Rest In peace Michael, King of Pop

We have been so immersed in the World Cup that I almost missed the first anniversary celebration of Michael Jackson's death yesterday. I clearly remember where I was when we heard the news. We were in Johannesburg for the Confederations Cup (believe it or not, I'm not always this immersed in soccer) when we walked into our hotel room and switched on the TV.

Michael Jackson was quite an inspiration when we were young. He was an amazing musician and performer and kept churning out the hits, earning the nickname, King of Pop. Here was living proof that you could be black and famous. And there was a whole family of Jacksons too. We pretty much spent our teen years to the background sounds of Billie Jean, Rock with You, Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough, and the like.

I found Michael Jackson's transformation very sad - after singing that it didn't matter if you were Black or White, and almost getting us to believe it, he seemed to have second thoughts. Like young girls who are bombarded by images of size 0 models and become anorexic, he was brainwashed into thinking that his hair had to be sleek enough for a pencil to slip through and his nose had to look like he'd slept with a peg on it. I'm not sure that we will ever learn to accept ourselves and each other, just the way we are or learn to respect and celebrate the differences?

I hope that he has found some peace, somewhere.

For a list of Michael Jackson songs, click here.