Interview with Jesse Jackson (2005)
The following interview was done March 27, 2005. Listen to the interview here.
Rev. Jesse Jackson: Good morning. God Bless you. Happy Easter. Welcome to
Keep Hope Alive with Reverend Jesse Jackson radio program. This is Reverend
Jesse Jackson and this morning I wish you a happy and glorious Easter.
Brothers and sisters, I encourage those of you who are listening today, to tell
your friends about us and to listen to us on live on the web on Sunday mornings
from 7-8am Central Time, 8-9am Eastern Time (sic) on your website, on our
website keephopealiveradio.com. And please email us with your thoughts and
comments. We want to hear from you. So drop us an email throughout the week at
the same address keephopealiveradio.com.
This Easter week, a week of challenges, agonizing challenges, the outer limits
of our faith and resurrection. We are on a journey of agony and faith with
regard to Terry Schiavo. We have been riveted to TV and radio reports all of
this week, these last few weeks a matter of fact. Terry’s case is an
extraordinary challenge to our patience, our faith, our ethics and our morality.
A brain impaired woman, said to be brain dead. She’s being starved and
dehydrated to death. She must not be trophied, inmonumented in an illified
moment. Her crisis challenges us to deal with long-term health care for all
Americans. In her case, they didn’t pull the plug to assist her in breathing,
they pulled the tube, cut off the water and will not even allow ice for her
parched lips. For this level of cruelty there is no moral justification.
But what can I say today about our special guest this morning. This legendary
singer, dancer, songwriter, extraordinary, has transfixed the role for more than
40 years. He became an instant star at age eleven. Is the front man in
Motown’s phenomenally successful family act, the Jackson Five. One of the best
selling groups of all time. Hickering off their Motown tenure in 1969 with the
unprecedented feat of four consecutive number one singles. Who can forget “I
Want You Back”, “ABC”, “Mama’s
Where were you when you were having barely turned thirteen? He began his solo
career. Released a successful string of solo singles including “Got To Be
There”, “Rockin’ Robin” and “Ben”. We’ve all marveled as he
continued to scale at unprecedented heights with the success of three of the
biggest selling albums of all time: ‘Off The Wall’, ‘Thriller’ and
‘Bad’. Indeed, ‘Thriller’ is the biggest selling album of all time.
Having sold 51 million copies world-wide, beyond the numbers how important and
paradigm shifting has
As producer Quincy Jones told Time magazine. “Black music had to play second
fiddle for a long time.” In the spirit is the whole motor of pop. He has
connected with every soul in the world. He has been proclaimed the biggest
selling artist of all time. The singer most awarded entertainer the world has
ever known. The most popular artist in the history of show business. And not so
modestly, the world’s most famous man. And of course, the King of Pop.
And still our world goes on, on about this genius, about this icon for ages.
Brothers and sisters, members of the Keep Hope Alive family, today we have the
rare opportunity to take a journey from
Good morning Michael.
Michael Jackson: Good morning Jesse. How are you?
Rev. Jackson: Good. Good. Good. Good. It’s good to hear you there. Many
listening ears around
Michael: Yes.
Rev. Jackson: Good. Good. Good. Good.
Michael: Good.
Rev. Jackson: We’ll my friends lets get this conversation started. We have a
shared conversation with our nation. Stay right there. You don’t want to miss
this conversation with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. We’ll be right back
with Keep Hope Alive with the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Rev. Jackson: Welcome to Keep It Alive with Reverend Jesse Jackson. Our regular
Sunday morning talk show. Today we have a phenomenal guest in Michael Jackson.
Michael has taken this phenomenal journey from ground zero to outer space. Good
morning Michael.
Michael: Good morning Jesse. How are you?
Rev. Jackson: Good. Good. Good. Remember when we met on
Michael: Yes, I do remember. It was a long time ago. I was just very little.
Rev. Jackson: What do you remember about that period?
Michael: Oh, I remember what we were wearing kinda like dashikis (sic) and
bell-bottoms pants and I just remember the love from the public was very great
and accepting of what we had to offer. And the support from you know the people
from the times was just beautiful, the black people was fantastic. You were
always very kind to us as well.
Rev. Jackson: Good. Good. Good. Did your mom make those outfits?
Michael: Yes she did. She always made all of our clothes. My mother would sew
and stitch everything. Everything we wore before we really making it at Motown.
Rev. Jackson: I remember so well that uh Julius Griffin and up your dad came
over and asked if you guys could be a warm-up act at Expo, and we had to make
room for you in our schedule and you guys stole the show.
Michael (laughs): I remember those shows. You had a big time Afro at that time.
Rev. Jackson: Don’t remind people of that Michael. You did so very well.
(Michael laughs)
Rev. Jackson: During that time you were being whipped up by Motown. Who
discovered you for Motown?
Michael: Well in complete truth, it was Gladys Knight and a guy named Bobby
Taylor. And they were on the bill of some of the shows who were doing that you
would see like…you would do a show and there would be like twenty or thirty
acts. It was pretty much like Bonneville. You would do just a certain number of
songs and you would go off. They were always on these shows. And they would
watch us and they were so impressed with what we were doing. And Barry Gordy
wasn’t interested at first. But eventually he loved us and wanted to sign us.
And after being signed, and uh, since Diana Ross was their biggest star at the
time, that he used her as the vehicle to…you know…introduce us to the
public. The first album was called “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson Five”.
Rev. Jackson: At that time, who was your favorite artist?
Michael: Oh God, I loved Diana Ross and uh, I loved James Brown, I still do. I
love all these artists…still to this day. I love Jackie Wilson. The real show
stoppers. You know the real entertainers.
Rev. Jackson: did you did…
Michael (interrupts): Sammy Davis, Jr, I loved him as well (laughs).
Rev. Jackson: Did you get any of your moves from Jackie Wilson?
Michael: Oh yes of course! All these artists inspired me very much. I couldn’t
help but be inspired by these great entertainers.
Rev. Jackson: A little later, remember we were out in
Michael: Yes! Remember Suzanne dePasse, she was so wonderful, you know. She was
pretty much our manager with my father at the time and with Tony Jones. They
were all wonder people. I thank them from the bottom of my heart, you know.
Rev. Jackson: She was such a wonderful person, and she remains, she’s so
top-notch in that what she does.
Michael: Yes, she is. She was very helpful and instrumental in the early days of
our careers that she remains a friend. And I do, I do…I miss her. I haven’t
seen her in awhile. She remains a wonderful person… so does Berry Gordy.
Rev. Jackson: Michael in this whole developmental period. I call it ground zero
like
Michael: Which period was this now?
Jessie: Kinda like this period of
Michael: This period for me which stands out is because I was so young around
that time. I was like eight, eight or nine. I just remember the environment,
what it was like, all the music I was hearing. My father played guitar. My uncle
played guitar. Everyday they would come over, and you know they would play great
music. And we would start to perform to the music. I remember seeing marching
bands go down the street. I would remember the rhythm of the band and the beats
of the drum. And every sound around me seem to record in my head and start
making rhythms and dancing. I use to dance to the rhythm of the washing machine.
My mother went to the corner store to wash the clothes. I would dance to the
rhythm and people would crowd around. I remember those kind of stories. They
would crowd around pretty much and watch me. Those kind of little things. They
are reflections really.
Rev. Jackson: Well, you remember you said that Jackie Wilson, and James Brown
and Sammy Davis were heroes. Did you ever see them perform?
Michael: Yes, of course I did and they were friends of mine. All these great
artists. That’s why I was so lucky. I was just such a little kid, looking up
to these people. We were real catatonic, awestruck with their talent. Not only
did I get to see it, but I got to see it close up right on the side curtain, on
the side of the wings. I got to know these great artists. These were the best
entertainers in the world. They were show stoppers. And I would have to go
onstage sometime after them, you know. It was amazing!
Rev. Jackson: But the thing is that at first I remember Tito and Jermaine you
were like so little, so small. You was part of the Jackson Five. At what point
did you know that you realize you were a show stopper?
Michael: You know when you have a special ability. You don’t realize it
because you think everybody else has the same gift that you have. So you don’t
realize it. When I used to sing at such a young age, people were so inspired by
my singing and they loved it. I didn’t realize why they were clapping or
crying or start to scream. I really truly didn’t Jesse. And it just uhm, just
later on in life, people would come up to me and say you know do you realize you
have a special gift or you have a special talent. I just remember from my mother
who is very religious always telling us to always thank God, to thank Jehovah
God for your talent, your ability. You know it’s not from, it’s not our
doing, and it’s from above. So we were always humbled by people would come
with accolades or you know, adulations or whatever it is. You know, it was a
beautiful thing.
Rev. Jackson: When did you stop going to school formerly?
Michael: Oh I was very young. I think it was…oh boy, hmmm. I think it was the
fifth, fifth, fourth or fifth I think. Then I had tutoring the rest of my life.
Because we did so many tours and concerts and TV shows and things, all the
albums and all the recordings because we would have three hours of schooling,
then we would do the concerts, then we travel to another state or another
country. Then by that time we would do some concerts again and then it would be
time to record the next J5 album, then after the J5 album, it was time for
another Michael Jackson album. So in my youth, as a little kid, I was always
busy. I remember across the street from Motown recording studio, there was a
park. I used to hear the roar of the kids and the throwing of the football and
the basketball. I remember going to the studio everyday, and I was just feeling
kinda sad, because I wanted to go to that park. But I knew I had a different job
to do, you know so going in and make the records. All day till late at night,
then you would go to sleep, then you were up for the next day, just the same
regimentation.
Rev. Jackson: Does that insintu-… you missed a certain body of childhood
experience. How did you compensate for this loss of ordinary childhood
experience?
Michael: I-I – It’s true. I didn’t have a childhood. But, when you don’t
have a childhood like people like myself and other child stars, you try to
compensate for the loss for later on you try to catch up. That’s why you see,
like you may see a theme park or amusement rides, that type of environment at my
home. But what I like to do is help other children who are less fortunate than I
am. You know kids who are terminally ill, kids who have diseases, poor children
from the inner cities, you know the ghettos, to let them see the mountains, or
to let see or go on the rides, or to watch a movie or to have some ice cream or
something.
Rev. Jackson: Of course one of the difference about you Michael, you did have a
family. How many of, how many is in the family?
Michael: The immediate
Rev. Jackson: Yeah.
Michael: There were originally ten of us. There’s nine. There’s nine. And my
mother Katherine and Joseph Jackson are still alive. We all were born in
Rev. Jackson: Well in that setting, did Tito and Jermaine beat up on you and
give you some normal childhood experiences as a younger brother?
Michael: We would be on tour. We would go to
Rev. Jackson: Who would win the pillow fights?
Michael: Pretty much Tito or Jackie. [laughs] They were the oldest.
Jessie: You know you kind of grown from this kind of phenomenal rise to the
artist that has sold the most records in history. You look back from that period
that we call Ground Zero to the period of your maturing in writing. Who was your
greatest influence in learning to write? You write so well.
Michael: My greatest influence learning to write music. I think this is when I
was lucky. In my opinion, I came into the Factory, the greatest song writers at
that time in the sixties.
Rev. Jackson: So much as you went through these stages and you began to write,
sing and dance, did you ever have like a dancing coach?
Michael: You know what, I never studied dancing before. It always became natural
for me. Whenever I was little, any music would start, they couldn’t sit me
down. They couldn’t tie me down actually. Even to this day, if anyone played a
beat, I’ll start kicking in and making counter rhythms to the beat that I’m
hearing. It’s just a natural instinct. I never studied. And Fred Astaire who
was a good friend of mine, and Gene Kelly, they used to always marvel at my
ability for dance. When I was a little kid, Fred Astaire used to always tell me
how that he knew in his heart that I would be a special star. I used to just
look at him thinking what are you talking about? [laughs] But uh, you could see,
you know
Rev. Jackson: Michael, where did the moonwalk come from? [laughs]
Michael: The moonwalk is a dance. I would love to take credit for but I can’t
because I have to be completely honest here. These black children in the ghettos
are, they have the most phenomenal rhythm of anybody on the Earth. I’m not
joking. I learned, I get a lot of ideas from watching these black children. They
have perfect rhythm. From just riding through Harlem, I remember in the early,
you know, late 70’s early 80’s, I would see these kids dancing on the street
and I would see these kids doing these, uh sliding backwards kinda like an
illusion dancing I call it. I took a mental picture of it. A mental movie of it.
I went into my room upstairs in Encino, and I would just start doing the dance,
and create and perfect it. But, it definitely started within the black culture.
No doubt. That’s where it comes from.
Rev. Jackson: Well then, connected to that piece when you were dancing, did you
ever watch Don Cornelius Soul Train?
Michael: Oh I love that show. Are you kidding? Of course I did. I would wait for
the Soul Train line. They would have a line that they would make, like a wall of
people and the dancer would come through the middle, dancing to the song. It
would give them a chance to showcase their talent and what they could do with
their body creatively. I used to watch that catatonically, just watching that! I
was mesmerized by uh, and studied the rhythms and the dancing of course. Of
course I watched it. [laughs]
(19:17) Rev. Jackson: Michael, you know as you look back, you kinda make this
kind of transition from ground zero in Gary and you begin to ascend, and you
became, in many ways, a man in a child’s body and I mean, you never gained any
weight! How did you manage?
Michael: (laughs) Well, I’ve never been a great eater, I’ve, uh ~~ to tell a
little secret, I hate to tell it, uh, I’ve never been ahhh, great eater or a
great admirer food, even though I appreciate food and the gift of food and how
God has given us food to eat, but my mother has always had a hard time with me,
all my life, uh, forcing me to eat ~~ Elizabeth Taylor used to feed me ~~ hand
feed me at times, because I-I-I I do have a problem with eating, but, I – I do
my very best, and I am eating, yes I am! So I don’t - Please, uh, I don’t
want anyone to think I’m starving, I am not …
Rev. Jackson: But you’ve…
Michael: My health is perfect actually.
Rev. Jackson: You’ve maintained this weight man, that’s what people is most
jealous of and so excited about…
Michael: No no, my health is perfect actually, I’m a great believer in
holistic natural foods and eating and (sp) herbs and things, you know, God’s
medicine, instead of Western chemicals, not those things, you know.
Rev. Jackson: You know Michael, as you look back on this phenomenal career,
you—you remember at least the 5th grade in Gary and how you guys became a- a
big hit so-so quickly, what do you remember, what is to you, the high point, you
know ~~ I’ve asked people all week long the high point for them - it may have
been Thriller, it may have been Beat It, it may have been some performance, what
for you represents the kind of ah, high point?
Michael: Well, one of the great high points, ahem, I would have to say…..
because I remember before ’82, in the early ‘80s ~~ I had done an album
called ‘Off The Wall’ – it was an important point for me because I had
just the movie ‘The Wiz’ and I wanted to express myself as a writer, as an
ah, artist, you know to write my own music, do the music, pretty much put it
together. And Quincy Jones, who I’ve loved – I was fortunate to work with
him and I love this man, he is very gifted. But I was writing these songs at the
time, ‘Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough, you know, ‘Shake Your Body to The
Ground’, you know ‘Billie Jean’, and ‘Beat It’, you know, all these
songs were written at this time. Ahem, so I pretty much was setting mental goals
of what I want to do as an artist and I uh, it was a high point for me, during
the uh, the winning of the Grammys for the ‘Off The Wall’ album, but I
wasn’t happy. Because I wanted to do much more than that... I wasn’t happy
with, uh ahem, the way it was accepted, even though it was a HUGH success, it
was the biggest selling album for a solo artist at that time ~~ it was over 10
million, and ahem, ahem, for a Black solo artist. And I said for the next album,
I refuse for them to ignore, and that’s when I set my heart (clears throat),
on-on writing the Thriller album and I really said I ----
Rev. Jackson: What-what-what gave rise to The Thriller?
Michael: Pardon?
Rev. Jackson: What gave rise to The Thriller?
Michael: What gave rise to ‘Thriller’ was that the time, was pretty much
disappointed and hurt – I lived in an area called Encino, and I used to see
signs of graffiti saying “Disco Sucks” and “Disco is this” and “Disco
is that” and disco was just a happy medium of making people dance at the time,
but it was so popular, that the uhem, uhem, society was turning against it. I
said, I’m just going to do a great album, because I love, uhem, the album
Tchaikovsky did, The Nutcracker Suite, it’s an album where every song is like
a great song. I said I wanted to do an album where every song is like a hit
record, and that’s what pretty much the hit, ‘Thriller’ spawn from that…
And I did that album and it made, er, all time history, the Guinness Book of
World Records proclaimed that it was the largest selling album of all time and
it’s still to this day and I’m, er, I would say that it was a pinnacle, that
was a – I’d reached a certain zenith point, I would think, but I still
wasn’t er, pleased after that – I was always wanting to do more, wanting to
do more. And
Rev. Jackson: And somewhat you---
Michael: And the Victory tour came along.
Rev. Jackson: And somewhat you reached out, before we get to the Victory tour,
and we had this phenomenal crisis of people dying and you used your celebrity to
pull artists together to do ‘We Are The World’.
Michael: Yes.
Rev. Jackson: What was that like?
Michael: ‘We Are The World’ was a great project, because er, ah, Quincy
Jones called me on the phone and he asked me to write a song, for ahem, for ah,
ahem, the devastation that was going on in Africa ~~ and Ethopia was hit very
badly, and he knew my love for the people over there, because I would go to
Africa all the time. I-I loved the culture, I love the people, I love what they
represent, and er, so I put this song together, he said let Lionel Richie help
you (clears throat), so Lionel came over ~~ we started, you know, putting ideas
together, and ahem, we talked most of the time because we pretty much caught up
with old times because I’ve been knowing Lionel Richie for many, many years,
and ahem, so Lionel, er, and I put something together, but I wasn’t happy with
it completely, so after that, I just went into the studio myself and pretty much
completed it and finished it and packaged it and did all the music, put
everything together and turned it in.
Rev. Jackson: Reverend Jessie Jackson, Keep Hope Alive, our very special guest
for our edition today, with Michael Jackson. So many people are listening all
around the nation, all around the world ~~ just a kinda family talk with
Michael, I’ve known him since he was like seven years old, but the entire
family ~~ at some point in time, his father, driving a ahem, station wagon with
a U-haul brought the guys by our office and asked if they would be a warm up act
for Expo and of course, they were a warm up act, in fact, they set it on fire
and the Expo was never quite the same again. Matter of fact Michael, when we did
the film ‘Save the Children’ that was a big hit too.
Michael: Yes it was, yes it was…. I remember those times… it was a little
cloudy, but I do remember Jesse and I remember how wonderful you were to us and
uh, I remember the love from the audience and I could hear the screaming of the
crowd. and I could see all of the Afros and the dashikis and er, it was just a
wonderful time, it was a wonderful cause…
Rev. Jackson: On that show, it was Marvin Gaye, and Roberta Flack, and
Michael: Ah!!!
Rev. Jackson: … and the O’Jays
Michael: Wow!!!
Rev. Jackson: … and the Staples Singers and er…
Michael: Wow.
Rev. Jackson: …Cannonball Adderley, it was a huge deal.
Michael: That’s amazing ~~ an amazing list of people, that’s some of the
greatest talent ever – that’s amazing.
Rev. Jackson: We going to re-release the ‘Save the Children’ sometime soon
and people who missed that period will really enjoy watching it. Michael, you
know, when we think about the-the kind of rise from Gary, Indiana, you were but
a child and you went through your teenaged years being tutored along, but then I
remember another phase, I-I think is a another phase, when the Victory Tour
occurred. At that time, you were a full grown ~~ all of your brothers and
sisters were full grown and we met in
Michael: Yes.
Rev. Jackson: … We all had prayer together, ahem…
Michael: Yes we did.
Rev. Jackson: The Victory Tour. Describe that season.
Michael: The Victory Tour was one of the great pinnacles of our-our, my success
because Thriller had won more Grammys than any other album in the history of –
of music, and it created so much phenomenon and such adulation and notoriety at
the universal level, and it was very, very hard to-to go anyway, do anything
without press and helicopters and people sleeping in your bushes and hiding in
your trees, and it was just a phenomenal pinnacle, it really was and after all
of that, I announced that I was going to tour. And to tour and perform those
songs live, in front of an audience so the world was going just really, really
wild at that time. And we did this tour that broke records all over
Rev. Jackson: Good. Good. But you know Michael, in this life, they say some rain
must fall and you’ve had these seasons of just ahem, tailwinds like pushing
you forward. But life is of such that’s not a straight line, ah, some argue
you either in a storm, or you are just leaving a storm, and going to a storm and
it’s not difficult to handle the sunshine of bright skies, tailwinds days, but
then these headwinds come that kind of uh, test what you really are made of, the
kind of test your metal, your true grit. And so you’ve had these high points.
What do you consider to be the low point?
Michael: Probably the low point, the lowest point, emotionally and experience,
is probably what I’m going through (clears throat).
Rev. Jackson: In the sense – what, what about it has kind of stung you?
Michael: What about it … has what?
Rev. Jackson: Has stung you, so to speak.
Michael: Has, …. Use the word again…
Rev. Jackson: STUNG. You said it’s kind of hurt you, you said the low point.
Michael: Yeah, just the pain of what I’m going through, where I’m being
accused of something, where I know in my heart and in my experiences in life
I’m totally innocent, and it’s very painful. But this has been kind of, ah,
a pattern among Black luminaries in this country.
Rev. Jackson: And so since, you-you have been going through this and you feel
the pain, you think it’s a kind of pattern? How are you handling it
spiritually? Because you go from being held so high and now your very character,
your very integrity is under attack. How your handling it?
Michael: I’m handling it by using other people in the past who have gone
through this sort of thing. Mandela’s story is giving me a lot of strength,
what he’s gone through and the Jack Johnson story was on PBS ~~ it’s on DVD
now. It’s called ‘Unforgivable Blackness’. It’s an amazing story about
this man from 1910 who was the heavyweight champion of the world and bust into a
society that didn’t want to accept his position and his lifestyle, and what
they put him through, and how they changed laws to imprison the man. They put
him away behind bars just to get him some kind of way. And-and Muhammad Ali’s
story. All these stories. The Jesse Owens story. All these stories that I can go
back in history and read about gives me strength Jessie. Your story gives me
strength, what you went through. Because I didn’t, I came in at the tail end
of the Civil Rights Movement ~~ I’m a, ah – I-I didn’t get the really,
I’m a 70’s child, really, but I got in on the tail end of the Civil Rights
Movement and I got to see it, you know?
Rev. Jackson: And so, you-you-you-you had these hits, ahem, and people that you
have embraced are now facing you in court on a daily basis. How does your spirit
handle that?
Michael: Ah, I gained strength from God. I believe in Jehovah God very much and
ah, and I gain strength from the fact that I know I’m innocent ~~ none of
these stories are true ~~ they are totally fabricated, and it’s very sad,
it’s very, very painful. And I pray a lot and er, that’s how I deal with it
and I’m a strong person, I’m a warrior. And I know what’s inside of me.
I’m a fighter. But it’s very painful. At the end of the day, I’m human,
you know, I’m still a human being. So it does hurt very, very, very much.
Rev. Jackson: You and I were watching, you know you and I were talking last week
on the phone and – and there was this rhythm of the trial, which we will not
get into at all today, but then they shifted from the focus of the trial to say
you are broke. And last week, people are calling in, all around the nation
saying, “Is Michael broke”? Michael, are you broke???
Michael: That’s not true at all. It’s one of their many schemes to embarrass
me and to just drag me through mud. And it’s the same pattern, like I told you
before with these other people in the past. Same pattern. Don’t believe, you
know, this is tabloid, sensationalized kind of gossip.
Rev. Jackson: Well, how did the money issue get in it in the first place? Some
people called and they thought it was about the Sony catalog. What’s- what’s
in that catalog?
Michael: In my Sony Catalog, is all the Beatles music, ahem, all of the music I
own – I own Sly and the Family Stone, I-I own such a volume of so many, I own
Elvis – so many Elvis songs and it’s a huge catalog, very valuable, it’s
worth a lot of money. And there is a big fight going on right now, as we speak
about that. Now, I can’t say whether or not – I can’t comment on it, but
there’s a lot of conspiracy, I’ll say that – conspiracy going on as we
speak.
Rev. Jackson: It was suggested by a number of your friends and family members
was that this fight was really more about this catalog issue than it is any
thing else. Do you believe that?
Michael: Well, you know, I don’t want to comment. I don’t want to make a
comment, Jessie ah—it’s a real delicate issue and uh, I’ll let you, I’ll
let you make the comment on that one.
Rev. Jackson: Let me shift this to this extent. Ahem, since so many people are
listening and there have been so many opinions – I was in London a couple of
weeks ago, and 24/7 was Michael Jackson all-day-long and all-night-long and the
day that you came to the hospital late [to court], you said you were injured.
What happened that day?
Michael: I was coming, er, out of the shower and I-I-I fell. And all my body
weight, and I’m pretty fragile, all my body weight fell against my rib cage.
And I pretty much, er, er, I bruised my lung very badly. My lung is on the
right, it’s very [sp], it’s, I’m in pain as we speak and ah, I’ve been
going to court everyday in immense pain and agonizing pain. And I sit there –
and I’m strong, I try to be as strong as I can. So I can, ahh, but what we are
looking for is the coughing of blood now. The doctor said I should – he said
it’s still very dangerous as we speak, and if I cough the blood, he said
it’s a very dangerous thing, so we’re, we’re still watching it very
closely.
Rev. Jackson: The cynics said you were faking. And it seems that the judge is
[sic] will not even willing to believe you, even though you had just left the
hospital.
Michael: You know the – there’s no faking with this at all. I mean there was
a scan done and you could see, uhhh, the swelling on my whole rib cage, I mean,
uh, it was you could see it and it’s bright red. And how it, it [the fall]
busted my chin, and it put a huge gash over my forehead, blood, it was er, it
was very bad actually. And er, but errr, we’ve treating it actually, I do have
some medicine for it, but we are watching it very closely.
Rev. Jackson: As I listen to your talking about this whole ordeal that you are
going through, and how you’ve er, stood strong sometimes amazingly so, ah, at
some point last week, you – you cried. What-what touched you? What made you,
breakdown, as it were?
Michael: You mean at court?
Rev. Jackson: Yeah.
Michael: I was in pain. I was sitting there hurting. And er, the pain was so
immense, all I could do was to sit there and cry. See, because it er, it was so
intense at that moment, ah, ahem, I just couldn’t handle it. So I just grab
tissues and just put it to my face… and…
Rev. Jackson: So, it was more about your personal pain, than the, than the
challenges of the, from the stand?
Michael: No, it had nothing to do with what was going on inside. It was totally
with personal pain, physical pain.
Rev. Jackson: Michael, since so many people are listening, I’m trying to gleam
from some of our calls on the phone today and from last week, as people listen
to you, what do you want people to know? Those listening to you on the phone –
I see calls from
Michael: About?
Rev. Jackson: About you. About where you are now in the head, how you are
feeling?
Michael: Well, ahem, pretty much to-to be strong for me, to pray for my children
and my family and myself. This is uh…uh very difficult time and to not believe
what they hear, and see and read and just because it’s in print does not make
it… just because it’s in print does not make it the gospel. And uh… you
know, because they have sensationalized this thing to an immense degree. It’s
a feeding frenzy – it’s because of uh, my celebrity. The bigger the
celebrity, the bigger the target. And they have to remember that. So they’ve
turned this into money – it’s like who gets the biggest ratings, you know,
it’s terrible what’s happened with it. But it’s part of what I have to
suffer [through] as a celebrity. It’s part-part of what I have to go through.
And to just uh, just know in the end that I will be vindicated, I pray, because
I know the truth. I’m an innocent person. And I believe in God and love God.
And just continue to pray for us.
Rev. Jackson: You know that, given your faith, in God and in yourself, and your
declaration of innocence and while you are going through this storm ahem,
presuming that you ah – win this, this has been a close battle, ahhh, a very
intense battle, because the battle is-is not over, ah, the, appearance, given
your relationship ahh, has called for lots of consternation. Is there anything
that you will do differently? When this season is over?
Michael: Is there anything that I would do differently?
Rev. Jackson: Differently? When this season is over?
Michael: (Clears throat) Ahem, my level of trust will change. And ah,
there-there there’s a lot of conspiracy going on. I’ll say that much. A lot
of it.
Rev. Jackson: Do you think that….
Michael: All around me.
Rev. Jackson: Is the conspiracy connected to the celebrity or to the trial or to
the catalog – what do you think the source of it is?
Michael: I-I can’t comment. I can’t comment Jessie, I-I don’t wanna… it
ah, I’m under a gag order and it’s a very serious thing. I don’t want to
say the wrong thing. With the wrong flavor. It’s a very delicate area. Very
delicate where we are now.
Rev. Jackson: Good. Good. Let me ask you this question though, that for those
who are praying fervently, want to help and look forward to seeing Michael
Jackson again. What can people expect next from you?
Michael: Well, like-like I always say, I’m-I’m a person of the arts. I love
the arts very, very, very much. And ah, I’m a musician, I’m a director,
I’m a writer, I’m a composer, I’m a producer, and I love the medium. I
love film very, very much. I think it’s the most expressive of all of the art
mediums. The sculptor can sculpt, the painter can paint, but they capture a
moment, ah, they freeze time with the moment. In film, you live the moment. You
live, you have the, audiences for two hours. You have their brain, their mind
– you can take them any place you want to take them. You know, and that idea
is mesmerizing to me – that you can have the power to do people, to move
people to change their lives and that’s where you to marry the music [and the]
individual together. And that’s what excites me so much about film and the
future. Because I love motion pictures very, very much.
Rev. Jackson: Given, ah, the, heat that is on you and the taxing issue that you
are facing now, does it deter you from pursuing your career when this is over?
Michael: No! No. Not at all. Because ahem, I know who I am (clears throat)
inside and outside and I know what I want to do. And I will always – er –
you know, go with my dreams and my ideals in life. And I’m a very courageous
person and I believe in perseverance, determination, and-and, you know, and all
those wonderful things, and those ideals are very important for a person who is
goal-orientated, you know?
Rev. Jackson: Since people have-have risen so high and so far with your dreams,
what are, what are you dreaming of now?
Michael: Oh ahem (clears throat), like I was saying before, ahem, it’s to
innovate, to tie in the medium of-of film, and there’s other things I want to
do, which are some surprises. Ah, things in society that I want to do in the
future. You know, in
Rev. Jackson: You ah, your next project. Because often when people at a stage
like this is kind of frozen, but you’re thinking about the next project. What
do you see as the next immediate project? What’s hitting you right now?
Michael: Probably, ahemmm… the tsunami song that we want to do to raise money
for tsunami because Africa was ummm, was it
Rev. Jackson: Indeed.
Michael:
Rev. Jackson: Well, you know, it’s interesting about the tsunami with this
huge national - natural disaster uh, couldn’t be stopped, maybe if we had
early detection devices, we could have saved some lives perhaps, but it was a
natural disaster, but what you raised is that while that we’ve lost 200,000
lives in the tsunami, we’ve lost 2 million in the Sudan and that’s a manmade
disaster and oil and materials all caught up in that stuff, and then 4 million
in the Congo. And ah, and I think as we talk about it, you know you and I talk
almost everyday, you are reaching out to these African crisis – appears to
have er, taken up a large part of your dream at this stage in your life.
Michael: Yes it has. Because Jessie, in my heart, deepest of heart, I really
love Africa and I love the people of
Rev. Jackson: You know, we knew about the high points of
Michael: That’s right.
Rev. Jackson: We know about the high points of
Michael: Because the…
Rev. Jackson: oil and resources…
Michael: Because, yeah. The world is jealous of
Rev. Jackson: Well, it’s certainly true that when Jesus was threatened, ah,
with death, when Harod sent out the edict for [the] genocide of all of the first
born babies, that Joseph took him to Egypt, to Africa, kept him there for 12
years.
Michael: That’s right. That’s right.
Rev. Jackson: You’ve shown an amazing level of depth and commitment. Let me
say this and in closing Michael, because people are listening and the reason I
didn’t want to open up the lines today is because you have, you’re sharing
stuff with us that you never quite really hear, but as people go and watch the
trial next week and the coming days, what do you want your fans… we have
callers on here right now from London, Holland and all around America, so people
out there are listening today to you. What do you want to say to your fans and
even to your detractors today?
Michael: I just wanna say: fans in every corner of the Earth, every nationality,
every race, every language, I love you from the bottom of my heart. You know,
thank you for your love and support and understanding during this trying time. I
would love your prayers, and your goodwill. Ah, and ah, please be patient and be
with me and believe in me because I am completely, completely innocent. But
please know a lot of conspiracy is going on at this time as we speak.
Rev. Jackson: Well, it’s Easter time, ah, we fall down, we get back up again.
The good news is that nothing is too hard for God. And those who believe,
fervently believe, no matter how far down that they reach for a rope and not a
shovel. They’d be pulled up and they will rise again. Michael, thank you for
sharing yourself with the nation today, and the world and for getting up so
early in
Michael: God bless you.
Rev. Jackson: God bless you and keep hope alive. Talk to you a minute off the
air, okay?
Michael: Bye-bye.
Rev. Jackson: Alright.