Newark in the 80’s: My Memories of Michael Jackson
~ by Bowie Snodgrass
In the days, weeks and months to come, we’ll hear more about how Michael Jackson died and the meaning of his life. But tonight, just finding out that he’s dead at 50, memories of the King of Pop come back to me…
I was five years old and living in Newark, NJ, in the House of Prayer rectory when Thriller came out. I remember my favorite babysitter, Mimi Jordan (now Rev. Emma Jordan Simpon), bringing over a copy of the record on vinyl and playing it on our turntable. We were all dancing, laughing and celebrating life.
It was 1982, and Newark had the highest child poverty rate in the country. In the 1970’s it had been called “the most decayed and financially crippled city in the nation.” We lived down the street from the Columbus Homes, one of the oldest public housing experiments in the country.
Michael Jackson’s songs were about street problems and gave a voice to struggles on the street: “Beat It” about a street fight, “Billy Jean” on telling your baby mama’s papa that you’re not the one, and later, “Thriller” with its amazing synchronized dance number on a dark, empty street, and bad things that happen late at night –
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,
You’re paralyzedCause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike
You know it’s thriller, thriller night
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight
You hear the door slam and realize there’s nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand and wonder if you’ll ever see the sun
You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination
But all the while you hear the creature creepin’ up behind
You’re out of time
I remember learning that Michael was child star… a superstar when he was just a little older than I was at the time. I wonder what happened to him during those early years to scar him so and keep him in a cyclical trap of trying to recapture boyhood.
My parents were committed to being Christians in the inner city and we lived there until I was nine, almost seven years. It was tough living in Newark, but there were always crowds of happy kids at our church looking to have fun, skip rope, tell stories, and dance!
I remember my brothers and I pooling our change together in 1985 to buy “We Are the World” on cassette tape. This was a serious purchase for a seven, five and three year old! We listened to it in the van on our way to school, over and over again. I think we knew the whole song by heart.
Michael Jackson was the international King of Pop, but to us as kids on the street … he was the one who said to us, and with us: “We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving.”
My prayer is for all the children of this country. May God grant them what they need – safe shelter and places to play, daily bread and nourishing food – but most of all – love, a happy childhood, a brighter day, music and dancing!
My prayer is for Michael Jackson, may his soul rest in peace.
