after the dance
Conversations on
Michael Jackson’s Black America
June 4-5, 2010
People told Michael Jackson to stop having little kids come to sleepovers. And Michael Jackson
Arthur Jafa, ‘After The Dance’ Panel, 2010
was like fuck y’all I’m gonna do what I want to do. I’m Michael Jackson. Do you know who
I am, how much money and power I have. I’m gonna do exactly what I want to do.
Quincy Jones couldn’t tell Michael Jackson what to do. Nobody could tell Michael Jackson
what to do I mean that’s the monstrous and profound part of who he was.
The New York Public Library held a 2-day event in June 2010 with panel discussions about Michael Jackson’s art, life and legacy which focussed on him as a Black person.
The event details frame it this way [we don’t necessarily agree]:
who will bear the questions of music industry exploitation, self-hate, sexuality, addiction and apparent madness that Michael’s life and death urge us to ask? Who will discuss the value of Michael’s Philanthropy an environmental consciousness? Michael’s story echoes the ongoing crises of experience and identity faced not only by Black America, but the Black Diaspora. These conversations demand space beyond a video tribute
After an opening and a multi-media collage the following panel discussions took
place:
- To be White, Gifted and Black: Managing Acceptable Representations of Blackness as the “King of Pop“
- Keep it in the Closet: The Historic Speculation Around Michael Jackson’s Gender Bending Persona
- Black Ain’t Green: Honoring Michael’s Environmental Consciousness and Philanthropic Endeavors
We will focus on the first two panels and will have transcriptions of some of the more noteworthy points of discussion on here. Stay tuned.
TBC