The Wiz

I used to be a video game nut. It was my drug. My call sign was Wiz.
When ever I got on the top scoreboard, it was just a fast and easy
three letter name that suited me at the time.

It wasn't named after the movie the Wiz, but it was around the same
time. It was in that movie when Michael Jackson's adult persona first
caught my attention. Even as a pre-teen I wondered what happened to
that guy? I think we knew even then there was something peculiar about
him. However nothing was peculiar about his music genius that we grew
up to. How Off The Wall how primed the world for Thriller. But all the
love and pride of the black community couldn't shelter him or us the
embarrassment of his notoriety.

Recently my 11 year old discovered the Wiz, and used to opportunity to
tell her who Michael Jackson was. She turn to me and asked "Is he a
girl?" Honestly coming of age and the most visible male black star
resembled a woman puzzled me. But now we all know what an androgynous
and weird person he was, perhaps even gay.

On a day like this, one we knew would eventually arrive, we still
reel. But not from the end of his life, but what his music meant to us
during his life, during our youth. Songs from the Jackson 5, young
Michael, Off the Wall, and Thriller all wake up the extremely strong
memories of those days that have long since past. Memories his musical
legacy has etched upon the collective conscious of so many around the
world.