDelete