When I heard the news that Michael “King of Pop” Jackson had cardiac arrest, I was calm. In denial, but calm. I checked Associated Press and other notable news sources in my office to confirm the information and updated the site accordingly, but I was still in denial about it. I went to CNN’s “Black in America 2” screening the same day, where the host confirmed what TMZ had said earlier that day—Michael Jackson was dead. I sat in my seat completely frozen. .

Earlier today, I read a tweet from CNN reporter Don Lemon about how the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, never provided evidence of having Vidalago, and I tweeted him back saying, “I don't believe it was M. Jackson's job 2 offer the media any proof of his skin condition. That's a bonus, not a requirement.” And with that tweet, I wondered where is the fine line between getting research for an article and just being overzealous. Paparazzi are no doubt overbearing, but journalists don’t have to be. So why is it some of us feel like we are entitled to have all of this personal information about celebrities when it’s really not our business or the public’s business?

Last Wednesday, I froze when I overhead someone tell our Chicago Defender’s News Editor that Michael Jackson was in the hospital for cardiac arrest. I hoped for the best, but when I read on TMZ’s site that Michael Jackson had died on Thursday, June 25, 2009, I went into complete denial. Of course I did what any Web Editor would do; I started checking respectable news sites to see if they agreed. CNN continuously said that he was in the hospital, but yet they kept using his name in past tense. When I left the newsroom, the verdict was still out. But after work, I went to CNN’s live screening of “Black in America 2” at the DuSable Museum and the host announced to the crowd that Michael Jackson had indeed passed away. That was a hard pill to swallow. But I’m sure it was harder for Michael Jackson’s family to hear about through rumors from a website or news cameras before the doctor could potentially even tell them.

 

Since then, I’ve updated the Chicago Defender website regularly about news on just what happened to cause cardiac arrest, Michael Jackson’s will, who is fighting over custody of Michael Jackson’s children and where the public viewing will be for Michael Jackson. People are reading this stuff nonstop, and of course, as a fan, I want to know too. But when does it stop? Was it selfish to demand a public viewing when Michael Jackson’s family hadn’t even had a week to grieve? Is it fair to start forums on why Katherine Jackson or Diana Ross should or should not be allowed to care for Michael Jackson’s children?

 

His fans want to know what’s going on with Michael Jackson, but as Janet Jackson said at the BET Awards, “To you, Michael Jackson is an icon. To us, Michael is family.” And regardless of him being famous or not, there’s still a family who mourns him. If the media does not get every single detail of Jackson’s life, it’ll be okay. If the media does not see medical documentation of whether he had a skin disease or not, it’ll be okay. But what we don’t need is the media going off on a tangent if they don’t get the information they want about Michael Jackson—it was bossy when he was alive and now it’s just flat out tasteless when he’s dead.

 

I honestly think that funerals should be private for just family and friends, the kind that can open your refrigerator door without you looking at them funny. Everybody else should be happy to even hear the news about a time and date, or see an interview afterwards. Because as close as you thought you were to Michael Jackson, his family and friends really were. The Neverland animals are more entitled to go to Jackson’s funeral than any fan is because they had the unconditional love that some of his finicky fans did not.

 

I don’t know what it is about free concerts, but they are always the best to watch. And they’re even better at the Taste of Chicago when you can feel the energy of the crowd. So far, I’ve seen Lyfe Jennings, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Stevie Wonder, Anthony Hamilton, Jason Weaver, and India Arie at the Taste. Nobody had topped Lyfe Jennings (Anthony Hamilton came close though) so I had to go see him again. And usually I work 12 to 15 hour days on Wednesdays, but when I found out that one of my favorite R&B artists (Ne-Yo) was going to be at the Taste, that had to change. I hate mornings, but I woke up at 5 am and headed to the newsroom. I was on a mission and got everything I needed done to the site by 2 pm and bounced!  

It was raining, I have a fresh perm and broke as a joke so barely enough money to get on the train, but I collected what I needed and headed out. Ne-Yo onstage is as good as I thought he’d be. He started off singing my second favorite song from him: “Stay.” I love the energy of that first verse! It was bittersweet that Michael Jackson just passed, but he did a tribute to him that made me agree with Jamie Foxx on the BET Awards. He doesn’t look remotely like MJ, but he can sing his songs extremely well. If there was ever a Michael Jackson tribute CD to come out, judging from the BET Awards, Ne-Yo is the only one who can hit the right notes. I’m curious how Chris Brown sings Michael Jackson’s slower songs, but he wasn’t at the BET awards so I don’t know. I saw a lot of people fail at trying to sing them, but Ne-Yo really did a good job.  

I knew he’d written Mario’s song “Let Me Love You,” Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” and Rihanna’s “Round of Applause,” but I had no idea he wrote Jennifer Hudson’s “Spotlight” and neither did the crowd because they were shocked when he sang that one with the rest of his creations. I really wanted him to sing Marques Houston’s “That Girl” because I have the feeling he can sing it better. I liked Marques’ version, but I really like Ne-Yo’s range a lot more.  

When you can have grown fully heterosexual men swaying in the crowd and looking all googly-eyed at their girlfriends, you gotta love that. I haven’t seen that since Al Green was on the BET Awards (last?) year. It was a joy to interview him for the Chicago Defender, but an even bigger pleasure to see him live. And as modest as he was about dancing in the interview, he can move quite nicely. And the sermon at the end about “Miss Independent” was too cute. Although I like “She Got Her Own,” him performing “Miss Independent” love made me switch over.  

Great job! I’d recommend anybody who hasn’t seen him go asap.

I’ve had a lot of memories in the Defender office, some good and some bad. I went to Grant Park during Election Day and heard Obama speak from my window. I learned about several politicians wilding out while sitting in my office. But the goosebumps that came on my arms when a couple Defender staff members said that Michael Jackson was in the hospital topped it all. Several staff members huddled around the television in the newsroom listening to every single update, some exclaiming about CNN talking about Michael Jackson "in past tense" and how "geniuses always die early." Others said they refused to believe TMZ until a more credible news service said MJ was dead. When I left, the verdict was still out, but I left many links and articles on CD's site updating the status. Afterwards, I went to the DuSable Museum to the pre-screening of CNN's "Black in America 2." Sitting in the media area with Kathy Chaney, the host for the night said CNN's Don Lemon had to fly back and couldn't be with us tonight because of the MJ tragedy. And then he announced that Michael Jackson really was dead.

And when I heard he was dead, I just sat there sad. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had writer’s block in my life, and I kept trying to write a Message from Montie blog about Michael Jackson, but there are just so many things I want to say that I really don’t know where to start.

So instead, I Michael Jackson’d the Chicago Defender site out to pay tribute to all of his memories. I started a tribute blog. I started a photo gallery and a slideshow on the homepage (on Friday, June 26) and it’ll come down next Friday (July 3). I went to Best Buy and bought two of his CDs: “The Jackson 5: The Millennium Collection” and “25: Thriller, The World’s Biggest Selling Album of All Time” with two CDs and a DVD included. I contacted Brandon Adams (who played Baby Mike in “Moonwalker”) to ask for pics of him with Michael to share his friendship with the pop icon. I asked all the Defender staff to leave a message on the tribute blog of their memories. I only listen to Michael Jackson music in my car and at home. I’ve tweeted about Michael Jackson. But I just don’t have the words to write a blog about my memories of him. Too many. Don’t know where to start.

I’m too stunned that he’s gone.

Recently I was checking out Craigslist gigs for extra income since I stopped working with Demand Studios. I still write for Ehow.com occasionally but not under Demand Studios. Anyway, I found a tutoring gig for English and Writing, accepted, was told I was hired and told my schedule. But here's where the alarm went off. They immediately mailed me a lump sum of money for a student who is in the UK and is flying over. First of all, I find it rather odd that someone from another country (and continent) would need to come all the way over here to be tutored, especially from UK for "English." But sometimes people like to go to different places to pick up the lingo there, so I said, "All right fine." But the company never specified where this person would stay. By home school tutoring, I didn't plan on the student living with me. I tried to confirm that but got no response, and they do have my address.

But what really made my eyebrows raise was them telling me that they sent the wrong check to me, and the amount I was going to receive was thousands of dollars more. They wanted me to transfer the funds through Western Union to the travel agent for the mistake after "cashing the check immediately." Okay, everybody knows that the fees for wiring money through Western Union are far more expensive than canceling a check, so why not just cancel the check altogether, especially in thousands of dollars. Why risk that? For all they know, I could run off with the  money after cashing it. The only people who do that are broke.

I can already tell the results of this. I cash the check. Send the remaining amount (subtracting my fee) through Western Union, the check bounces, and I'm stuck scrambling for funds. I tried to clarify with this company to send the money through an online secure site instead of snail mail with a check, but I got no response. I asked where the student was living again. No response. I pointed out the check canceling. No response. But the company surely did contact me again asking if I'd received the check and cashed it yet.

I told them I wasn't cashing a thing and instead I'd "Return to Sender." Something about this whole gig doesn't sound right. When you run into companies (or emails) like this, report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.