The death of a king: Michael Jackson

It is a sad day. One of the world’s greatest entertainers, if not the greatest, passed away at the young age of 50 years old. Michael Jackson was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles today after suffering what is assumed to be a cardiac arrest. With the world looking forward to his comeback tour starting in just a few weeks, a silence has befallen the musical industry.

It is unusual to cover celebrities on the U.S. Common Sense website, but Michael was not your ordinary celebrity. For decades he was involved in charitable work both in the United States and around the world. Starting back in the late 1970s, he provided his talents and money to hospitals, various awareness groups, scholarships, combating world hunger, and more. Most of his charitable giving went to hospitals that specialized in care of children, including burned victims, those with cancer, and those suffering from leukemia, and AIDS. Some might argue that the large amount of money he gave led to his financial troubles that he faced later on in life. However, by that point he greatly impacted the world through his music and charity that he would find people willing to support him in his time of need, even during highly publicized legal cases.

For a complete list of his humanitarian efforts, visit this site.

There are few people that have impacted the world as much as Michael. I would group him with international icons such as Mother Teresa, President Ronald Reagan, Princess Diana, and Pope John Paul II. All of these individuals used their talents or positions of influence to improve the lives of people around the world, from fighting hunger to ending oppression. I doubt that Michael will be remembered more for his charitable work than his art, but it is something that we should all remember.

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