Jun 25, 2009 10:04 pm US/Central
Ebony Magazine Plans Jackson Tribute
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Ebony's December 2007 edition featured an interview with Michael Jackson.
Ebony Magazine
Michael Jackson has another close connection to this area: In addition to growing up in Gary, Ind., he was close to the founder of the Ebony magazine empire and gave the magazine one of his last big interviews.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports.
Since its inception, Chicago-based Ebony Magazine has carved out a special niche as the chronicle of African-American achievement.
So it's only natural that early on Ebony forged a unique bond with that shy kid from Gary, who became perhaps the biggest black entertainer of his generation.
It was Michael Jackson's first magazine cover in more than 10 years: for Ebony's December 2007 edition.
It was shot at the Brooklyn Museum, and the interview that went with it was one of the last for the always reclusive performer.
"He brought his child with him, and (he was) very much a father," Linda Johnson Rice, CEO of Johnson Publishing, said. "`Say please, thank you,' all sorts of things like that. But you also saw another human side of someone who was aging a little bit. He had his glasses on to read things. You don't really think of Michael Jackson in that way."
Jackson had a special relationship with Johnson Publishing. The company's pioneering founder, John Johnson, was a close personal adviser, and his daughter vividly remembers first meeting Michael when she was a pre-teen, after a performance at old Comiskey Park.
"(He was) such a fantastic performer," Rice said. "Very quiet, very shy, very polite young man. Very cute. Every girl I knew had a crush on him."
The magazine closely chronicled every step of Jacksons career -- his collaboration with Quincy Jones and his worldwide superstardom with "Thriller."
"MTV wasn't having black folks before that, and it wasn't until Michael Jackson and 'Thriller' came out, that they decided black folks exist and our music is important," former editor Bryan Monroe said.
Did Jackson die misunderstood?
"I think everybody understood his music," Rice said. "I'm not sure they understood him as a human being, and unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever be able to understand."
Thursday, Ebony's editors were meeting to decide whether to memorialize Jackson in a special extra edition or in an upcoming regular edition. There was no decision yet, but either way they assure it will be worthy of the King of Pop.
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