Although this may not be the appropriate forum for this article, I wish to share a few memories of how Michael Jackson inspired me as a child and was a key role model to me, paving the way for me to believe that anything is possible.
When you truly believe in yourself, nothing, nothing stands in the way of you attaining the objectives that you so desire. I have often been asked where my drive comes from and what inspires me to do what I do, even when the going gets so tough, that I would normally give up. I have mentioned many things, but I did not realize until today, that this very controversial man was indeed, one of those people who has inspired me to keep moving and never give up on the dreams that I have.
When Michael Jackson was 12, I was 8 years old. I was growing up in the UK and at that time, the polite way to refer to black people was "Coloured" and as a child, I kept wondering what that was supposed to mean as I had images of green, purple or spotty-coloured people walking around; I could not for the life of me understand why people didn't just say we were brown, dark brown or light brown and I figured they must have been a little colour-blind. Today we are politely called Afro-American if we are in the states (no comment!), I'm not sure what they call us in the UK now ;-) and in South Africa it's very simple... we're simply black - which makes more sense to me, but that's just me!
So now, at 8 years old, I am in awe of this little scrawny kid with a huge Afro, that takes centre stage with his 4 brothers, belting out his catchy songs and... he's good looking and judging by the older brothers, he will be very handsome,and boy can he sing and dance!.
What inspired me the most about him was that for the first time on British TV, here was a black kid, with his brothers and they had thousands of screaming, swooning fans chasing after them, just like the Beatles and the Osmond Brothers and unbelievably the fans were mixed! It was incredible....both black and white together at the same concerts! Then, when they got their own cartoon show, I knew that there was no such thing as racism, this was an old word for my parents generation and that meant that there were no limits as to what I could or not achieve because in my 8 year old mind, the kids at my school were dumb and that is why they insulted me - they listened to what their parents told them instead of using their own brains. I mean, couldn't they see for themselves that we could all sing and dance together in harmony?!
Michael Jackson inspired me to just go for whatever I wanted to do in life. Sure, there would be times I would fail and of course there would be some goals that would be easier than others to attain but I know that Michael Jackson was one of those people who, whenever I was faced with adverse situations, made me stop to think "if he can do it then so can I". I mean, he was on the stage at the age of 5, singing to crowds of hundreds of people.
As he grew older and stranger, I withdrew from him and his music but it felt as if I had betrayed him and that I had lost a dear friend. However, I remained connected with the words to so many of his songs such as "Ebony and Ivory", "Black and White" or "Heal The World".
Today, his music continues to inspire millions all over the world and my children sing and dance to the very same songs that I grew up with. On Facebook, kids as young as 14 are leaving comments saying they will miss him.
We may have our opinions about what he became, however I believe that Michael Jackson undeniably has left a legacy of great inspiration towards the creation of greater unity, harmony and peace for the whole of humanity through his music, dance and the sharing of them with the rest of the world.
For more on Michael Jackson
doesn't matter if you're black or white
A tribute to Michael Jackson - Heal The World
Transformational Life Coach
Mother of 3 young men and currently living in South Africa since 2001, Joan Laine was born and raised in the United Kingdom by her Jamaican parents. She left for France at the age of 17 where she then spent 20 years, raising her own family and working for Polo Ralph Lauren for 11 of those years in a multitude of functions, which is where Joan developped her passion for change and transformation.
Ms. Laine owns her own company, Tau Pi which, provides coaching services, leadership development workshops and networking services. She also networks both online and off line and has created a network for quality service providers, called Headstartpbs
Joan has recently completed her Masters IV coach training at the CCI training academy and enrolled in the Master V train the trainer program.
Joan Laine is continuing her training as a facilitator and mentor coach at the CCI Academy, which uses the Consciousness Coaching (r) method developed by Academy founder Marc Steinberg.