REV. AL SARPTON'S powerful  speech in Michael's memorial service

                                                                                                                        

photo edited by me

"All over the world today people are gathered in love visuals to celebrate the life of a man that taught the world how to love. People may be wondering why there is such an emotional outburst.

But you would have to understand the journey of Michael to understand what he meant to all of us.
For these that sit here as the Jackson family,a mother and father with 9 children, who rose from a working class family in Gary, Indiana. They had nothing but a dream; no one believed in those days that these kinds of dreams could come true. But they keep on believing and Michael never let the world turn him around from his dreams. I first met Michael around 1970 Black Expo, Chicago, Illinois. Reverend Jesse Jackson who stood by this family till now. And from that day as a cute kid to this moment he never gave up dreaming. It was that dream that changed culture all over the world. When Michael started, it was a different. But because Michael kept going, because he didn’t accept limitations, because he refused to let people decide his boundaries, he opened up the whole world. In the music he put on one glove, pulled his pants up and broke down the color curtain. When now our videos were shown and magazines put us on the cover, it was Michael Jackson that brought blacks and whites and Asians and Latinos together. It was Michael Jackson that made us sing 'we are the world,' to feed the hungry long before Live Aid. Because Michael Jackson kept going, he created a comfort level where people that felt they were separate became interconnected with his music.And It was that comfort level that kids from Japan and Ghana and France and Iowa and Pennsylvania got comfortable enough with each other so later it wasn't strange to us to watch Oprah on television.It wasn’t strange to watch Tiger Woods' golf.Those young kids grew up from being teenage comfortable fans of Michael to being 40 years old and being comfortable to vote for a person of color to be the president of the United States of America.Michael did that! Michael made us love each other. Michael taught us to stand with each other.There are those that like to dig around mess,but millions around the world we’re going to uphold his message. It’s not about mess; it’s about his love message.As you climb up steep mountains sometimes you scar your knee.Sometimes you break the skin but don’t focus on the scars, focus on the journey. Michael beat them.Michael rose to the top. He out sang his cynics.He out danced his doubters. He outperformed the pessimists.Every time he got knocked down he got back up.Every time you counted him out he came back in.

 Michael never stopped!
Michael never stopped!
Michael never stopped!

I want to say to Mrs. Jackson and Joe Jackson, his sisters and brothers; we thank you for giving us someone that taught us love, someone that taught us hope. We want to thank you because we know he was your dream too. We know that your heart is broken; I know you have some comforts from a letter from the President of the United States and Nelson Mandela but this was your child, this was your brother, this was your cousin. Nothing will fill your heats loss but I hope the love that people have shown will make you know he didn’t live in vain.I want his children to know: wasn't anything strange about your Daddy. It was strange what your Daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway. He dealt with it for us.So some came today, Mrs. Jackson, to say good bye to Michael;

I came to say thank you.

Thank you because you never stopped.

Thank you because you never gave up.

Thank you because you never gave out.

Thank you because you tore down our divisions.

Thank you because you irradiated barriers.

Thank you because you gave us hope.

Thank you Michael!

Thank you Michael!

Thank you Michael!”