Whatever move MJ made or route he took in taking on Sony Music, and in particular Tommy Mottola, the media will and would have slammed him. The reason is simply because they just do not like him. The reason behind that is that he does not play their game or allow them to dictate to him the rules and thus how he should act as a man, particularly an Afro-American man.
This was beautifully articulated by Muhammad Ali in the sixties, when he uttered “I ain’t gonna’ be what you want me to be, I’m gonna’ be what I wanna’ be.” He affirmed his right to be an individual and not have to conform to the stereotype, of the time, of a black boxer, of either being a Jim Crow or mean bad ghetto dude. Ali refused to play the game and become either of these clichés and the press buried him for it. They scoffed when he proclaimed himself ‘The Greatest’ and ‘beautiful’, they slammed him as a white hater for becoming a Muslim, when joining the Nation of Islam, and changing his slave name from Classius Clay to that of Muhammad Ali, and they labelled him unpatriotic, a traitor and a coward when Ali refused the draft, on conciseness and religious grounds, to fight in the Vietnam war. Of course the irony, today, is that Ali is embraced and regarded as an American hero but at the time when he made tough unpopular decisions, which he felt were right, he was savagely attacked from all quarters of the non-black press; all for quite simply refusing to conform to what THEY believed he should do and say. He set a dangerous precedent of giving an oppressed minority a figurehead that they could look up to and feel proud of; in turn feeling their self beauty and pride. I, for one, do not believe the white establishment would, in the last ten years, have so readily embraced Ali if it were not for his debilitating illness. For now the multi-nationals, who once ran a mile, can cynically portray him as an inspiration to all of the human spirit content in the knowledge that he is no longer the great vocal threat he once was. Fcuking parasites. Ali was not their hero to claim, because they never fought his corner when it damn well counted.
What makes is particularly hard with Michael Jackson is we all remember the time when he was embraced and, apparently, loved by all. We remember when he was quite literately on top of the world and seeming nothing could change that. Then the events of 1993 occurred. The media went after him with a vengeance, even though the allegations were clearly motivated by money and no evidence to substantiate them was ever found. Yet, when Roman Polanski actually admitted to having sexual relations, in the US, with his 13 year old cousin, when Charlie Chaplin also confessed to have sex with a minor, ditto Jerry Lee Lewis not to mention Woody Allen admitting to having a relationship with his adopted daughter the fall-out was much less. Do you ever see these allegations, wait in their cases facts, repeated at the end of a story on these artists as with Michael Jackson? Quite simply, as Ali before him, MJ does not play the media game, and they are determined to make him pay. He lives on a ranch with a zoo rather than inhabit a Bel Air mansion, he shuns movie premiers and restaurant openings rather than play the game, he crossed musical genres when it is cleary deemed this is only the preserve of white artists, he sings about world harmony and peace which HE is mocked for doing but is perfectly OK for the likes of Bob Dylan and John Lennon to do and worst of all he showed himself to be a truly sharp business man; surely getting above his station in the same way Ali did when a boxing world champion became a figurehead and voice for his people’s oppressions. When MJ bought the ATV/Northern catalogue it was, and incredibly still is, portrayed as stealing the Beatles songs. Yet, they wilfully sold the publishing rights to those songs in order to achieve substantial tax breaks and everyone is more than aware that they wrote their hits. But the countless black artists who have been ripped off after penning hits for the likes of Elvis Presley got neither the money nor the recognition. But still the Beatles songs, and the perceived injustice of them not owning the publishing rights, are much more heavily focused on by much of the press – if that is not clearly racially motivated then I do not know what is.
So when Michael Jackson, perhaps the most kind mannered and least likely person in music to talk ill of a person, comes out and call Tommy Mottola a racist the press, and even some posters on this board, go into shock and assert that his comments are totally out of order. Firstly, to be clear, Mottola IS a racist. I know for a fact that the incident that MJ is referring to is true and it is by no means an isolated one. Incredibly some have cited that because Tommy Mottola has several black artists that he can in no way be racist. What an absolute pile of bull @#%$. He has them because he can make money from them – it’s simply good business. That does not mean for one minute that he does not and has not acted in a racist way or indeed even in anyway respects these artists. Of course MJ realises the impact and consequences of his words and he is not the one panicking because he knows he can back them up.
Now, the media has also counted that MJ is opportunistic claiming that he has suddenly discovered black issues due to what they deem the disappointing sales of Invincible. It is a common tactic for the press to always question what artists from minority backgrounds have done for ‘their people’ as if they are under a moral obligation to do so, whereas American whites are not subject to the same questions. This is again the press telling, in this case, a black person how they should act and behave. The press constantly claim MJ is ashamed to be black due to his skin turning white. This IS a blatant and constant form of racism because they know full well he has vitiligo. This constant accusation that MJ does not want to be black is directed at the black and all other minority communities; its message is that MJ is ashamed to be black so ditch him – the method of divide and conquer. It is racist because its purpose is to play on the physicy of minority people, especially black, by trying to reinforce in their head, using an age old tactic, that being black is not beautiful – see here even the most successful black man wants to be white. What they fail to realise is being Black, Latino, Asian is not to with the colour of the skin but with the soul, beliefs and culture – this comes from within and can never be taken away. But of course they do know this because when a white person chooses to burn their skin in the Sun, risking skin cancer, the same people do not claim that those people are ashamed to be white.
However, for the record, Michael has always given generously to black charities and causes including many millions to the United Negro College fund and the NAACP. He has also covered the funeral expenses of several black artists who have died penniless. The fact is that he does not do this to gain favourable publicity for this because he does this because he believes in doing it; he has no interest in the good press it could generate. As for bringing the Sony issue and the racism is the music biz all out in the open now; it is simply because he can. Before he was under contract and if he had gone after Sony they would have simply made sure that he did not record another album ever again. Had Invincible been successful I know he would have still come out against Sony, because many of the issues he has with them have a long history, but due to their dirty tactics perhaps the level of intensity IS greater than it would have otherwise been.
The bottom line is this is happening and it is do to do with race; from the record companies taking advantage of minority artists, Mottola’s being a racist and the way the press chose to report on stories which centre on racial issues.
Standing up for the tough issues is never going to be easy and perhaps not popular. The press will continue to slam this but so fcuking what? This is all about sticking by your convictions and standing up when it counts and I know where I stand – firmly and squarely behind Michael Jackson. If this train is moving to fast for you, and you do not have the stomach for what is going on, then simply step off. But as was the case when Ali lit the Olympic touch at Atlanta, when this, in 20 yeas, is talked about as a defining moment in popular culture, and perhaps Michael Jackson is once again embraced, be sure it is your victory and your moment to celebrate.
Free your mind.Respect all the races.
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