DEAR Rev. Al,
A note of advice: Choose your “victims” well.
You unveil your racism-in-the-music-industry summit today.
Looking into this may have some value: From old delta blues singers to ’50s star LaVerne Baker and Motown’s Mary (“My Guy”) Wells, the music industry has treated soul and R&B artists brutally.
Of course, Motown was created and run for decades by one of the most successful black entrepreneurs of all time, Berry Gordy. So, in some ways, it’s an equal-opportunity industry: Black or white, executives are equally capable of ripping off artists.
But even if there is validity to your claim of current-day racism, do you really want to ease on down this road with Michael Jackson as your preferred victim?
You see yourself in the tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Recall, then, that King and his fellow civil-rights leaders chose the individuals they would champion very carefully.
Rosa Parks wasn’t the first black woman to refuse to give up her seat in Montgomery, Ala. Claudette Colvin was 15 years old when she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person.
The civil-rights establishment initially rallied to Colvin’s side – until she got pregnant.
As Taylor Branch wrote in “Parting of the Waters,” his history of the civil-rights movement: “Even if Montgomery Negroes were willing to rally behind an unwed, pregnant teenager – which they were not – her circumstances would make her an extremely vulnerable standard-bearer.”
King’s lieutenants determined that the rightness of their cause – ending segregation on public buses – wasn’t enough: Symbolism mattered, too – and an unwed pregnant teen wasn’t the right symbol. Parks, a 42-year-old woman above reproach, was.
So, Rev. Sharpton, why hitch yourself to Michael Jackson – a pale imitation (in all senses of the word) of his former superstar self?
Any financial woes he’s suffering now he brought on himself.
He calls Sony Records and its head Tommy Mottola “racist.” But this is the same record company that gave Jackson his own label, MJJ Records – run by a capable veteran of the industry, Jerry Greenberg.
It produced one hit song by a group called Brownstone before folding. Industry experts point the finger at Jackson as the reason the label failed.
Sony also extended Jackson a $200 million loan. (For collateral, the Gloved One used the Beatles’ rights he bought up years ago.)
Why would he need such a loan? Because Jackson lives in a literal “Neverland” – profligately.
Musically, Jackson has been unable to keep up with the times. No surprise: He made the transiton from five-year-old lead singer of the Jackson 5 to adult superstar. But he’s 43 now – and no longer makes music that appeals to teens.
Besides, over the years, he has done awful things to his physical appearance, tried to buy the bones of the “Elephant Man” – and paid off children following charges of sexual abuse.
No wonder fans have abandoned him.
No wonder not all the promotion in the world (not even $30 million) by Sony could get customers to buy the “Invincible” album.
Michael Jackson doesn’t need your help.
He needs help – period. As in therapy.
In the past, Rev. Sharpton, you’ve stayed away from questionable characters, like P. Diddy and R. Kelly. Do the same with Jackson.
Supporting him does no favors for you or your cause.
E-mail: rgeorge@
nypost.com