Thank you, Michael! By Rev. Al Sharpton
"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with."
“你們的父親不是怪物，你們的父親被迫對付的那些東西才是怪物。”
【翻譯】
今天，全世界的人們因為愛而聚集在一起，為一個教會了世界如何去愛的人守夜，為他的一生舉行慶典。有人可能弄不明白，這種感情噴發到底是為什麼？那是因為你不懂邁克爾的生命旅程，不明白邁克爾對我們所有人意味著什麼。今天在座的傑克遜一家——媽媽、爸爸、和他們的九個孩子，他們曾經只是印第安那州蓋瑞市的打工族，他們曾經除了夢想一無所有。在那個時候，沒有人相信這種夢想能夠成真，但他們堅持相信夢想，邁克爾也從來沒有讓世界改變他的夢想。
我第一次見到邁克爾是在1970年伊利諾州芝加哥市的黑人博覽會上。傑西•傑克遜牧師自那時起就一直支持這個家庭。邁克爾當時還只是個可愛的孩子，自那時起，直到此時此刻，他從來沒有放棄過夢想。正是那個夢想，改變了全世界的文化。邁克爾出道之時，世界和今天大不相同。但因為邁克爾的堅持不懈，因為他不接受條條框框的束縛，因為他拒絕讓別人決定自己能走多遠，他讓全世界都敞開了大門。在音樂的世界中，他戴上單只手套，褲子上提，撕破種族膚色的鐵幕，使得今天我們（黑人）的錄影得以播放，我們的形象能夠上雜誌封面。是邁克爾讓黑人、白人、亞洲人和拉丁人團結在一起，是邁克爾讓大家唱起《We are the World》，是邁克爾遠在Live Aid（1985年的搖滾音樂慈善演唱會）之前就呼籲大家拯救饑餓的人們。
正因為邁克爾•傑克遜堅持不懈的努力，他創造了一種和諧，他用音樂把充滿隔閡的人們團結起來。正是這種和諧，使得來自日本、加納、依阿華州、賓夕法尼亞州等世界各地的孩子們彼此接受，使得今天的人們可以坦然地欣賞電視上的奧普拉節目（黑人主持的訪談節目），坦然地看泰格伍茲打高爾夫。那些小時候就成為邁克爾的歌迷的青少年，今天長到了40多歲，坦然地選出了一位有色人種的美國總統。
邁克爾做到了。他使我們之間充滿愛。他教會我們團結一致。有些人喜歡吹毛求疵挑撥是非，但世界上的千百萬人支持邁克爾所傳達的資訊。值得我們關注的不是那些是非，而是他所傳達的愛的資訊。在攀登陡峭的高山的途中，你可能會摔破膝蓋，蹭破皮膚，但不應該對那些傷痕斤斤計較，而應該關注攀登的旅程。
邁克爾戰勝了。邁克爾登上了山峰。他用歌聲回擊了那些批評者，他用舞姿回擊了那些懷疑者，他用表演回擊了那些悲觀論者。每次當他被擊倒，他都會爬起來。每次當他被判出局，他都會重振旗鼓。邁克爾永不停息！邁克爾永不停息！邁克爾永不停息！
我想對傑克遜夫人（邁克爾的母親），喬•傑克遜（邁克爾的父親），邁克爾的兄弟姐妹們說：謝謝你們給了我們這樣一個人，教會我們去愛，教會我們希望，我們感謝你們，因為我們知道，這也是你們的夢想。
我們知道你們的心已破碎。我知道總統和納爾遜•曼德拉的來信給了你們些許安慰，但邁克爾畢竟是你們的孩子，你們的兄弟。沒有什麼能彌補失去親人的損失。我謹希望人們所表現出的愛能讓你們知道他的一生沒有白活。我想對邁克爾的三個孩子說：你們的父親不是怪物，你們的父親被迫對付的那些東西才是怪物。但是他不得不對付……（全場熱烈鼓掌）他不得不對付那些東西，他是為了我們而戰。
此時此刻，傑克遜夫人，人們來到這裏向邁克爾告別。而我來到這裏，是為了向邁克爾致謝。謝謝你永不停息，謝謝你永不放棄，謝謝你永不拋棄，謝謝你打破了我們之間的分歧，謝謝你消滅了人與人之間的隔閡，謝謝你給了我們希望。
謝謝你，邁克爾！謝謝你，邁克爾！謝謝你，邁克爾！
【原文】
All over the world today, people are gathered in love vigils to celebrate the life of a man that taught the world how to love. People may be wondering why there’s 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 nine children that 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 kept on believing and Michael never let the world turn him around from his dreams.
I first met Michael around the 1970 Black Expo, Chicago , Illinois . Rev. 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 world. 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 world, he put on one glove, pulled his pants up and broke down the color curtain where now our videos are 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” and 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 until 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, but it’s about his love message. As you climb up steep mountains, sometimes you scar your knee; sometimes you break your 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 out-performed 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 it was your dream too.
We know that your heart is broken. I know you have some comfort from the letter from the President of the United States and Nelson Mandela. But this was your child. This was your brother. This was your brother. This was your cousin. Nothing will fill your hearts’ lost. But I hope the love that people are showing will make you know he didn’t live in vain. I want his three children to know: Wasn’t nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it… (applause) He dealt with it anyway. He dealt with it for us.
So, some came today, Mrs. Jackson, to say goodbye 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 eradicated barriers, thank you because you gave us hope.
Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Michael!
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