I don’t know about you, but the whole month of June, though an excitable and energizing month of LGBTQ+ Pride and empowerment seems to me to be permeated all through with the death of Michael Jackson. When the unexpected occured in 2009 it sent shockwaves that reverberated throughout the world, a seismic shift, a global rupture of the senses. People broke down in the streets, some rushed to celebrate Jackson by honouring his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame or at the Apollo Theatre.
Things — events, vigils were set in motion almost immediately, in what would culminate with Michael Jackson’s memorial at the Staples Center and his funeral at Forest Lawn Cemetery, where his father is also now buried. For me and for many of you the world that was still in motion, careening forward for so many others, seemed to come to a complete standstill.
Michael Jackson was so dynamic, in every sense of that word. He moved with a prowess that felt superhuman to watch and his life seemed to move and breakneck speed as he toured the world was known the world over for his amazing music, dance and humanitarian efforts. All that, in some senses, came to an abrupt end on June 25th 2009 and in other senses things carried right on.
Jackson’s music had an unexpected resurgence and he was endeared to the intelligentsia in a way he had never been before. Suddenly journals of popular music studies and cultural pundits were dedicating collections of essays to him, something that had not happened hitherto his death.
The race to commemorate Jackson continues. I still work with the grief that no amount of commemoration can alleviate. Jackson’s beating heart came to a standstill that day and in some ways his memory was frozen, dessicated and embalmed that day. No amount of red roses on Forest Lawn can make me or many of us feel better. Michael is gone and though his spirit lives on, this is a day for focusing on the space he left in our lives, frozen forever.
June 25th, 2022.
Elizabeth Amisu
