When people saw Michael Jackson in the
famous documentary by Martin Bashir spending lots of money on expensive
and
luxury items, they founded that creepy and low. It looked that he
didn’t had
any feeling with the money he owns himself and on the other hand the
poverty in
large parts in this world. People were hurt when they saw that. Of
course I
understand the responds on that matter. Honestly I felt a little bit
the same.
For
the ordinary man in the street there
will never be an
opportunity to
spend money like that. Everyday millions of people struggle every day
to pay
their bills, their mortgages and the education of their children. Many
people
can’t afford new clothing for their children when they
desperately need it. And
of course the lack off enough food is still a major issue.
Later
on I was thinking about what
Michael Jackson did
about the poverty in this world. Because the only things we hear about
are the
trips for children to Neverland and of course the songs "We Are The
World",
"Heal The World" and "Earth Song". You don't really know
where the money goes to from these songs. Is
it really for charity or
for his own
purse?
I
found out that it is so much more than
you are aware
off what he has
done for charity in the past years. For all his efforts, in 2000 the Guinness
Book of
Records,
acknowledged
Michael Jackson as the artist with the
biggest contributions to
charity,
so far. In the past years he donated to more
than 40
charity-projects. The amount of offerings isn't known but it is in no
doubt
that the sum must be at least above the 10 million dollars.
During
his life he got
recognition
for
the good work he
did but the
biggest recognition
he got during his memorial
service.
Congresswoman Sheila
Jackson-Lee introduced the HR-Resolution 600.
In this resolution you can find
all the good work Michael did during his life. You will find the
resolution
here.
IV
★
111TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 600
Honoring an
American legend and musical icon.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 26, 2009
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas (for herself and Ms. WATSON) submitted the
following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
Honoring an American legend and musical
icon.
Whereas
Michael Jackson was not only an accomplished recording
and
performing artist, he was a noted humanitarian;
Whereas Michael Jackson began his
stellar recording
career
as the featured member of
‘‘The Jackson
5’’, which was
the first act in recorded history to
have their first
four
major label singles
‘‘I Want You
Back’’,‘‘ABC’’,‘‘The
Love You Save’’, and
‘‘I’ll
Be There’’, reached the
top of
the American charts;
Whereas the internationally recognized
‘‘Thriller’’
released in
1982, which became a smash hit yielded
seven top-10
singles.
The album sold 21 million copies in the
United
States and at least 27 million
worldwide. It was a
monumental
moment in music history;
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Whereas Michael Jackson was labeled
‘‘The
King of Pop’’,
Jackson’s music is
internationally recognized and
critically
acclaimed;
Whereas Michael Jackson was one of the
few artists to
have
been inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
twice;
Whereas in the early 1980s, Michael
Jackson became a
dominant
figure in popular music and the first
African-American
entertainer to amass a strong crossover
following on
MTV. The popularity of his music videos
airing on MTV,
such as ‘‘Beat
It’’,
‘‘Billie Jean’’ and
‘‘Thriller’’—widely
credited with transforming the music
video from a
promotional
tool into an art form—helped
bring the relatively
new channel to fame;
Whereas, on January 10, 1984, Michael
Jackson visited
the
unit for burn victims at
Brotman-Memorial Hospital in
Los Angeles, and demonstrated his
concern with people
suffering from grievous injuries;
Whereas, on April 9, 1984, David
Smithee, a
14-year-old boy
suffering from cystic fibroses was
invited to
Michael’s
home, in response to a dying request to
meet Michael.
David passed away 7 weeks later;
Whereas, on April 14, 1984, Michael
Jackson was single
handedly responsible for equipping a
19-bed-unit at
Mount Sinai New York Medical Center.
This center is
now a critical part of the T.J. Martell
Foundation for
leukemia and cancer research;
Whereas, on July 5, 1984, during the
Jackson’s
press
conference
at Tavern On The Green, Michael announced
that his portion of the earnings from
the Victory Tour
would be donated to three charitable
organizations: TheUnited Negro
College Fund, Camp Good Times, and the
T.J. Martell Foundation;
Whereas, on July 14, 1984, after the
first concert of
the Victory
Tour, Michael met 8 terminally ill
children backstage;
Whereas, on December 13, 1984, Michael
visited the
Brotman Memorial Hospital, where he had
been treated
when he was burned during the producing
of a Pepsi
commercial. He subsequently donated all
the money he
received from Pepsi, $1.5 million, to
the Michael
Jackson
Burn Center for Children;
Whereas, on January 28, 1985 Michael and
44 other
artists
met to record ‘‘We
Are The
World’’, written by Michael
and Lionel Ritchie, a project devoted to
fighting
global
hunger. The proceeds of this record were
donated to
the
starving people in Africa;
Whereas in 1986, Michael set up the
‘‘Michael
Jackson
UNCF Endowed Scholarship
Fund’’. This $1.5
million
fund is aimed toward assisting students
majoring in
performance
art and communications, with money given
each year to students attending a UNCF
member college
or university;
Whereas, on February 28, 1986, after
having had a
hearttransplant,
14-year-old Donna Ashlock from California
received a call from Michael Jackson. He
had heard
that
she was a fan. Michael invited Donna to
his home
following
her recovery;
Whereas, on September 13, 1987, Michael
supported a
campaign
against racism. He made every effort to
publicly
support NAACP, in the fight against
discrimination of
African-American artists;
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Whereas in October 1987, at the end of
his
‘‘Bad Tour’’,
Michael
donated personal items to UNESCO for a
charitable
auction. The proceeds of his donation
were allocated
for the education of children in
developing countries;
Whereas, on February 1, 1988 The Song
‘‘Man
In the
Mirror’’
entered the charts. The proceeds from
the sales of
this record went directly and
exclusively to Camp
Ronald
McDonald for Good Times, a camp for
children who
suffer
from Cancer;
Whereas, on March 1, 1988, at a press
conference held
by
his sponsor Pepsi, Michael presented a
$600,000 check
to
the United Negro College Fund;
Whereas on April 1988, Michael Jackson
ensured that
free
tickets to three concerts in Atlanta,
Georgia, were
specifically
set aside for the Make a Wish Foundation;
Whereas, on May 22, 1988, Michael
visited
cancer-stricken
children in the Bambini-Gesu
Children’s Hospital in
Rome. He signed autographs and gave away
sweets and
records to the young patients. He also
announced his
monetary donation of 100,000 pounds to
the hospital;
Whereas, on July 16, 1988, Michael met
the Prince of
Wales
and his wife Diana, where he donated
150,000 pounds
for the Prince’s Trust, and a
check of 100,000
pounds
for the children’s hospital at
Great Ormond Street;
Whereas, on July 20, 1988, Michael
visited terminally
ill children
at Great Ormond Street Hospital. At a
unit for less
critical patients he stayed longer and
to engage in
story
telling time with the children;
Whereas, on August 29, 1988, at his 30th
birthday
Michael
performed a concert in Leeds, England,
for the English
charity organization
‘‘Give For
Life’’, an
organization de-
signed as an immunization charity for
children.
Michael
presented a check for 65,000 pounds;
Whereas on January 1989, the proceeds of
one of
Michael’s
shows in Los Angeles were donated to
Childhelp USA,
the biggest charity organization against
child abuse.
In
appreciation of the contributions of
Michael,
Childhelp of
Southern California founded the
‘‘Michael
Jackson
International
Institute for Research On Child
Abuse’’;
Whereas, on January 10, 1989, upon the
winding down of
his
‘‘Bad
Tour’’, Michael Jackson
donated tickets for each
concert to underprivileged children, and
made
contributions
to hospitals, orphanages and charity
organizations
throughout each stop on his tour;
Whereas, on February 7, 1989, Michael
visited the
Cleveland
Elementary School in Stockton,
California, a site of
playground
violence where 5 children had been
tragically
killed and 39 had been wounded;
Whereas, on March 5, 1989, Michael
invited 200
underprivileged
children of the St. Vincent Institute
for Handicapped
Children and of the organization Big
Brothers
and Big Sisters to the Circus Vargas in
Santa Barbara.
Following the event, the children were
invited to his
ranch to visit his private Zoo at
Neverland Ranch;
Whereas in December 1991,
Michael’s office MJJ
Productions
donated more than 200 turkey dinners to
needy
families in Los Angeles;
Whereas in February 1992, within 11 days
Michael
covered
30,000 miles in Africa, to visit
hospitals,
orphanages,
schools, churches, and institutions for
mentally
handicapped
children;
Whereas, on February 3, 1992, at a press
conference at
the
New York Radio City Music Hall, Michael
announced
that he is planning a new world tour, to
raise funds
for
his new ‘‘Heal The
World’’
Foundation. This Foundation
was designed to support the fight
against AIDS,
Juvenile
Diabetes, the Ronald McDonald Camp, and
the Make A
Wish Foundation;
Whereas, on May 6, 1992, Michael
defrayed the funeral
expenses
for Ramon Sanchez, who was killed during
the
Los Angeles riots;
Whereas, on June 26, 1992, Michael
presented the Mayor
of
Munich, Mr. Kronawitter, with a 40,000
DM check for
the needy people of the city;
Whereas on July 1992, Michael donated
821,477,296 Lire
to
La Partita del Cuore (The Heart Match)
in Rome and
donated 120,000 DM to
children’s charities in
Estonia
and Latvia;
Whereas, on July 25, 1992, at his
concert in Dublin,
Ireland,
Michael announced that he will give
400,000 pounds of
the tour earnings to various charities;
Whereas in June 1993, Michael announced
a donation of
$1.25 million for children suffering as
a result of
the
riots in Los Angeles;
Whereas on October 1993, Michael Jackson
donated
$100,000 to the Children’s
Defense Fund, the
Children’s
Diabetes Foundation, the Atlanta
Project, and the Boys
and Girl Clubs of Newark, New Jersey;
Whereas on December 1993, in conjunction
with the
Gorbachev
Foundation, Michael Jackson airlifted
60,000 doses
of children’s vaccines to
Tblisi, Georgia;
Whereas in 1994, Michael donated
$500,000 to Elizabeth
Taylor’s AIDS Foundation;
Whereas, on October 1, 1996, Michael
donated the
proceeds
of his Tunisia concert to
‘‘The National
Solidarity
Fund’’, a charity
dedicated to fighting
poverty;
Whereas, on December 9, 1996, during the
‘‘History
Tour’’
visit in Manila, Michael visited a
Children’s
Hospital,
where he announced that a portion of his
concert
earnings
will be donated to the renovation of the
Hospital;
Whereas the Millennium Issue of the
‘‘Guinness Book Of
Records’’ named
Michael as ‘‘the
Pop Star who supports
the most charity
organizations’’;
Whereas in 2004, The African
Ambassadors’ Spouses
Association,
honored Michael Jackson for his
worldwide humanitarian
efforts, due to his fiscal contribution
of more
than $50 million to various charities,
including many
organizations
that feed the hungry in Africa; and
Whereas we today mourn with and send our
condolences
to
the children that Michael Jackson left
behind: Prince
Michael,
Paris Michael, and Prince Michael II and
his
mother, father, brothers, and sisters:
Now, therefore,
be it
1 Resolved, That the
House of Representatives—
2 (1) recognizes
Michael Jackson as a global humanitarian and 3 a noted leader in the
fight
against
4 worldwide
hunger and medical crises; and
5 (2)
celebrates Michael Jackson as an accom-
6 plished
contributor to the worlds of arts and enter-
1 tainment,
scientific advances in the treatment of
contact
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