Sokari ekine biography of michael jackson
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I “see” the human become spirit. In a series of four photographs,“SodoSous,” the photographer participates in a well-known spiritual pilgrimage to the waterfalls, where Haitians pay homage to the lwa, such as Erzulie and Damballah, and where Vodouizants bathe in the sacred waters. He supported numerous charitable causes and used his platform to raise awareness about social issues.
Charitable Contributions
- “We Are the World” (1985): Co-written with Lionel Richie, this charity single raised millions for famine relief in Africa.
- Heal the World Foundation: Michael Jackson established this organization to help children in need and promote global harmony.
- Record Donations: He holds the Guinness World Record for supporting the most charities by a pop star.
Michael Jackson’s humanitarian efforts extended to visiting hospitals, orphanages, and disaster-stricken areas, showcasing his compassion and desire to make a difference.
Michael Jackson: Challenges and Controversies
Despite his extraordinary success, Michael Jackson’s life was not without challenges.
In Ekine’s “photo-making,” I enter the realm of the metaphysical.
And this is what I am brought to see: the black bodies of Haitian Vodouizants as conjurations of desire; desire driven not by human need but by the need of spirits.
From legal battles to media scrutiny, his personal and professional struggles often overshadowed his achievements.
Legal Issues
- In the 1990s and 2000s, Michael Jackson faced allegations of child abuse, which he vehemently denied. Here, they helped with the formation of the Winnie Mandela School, which sought to introduce children to their African and Caribbean heritages.
In 1998, Sokari was accepted on a PhD course at the University of Leeds.
Ekine’s description of her work as “queer assemblage,” deploys a radical usage of the term “queer;” one that troubles western notions of LGBTIQ identities; that recognizes the transcendent life between the visible andthe invisible; calls forth multiple intersecting identities framed by multiple, often simultaneous, diasporic and geographic realities; gestures toward emergent possibilities of and for the imagination; and thrives on traditions of resistance and love. Ekine’s “queer assemblage,” then, becomes radical “photo-making;” a disruptive, shifting of the gaze away fromthe “poverty porn” of visual narratives representing Haitian bodies and Haitian spiritual practices, specifically Vodou, and toward celebration of, and the seeing of, the persistence of blackness.
And in the sound of that light. How do our images of blackness construct “space” as an axis of the real and the imagined? It constitutes and materializes the “invisible,”the spirit, so that we are not just looking; we are “seeing.”
http://www.blurb.com/b/8845772-spirit-desire
— Sokari Ekine is a Nigerian British photographer based in New Orleans, USA.
She has had major exhibitions in Berlin, Brazil, New York, and New Orleans. You can contact her through her website at sokariekine.me
— Alexis De Veaux, PhD, is internationally recognized as a writer of fiction and nonfiction. Hits like “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You” displayed his versatility and set a new standard for pop music.
- “Thriller” (1982): Widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, Thriller shattered records and redefined the music industry.
Sokari wrote a weekly column for the Pambazuka News and served as their online editor. In the ritualized moment of Haitian Vodou, in the coming of the lwa, the god(s), what is breathing.
Ekine’s attraction to black and white as primary colors for making photographs can be read as photographic vocabulary; but it can also be read as an intentional political aesthetic.
It is not whois breathing, but what. From his debut of the moonwalk during a performance of “Billie Jean” in 1983 to his record-breaking Bad World Tour (1987–1989), Michael Jackson captivated audiences worldwide with his energy, precision, and showmanship.
Michael Jackson: Philanthropy and Humanitarian Efforts
Beyond his music, Michael Jackson was deeply committed to philanthropy.
The glint of earring. It is the oceanography of our rhizomatics, the spread of our roots as black diasporic bodies, across continents and realities. Aged fourteen, they moved back to London to attend Catholic boarding schools, where they experienced racism from the teachers. Whilst working for Pambazuka, they also set up the Queer African Reader, a ground-breaking initiative highlighting African LGBTQ+ experiences.
Sokari’s engagement wasn’t limited to writing.
His innovations paved the way for future artists, and his timeless music continues to resonate with fans worldwide.
Key Achievements
- Awards and Honors: Michael Jackson received numerous accolades during his lifetime, including 13 Grammy Awards, the Grammy Legend Award, and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Cultural Influence: From his fashion choices, such as the single white glove, to his signature dance moves, Michael Jackson became a global cultural icon.
- Record-Breaking Success: With over 400 million records sold worldwide, Michael Jackson remains one of the best-selling artists in history.
Michael Jackson: Posthumous Recognition
After his untimely death, Michael Jackson’s legacy continued to grow.
In 1983, they returned to London with their three children and were introduced to the Camden Black Sisters organization, which would prove a huge inspiration for their later activism. Much of [which] is therefore oriented to articulating presences and histories across a variety of boundaries imposed by colonizers […] thereby working on the side of those resisting injustices.”
This is what I see in the cover photograph,“Breath.” The photo appears to be of the embrace of two women.
In this work, rasanblaj recognizes an assemblage of living entities (mental, human, spiritual) conjoined with resistance. As codified by Ekine, the sixty-six photographs (two thirds of which are black and white prints) document ritual, ceremonial, and everyday practices in multiple Haitian spiritual communities known as “lakou.”
In an interview prior to the book’s publication, Ekine corrected my use of the phrase “photographs taken by.” “Taken by”connotes a set of strategies outside her own, an absence of the spiritualrelationship between the photographer, seeing,imagination, and history.