Reflections On The Dance
Michael Joseph Jackson Remembered
1958-2009
A celebration of love, spirit, truth & faith. Celebrating his life, his legacy, and his humanity
FAQ's
Here I will try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Michael, about the allegations, and the questions asked of me most often while I worked on this project.
If Michael wasn't really guilty of child molestation, then why would he have been charged with it several times?
There have only been 2 definitive allegations and both families had ulterior motives. In 1993, Evan Chandler, Jordie Chandler's father, asked Michael to fund a new project he was working on (he was a want-to-be screenwriter and dentist) for $20 million. Michael refused. Shortly thereafter, Evan Chandler was recorded in a phone conversation stating that there was a plan in place and that they were going to "destroy" Michael Jackson. There was a witness to this. Geraldine Hughes. She was the legal secretary at the time to attorney Barry Rothman, Evan Chandler's lawyer. The actual tape is also evidence.
In 2003, the Arvizo's, after a lengthy stay at Neverland, where Michael had helped Gavin Arvizo recover from stage 4 terminal cancer by giving him love and support and helping his family, charged Michael with molesting Gavin a short while after the 2003 Martin Bashir documentary came out. Many feel that Bashir's documentary was a complete set-up.
Up until that point and even afterwards, the Arvizo's staunchly defended Michael and spoke glowingly of him. Video shows the Arvizo's singing Michael's praises after that documentary aired and additional video shows Gavin, his brother and his sister all relating to Michael in a very natural, very comfortable way, the way children would interact with an uncle, during their stay at Neverland. This would not be the case if improper behavior was going on. The Arvizo's, according to those who knew Michael, had become expectant in their attitude and felt they were deserving and started to destroy things at Neverland once Gavin recovered. They knew they were on their way out.
The Arvizo's also have a very shady past and have tried to extort money from or take advantage of other celebrities before they even met Michael Jackson, including Chris Tucker, Jay Leno and George Lopez. Both families also used the same child psychologist and the same trial lawyer. DA Tom Sneddon is also believed by many to have a personal vendetta against Michael Jackson as the lengths he went to to try to convict him were more, in some cases, than what would be done for a murderer. The DA had a special website set up for people to report the whereabouts of Mr. Jackson and he also enacted a new law, I believe which was called the Jackson Law, which allowed prior allegations (not even convictions, but allegations) to be brought up in a current case, which was not the law at the time in California. He also brought 70 sherrif's in to raid Neverland, which most in the legal business had not seen ever done before, in any case. Tom Sneddon also went to several other countries looking for victims of Michael Jackson, and found NO ONE! It should also be noted that absolutely NO DNA EVIDENCE was ever found! This was confirmed by Attorney Tom Messereau.
What seems to be guilt, is not always the truth. The truth is that these 2 families were after Michael's money and were willing to make a deal with the devil in order to get what they wanted. Their actions helped destroy a man's life. Attorney Tom Mesereau, who represented Michael in his 2005 trial, said that he wasn't sure if Michael ever recovered emotionally from that trial. Many others have echoed that statement. Lies, deceit and greed destroy people and lives.
It greatly saddens me that someone who lived his life only to, in his own words, share the gifts that God had given him, and who spent his free time helping children and people in need, giving financial and emotional support, visiting orphanages and children's hospitals, caring for everybody he came in contact with, being a true friend to those whom he was close to, was hurt so deeply and destroyed by greed and lies. I sometimes have trouble fathoming how some of us, as human beings, could have within us the absolute selfishness to take advantage of such a humble, caring soul who did nothing but give to these very people, only for their own gain and without care as to what would happen to this man who had given of his time, love, resources and money to simply help them.
We contributed by believing the lies. We bought the tabloids. We read and listened to the stories. We told our friends. We didn't question. We condemned someone without the facts. We, too, are guilty of not seeking truth and blindly believing lies and taking it as gospel. We had our own part in destroying this beautiful man.
Always delve deeper than what you hear. It's so important.
He admitted to sleeping with children. Doesn't that make him guilty?
The problem with what so many people who see this seeing it as an admission of guilt, is that you have to put it into context.
First, you have to look at who Michael really was. His personality, his character, his way of looking at the world. He was described by many who knew him as being very pure, pure of heart, shy, giving, kind, humble, very sensitive and caring.
You also have to realize that no sex offender is going to get on national television and announce to the world that he sleeps with children. Michael knew that through his caring, he was offering a shoulder for kids to cry on and a sense of hope. He wanted them to feel loved, in a pure sense. To feel comforted and safe. Janet Arvizo was videotaped saying that Michael's love helped heal her son of stage 4 terminal cancer when the doctors gave him no hope to life.
Michael speaks about that here: (LINK COMING SOON)
Many hear bed and it translates into "sex". To Michael, it meant going to sleep, tucking them in and taking care of kids who had a tough life and who needed someone to care about them and show them fatherly love because he was very sensitive to that due to the childhood he had.
Michael Jackson had a very pure love for children. As you'll see throughout this website, he cared for thousands and thousands of kids throughout his lifetime. He had this gift even as a young boy, and his mother Katherine speaks about that. He was able to feel kids pain on a very deep level, much deeper than most of us do. It was a gift from God, much like his musical talent. God gave him an extra sensitivity to the pain of children and because of that, coupled with the fact that he had a particularly difficult childhood with fame at such an early age, Michael reached out to help heal and nurture children from all over the world. That should be celebrated, not condemned.
It's hard for us to understand that level of care and compassion that he had. But that doesn't excuse us from condemning an innocent man.
Michael himself said that most times he slept on the floor and gave the kids his bed. The kids he did say he slept in the bed with, Macauley Culkin (SP), for instance, he had known for a long time and there was a friendship there.
What many people don't know also, according to Geraldine Hughes.....was that Michael hired a supervisor, who was with him at all times while Michael was around children and on the few occassions that children slept in Michael's bed while he slept on the floor, this supervisor also slept in the floor in a sleeping bag, in that very same room!
It should also be noted that Michael grew up in a very small home with lots of brothers and many times they shared beds. In America, it is just becoming more common for parents and children to share a bed. In other countries, this is a very normal, everyday practice and is not looked upon in the same way it is here in America.
Why are you doing this?
I am doing this because I believe in truth. I saw what the media and the public's perception did to Michael and I saw who Michael truly was and how different those two extremes were, and I knew that truth had to get out. It frightens me actually how different the true Michael Jackson was, compared to the person so many thought he was because they got their information from the news and the newspapers and magazines. You have to be able to search for truth and really get to know someone. We can't just blindly believe all that we see and hear. I have felt a very strong tugging on my heart to do this and I felt it was something I had to do. I have very much felt God's Hand in this project as I have gone along as the information I needed and people I needed to speak with have just fallen into my lap. It has been a true blessing to be a part of this.
Where have you been the last 5/10 years when the media was badgering and destroying Michael? Why weren't you defending him then?
I have been asked this several times because people wonder why I didn't work on this project while Michael was still alive and while he was being hounded by the media and tabloids. This is a good question and I understand the skepticism.
First, know that this project is completely non-profit for me and I will make absolutely no money from this website or the work that went into it.
I have shed many tears wishing I could have done that for him. That I could have helped vindicate him and get the truth out there while he was still with us. But it wasn't meant to be, no matter how much I would have wanted that. God has His own timing in things.
I wouldn't have had the resources or clout at that time to do this and there were other life circumstances at that point that had to take precedence. At the present time, I have much more writing experience, contacts and know-how now than I did previously. But please understand, I honestly wish with all of my heart that I could have done this for Michael while he was still here with us.
I had always wanted to interview Michael for the past 20 years. In fact, Michael was a huge inspiration to me on so many levels. As a dancer, as a musician, his creativity, his kindness. When I saw him, I realized I wanted to speak with him, learn about what motivates him. That later turned in to my realizing that I wanted to cover entertainment and tell the stories of the people who created it. Along with my Dad being a musician and growing up surrounded by music, as well as my love of writing, those all combined to drive me in this direction.
In 1993, I was still a newlywed and was settling down into married life. I was not writing much professionally at the time. Like most of us, I was paying attention to the things going on in my life and at the time, wasn't paying much attention to the news though of course now I wish I had been. I knew of the allegations, but was very busy in my own life and getting settled into a new life. On and off for the last 10 or more years or so, we've had our share of serious family medical challenges and other personal challenges that took up my time and energy. Though I was writing more by the time the 2003 allegations hit as well as the 2005 trial, I didn't specialize in entertainment until more recently and the personal challenges going on took all of my time and energy. I heard about the trials, but with all else that was going on in my life, I wasn't really paying attention and I didn't have the time to pursue anything other than what I was personally dealing with.
Come to 2009 and an announcement I heard while I walked past my television set. It was an announcement of Michael Jackson's "This is it" shows and I was intrigued. I hadn't heard about Michael much the past several years and I remember wondering if now I might be able to speak with him, do an interview, and tell his story the right way. I wanted to hear more about this and I was happy that he was going to be back in the music scene. I wanted to know more.
Not too long after hearing that announcement and thinking again about Michael, I heard the awful news that he had died, and I, like the rest of the world, was in shock and mourning.
I wrote two blogs to work through my grief and during that process, I came to realize that I needed to do something more. Much more. I needed to find a way to honor this man who had been such an inspiration to me and I needed to find truth. I had heard all of the ugly rumors, the unkind comments, the disgusting things being said about him. I didn't want any part of that. I just wanted truth.
I searched through everything. The garbage on the internet, biographies (if you can call some of them that). I spoke with people who knew Michael. If I saw something, I delved deeper to find out what was true, and what wasn't.
This project became larger than life and all-encompassing. I have worked day and night on it. All along, I felt though something much bigger than myself taking place and I have felt all along that this was something I was meant to do. I have spent the last 3 1/2 months researching, talking with people who knew Michael and putting together what I felt, would be one way for the public to come to know who this man truly was. To overcome all of the rumors and speculation and lies. It was my way of giving back to someone that has meant a lot to me.
So, in short, if I was able to defend him and do this for him at the time, I certainly would have and I sincerely regret not being able to do that for him at the time. We all have regrets in our life and this is one of mine. I realize that maybe my answers won't alleviate the questions for some, but I am sharing honestly from my heart.
I have a love for him as I would a family member and just as any of us would defend a family member, I am defending truth and hopefully allowing the world to see who Michael truly was to the best of my ability. It's very important for people to see this.
Why are you doing this for free? Don't you want to be paid for your work?
I wanted this resource to be available to everybody, free of charge, and I did not want to profit off of Michael's death. That felt wrong to me. There are so many out there now publishing garbage, trying to profit off of someone's passing and profiting off of all of the pain he had to endure in his life and I did not want to be a part of that. I wanted my motives to remain pure in doing this. This website is and will always remain, non-profit.
What are your credentials? Where have you been published?
I am a published writer and have been writing for nearly 20 years. I have written for a local magazine, I had my own column, I've freelanced for newspapers as well as being an entertainment writer for several online publications and the Time Out section of The Daily Herald newspaper (one of suburban Chicago's leading newspapers), covering comedians, actors, and musicians. I have also hired out my writing services and written bios and other copy for clients.
I have a love of and passion for entertainment, music and the performaing arts. I also have a passion for truth. Those combined, along with a love and caring for Michael Jackson the human being as well as the performer, and the result was this project.
With All Of My Love,
Debbie
