Opinion
‘I want you back’
THE ISSUE: Michael Jackson
OUR VIEW: His music wasn’t bounded by race.
The Rev. Al Sharpton recently has been criticized for his defense of Michael Jackson.
“Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color, way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama,” Sharpton said Thursday, after the death of the pop icon was reported. “Michael did with music what they later did in sports and in politics, and in television.”
Some even suggested Sharpton had elevated Jackson to a historic figure in the civil rights movement. That’s a stretch. Jackson was born in 1958.
But some of us are old enough to remember when The Jackson 5 debuted in 1970 with their album, “ABC.” Michael Jackson was just 11 years old, the youngest of the group of brothers, yet he was their leader.
Central Indiana was much more racially segregated in 1970. “ABC” changed things.
Ask anyone between the ages of 45 and 50, black or white – if they didn’t have “ABC,” they knew someone who did.
And they wore out that album. The Jackson 5 was the first act to have its first four singles – “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There” – reach the top of the American charts.
Michael Jackson was reclusive and strange. He even told the world he had slept in the same room with young boys.
But in 1970, and again after the release of Jackson’s solo album “Thriller” in 1982, black kids and white kids listened to the same music – Michael Jackson’s music.
That’s extraordinary and worthy of note.
- Opinion
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Drive safely this holiday
You’ll have company on Indiana highways and byways during this last three-day holiday of summer. More than 250 state and local law enforcement agencies will be patrolling streets and roads, Lt. Bob Burke, commander of the Indiana State Police Pendleton post, said last month.
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Daniels shows pragmatic side
THE ISSUE: Mitch Daniels’ request for stimulus money.
OUR VIEW: Governor was right to put aside personal beliefs for the good of the state.
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No answers from forum
What nearly everyone gathered for a public forum last week wanted to hear was that the state had changed its mind, that it had decided not to scale back operations at Logansport State Hospital after all.
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You’re invited to the debates
Over the last several years, The Kokomo Perspective, Kokomo Tribune and WIOU have teamed up to bring you political debates in advance of primary and general elections.
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The right direction
We’ve got it good in Howard County. Despite a recession nearing its third anniversary, despite losing a quarter of our employment over the past decade, local governments function well.
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Cheers and jeers - Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010
Kokomo loves its canines
Gail Beaton, a Dog Daze volunteer, sends two Cheers:
“A huge thank you to John Martino, superintendent of the Kokomo Parks and Recreation Department, to the board of the Parks Department and their staff for ‘Pooches in the Pool.’ It was an intriguing concept, well-planned and well-organized on site.
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Dress code has promise
Some see school uniforms as a threat to individual freedom, an effort to create a bunch of clones who all look and act alike.
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A witness for Christ
THE ISSUE: Many Americans’ stubborn belief that the president is Muslim.
OUR VIEW: All Christians should profess their faith as strongly as Obama.
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You can help feed a child
Pastor Jeff Newton tells a story that causes one pause. After Deanna Ancil heard it, it broke her heart.
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Slow-moving vehicles ahead
THE ISSUE: The approaching early harvest season.
OUR VIEW: Watch for farm vehicles on county roads in the next few weeks.
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Drive safely this holiday
