Michael Jackson is dead at 50. Michael Jackson is dead at 50. No matter how many time times I say that, it still does not seem real.

When I was younger, just like a lot of young boys my age, I wanted to be like Mike – not Michael Jordan, but Michael Jackson. I can recall the countless number of Jheri curls I got in the 80’s, all because of Michael Jackson. To this very day, I can never go bald because my scalp is literally 4 different colors.

My most memorable Michael Jackson moment was during the “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” anniversary show program that aired in 1983. Seeing Michael do the moonwalk for the first time was one of the most exciting moments I can remember in my lifetime. This man was phenomenal.

With over 750 million albums sold, Michael is one of those legendary entertainers who cannot be measured by anyone but himself. The man defined an era in music. And for years, he not only revolutionized the music industry, but he was the music industry. He set the standard for all recording artists to follow, whether they were black, white, male or female.

Michael has affected nearly every young entertainer who has entered the music industry in the last 25 years. Nearly every artist who dances has done so because of Michael: artists such as Usher, Bobby Brown, Neyo, Justin Timberlake and Ginuwine. The list goes on and on. There are even female artists who wouldn’t exist had Michael not paved the way. Britney Spears, Ciara, and even his own sister, Janet, would not be around had he not blazed the trail.

Although he was often the butt of many of our jokes, we loved Michael anyway. Nose after nose, we loved him still. The lighter he became, we loved him still. Why? Because he was ours. We were proud of Michael because he was the first one of us who did not have to endure the pain of racism. He broke down racial barriers not only in the United States but abroad as well. When the world looked at him, they didn’t see a black man. They saw a man, a man who brought the world together with good music.

Let us not forget that not only was he a great entertainer, he was someone’s son and also someone’s father. I pray that his children fare well during this time and beyond. Of course, we knew Michael as the King of Pop, but his children knew him as their dad.

Life is not gonna be normal when Michael Jackson is your dad. It’s certainly not gonna be normal now. I do believe he loved his children. And I also believe that he was the best dad that being Michael Jackson allowed him to be.

I made it a point to tune in to the BET awards this past Sunday night. It just made sense that the first all black television network was the first to honor an entertainer that touched the hearts of so many of our people.

Although most of the overall program did not impress me much, I applaud BET for being able to change things around on such a short notice. I know it was only 2 or 3 days of preparing and they did what they could.

My highlights list from the show include Neyo’s performance of “The Lady in my Life” as well as the Neyo-Jamie Foxx performance of “I’ll be There.” I think Michael would have been proud of those performances. I think he would have laughed out loud at Foxx’s “Beat It” performance.

Michael Jackson is dead at 50. Michael Jackson is dead at 50. No matter how many times I say it, it still does not seem real.