Yesterday Michael Jackson died. So, for the next few months there will be thousands of articles, TV and online dedications. We will hear all the talking heads discussing his legacy. His fans and those who despised him (primarily his personal life dramas) . So, I will leave all that to the self proclaimed experts.

There are two things to say about him. He was a musical genius; and he was an abused child. By abuse, I do not mean sexual abuse; I mean he was used brutally and callously for money, and clearly imprisoned by a tyrannical father. He had no real childhood and spent much of his later life struggling to get one. He was spiritually and psychologically raped at a very early age – and never recovered. Watching him change his race, his age, and almost his gender, you saw a tortured soul seeking what the rest of us take for granted: a normal life.