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Michael Jackson and the American Imagination(2)

2:37 pm

Just months after our President proved that you can be born black in America and achieve the highest heights, the life of Michael Jackson offers a very different narrative: he is someone whose cultural legacy shaped his success, but did not provide a path to inner peace.
Michael Jackson seemed crushed under a weight of identity: [...]

Michael Jackson and the American Imagination

An Open Letter to Michael Jackson (2003)

I wrote this half a decade ago…. please see the companion piece on “Michael Jackson and the American Imagination.”
Thinking,
Hoping the best for his family,
F
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You were my first. Back when the other kids were swaying to nursery rhymes, I wanted to rock with you. I had everything I needed — a portable stereo and an album [...]

How to talk to people who preach hate (and why it’s critical)

Some of the most enlightening moments in my life have come from talking to men and women from hate movements, and I’ll tell you why.

What Do We Do? (Now N. Korea Sentenced Journos Lee and Ling to 12 Years Hard Labor)

So: a nuclear equipped nation is spoiling for a fight with the world’s only superpower, a superpower which finds itself overextended militarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two journalists are held in breach. Two young women are away from their families and lives, potentially for years, for doing their jobs. What do we do?


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