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Jackson Pitches "Children's Day"
Instead, we get this: the self-proclaimed King of Pop making a pitch for "Children's Day."
The singer tells the latest issue of Vibe that he would like to see a national holiday established by Congress celebrating children and promoting their welfare.
"There's a Mother's Day and there's a Father's Day, but there's no Children's Day," Jackson tells the magazine. "It would mean a lot. It really would. World peace. I hope that our next generation will get to see a peaceful world, not the way things are going now."
The 43-year-old singer also notes that he often gains inspiration from his interactions with children and the innocence they bring to the world.
"I've never had so much fun in all my life. That's the truth. Because I am this big kid, and now I get to see the world through the eyes of the really young ones. I learn more from them than they learn from me," adds Jackson.
Right.
Contributing to the Moonwalker's continuing education is his own kids--the soon-to-be five-year-old Prince and three-year-old Paris, both of whom he had with ex-wife Debbie Rowe.
The popster says one of his favorite pasttimes is engaging in water-balloon fights at home with the kids. In fact, one such water-balloon battle in Germany inspired an elated Jacko to pen the tune, "Speechless," which made it onto his latest album, Invincible.
Of course, some might argue that every day is Children's Day for Jackson, who has always been warm and fuzzy about the little ones having missed out on his own childhood because of his early celebrity as a member of the Jackson 5.
And his penchant for making up for lost playtime has translated into his solo career and personal life as well.
Pop's Peter Pan, who counts as his two best friends former child stars Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin, constantly puts kids in both his music videos and films. His Neverland Valley Ranch residence is replete with roller coasters and kiddie rides, and he has often invited children there to play.
However, Jackson's fondness for kids has made for much tabloid and legal fodder.
In the early '90s, authorities in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles investigated charges that Jackson allegedly molested a 13-year-old boy at the Neverland Ranch. Criminal charges were never filed, but the boy's father filed a civil suit against the Gloved One.
In 1994, Jackson settled that suit--while the terms were confidential, the amount was estimated between $15 and $50 million.
Three years later, Jackson won a suit against several ex-employees who claimed they were wrongfully fired from Neverland after cooperating with authorities in the child-molestation probe. And in 1999, he won a $2.7 million judgment against a videographer who claimed he had seen footage of Jackson having sex with a boy. No such video was ever shown to exist.
While the bad publicity may have tarnished Jackson's already-eccentric image, it hasn't tempered his commitment to kids.
In fact, Jackson's Children's Day proposal came out of his involvement with his Heal the Kids foundation, a charity Jackson established in August 2000 with Rabbi Schmuley Boteach. Boteach tells news wire service Reuters that the organization made "significant efforts" to lobby Congress to create such a holiday, but so far lawmakers have turned them down.
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