Michael Jackson Tribute Poem, “We Had Him,” Recited For the First Time by Legendary Author Maya Ange

Michael Jackson Tribute Poem, “We Had Him,” Recited For the First Time by Legendary Author Maya Angelou



Los Angeles, California (July 3, 2010) – The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait has released rare footage of Maya Angelou reciting “We Had Him,” the poem she wrote for Michael Jackson at the time of his passing. The reading of this beautiful and powerful poem was staged exclusively for The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait as a gift to fans worldwide on the occasion of the one year anniversary of Michael’s passing.



This beautiful and powerful poem was first read at the Staples Center Memorial one year ago by Queen Latifah, but it has never been read for the public by the poem’s author, Dr. Angelou, herself … until now!



When Dr. Angelou recently heard about The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait (a one-of-a-kind, interactive work of art made from hand drawn dots – one dot = one fan), she contacted artist David Ilan to express how much she loved it. She invited him to her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, so she could endorse the tribute and make an announcement to fans worldwide to commemorate the one year anniversary by getting their free dots in Michael’s Tribute Portrait. The Monday before the July 25 one year anniversary, David Ilan traveled to Dr. Angelou’s home from Los Angeles with Michael’s portrait.



In a prestigious and touching ceremony, Dr. Angelou was presented with a dot in her name next to Michael’s dot in the portrait. This is the area of the portrait reserved for family and friends. She spoke about Michael in front of the Tribute cameras and, as a gift to the Tribute and to fans around the globe, she recited her poem “We Had Him.” This is the first and only time Dr. Angelou has recited her poem for the public.



The video of Dr. Angelou reciting her poem for Michael has just been released on YouTube. The announcement of its release was made simultaneously to Michael’s fan clubs around the world:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sueycwCcqRI

God bless Dr. Angelou!:clapping:

Did you guys note the words she said after her dot was added? she differentiated between modesty and humility, Michael had humility!.......and did'nt we all know that!

I absolutely love this poem. :wub2:

One year since that day, today
her words.
perfect words

Yes, one of the more memorable parts of that very sad memorial was the reading of this poem.

Beautiful poem. I love it.

Thank you Maya Angelou for your lovely words to Michael. :angel:

I love Maya Angelou, her work is fantastic. Thank you for posting! :flowers:

She's amazing! beautiful poem.

Beautiful poem, Beautiful woman:wub: we miss him so much :angel: I'm proud to be a dot near that beautiful soul

We Had Him By: Maya Angelou (July, 2009)

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing
now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips
like a puff of summer wind

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace
Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon

In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing
No clocks can tell time and no oceans can rush our tides
With the abrupt absence of our treasure

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone
Piercingly alone
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us
and we did have him

He came to us from the Creator, trailing creativity in abundance
Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love family love and survived
and did more than that

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style
We had him
Whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his
We had him

Beautiful, delighting our eyes
He raked his hat slant over his brow and took a pose on his toes for all of us and we
laughed and stomped our feet for him

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing
He gave us all he had been given

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square, in
Johannesburg, in Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England, we are missing Michael Jackson

But we do know we had him
And we are the world.
source:MJFC