Hello everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season. Willa and I are still enjoying our holiday vacation but we can’t wait to get back to the conversation next week. In the meantime, we were forwarded a link to The MJ Academia Project videos by Black Shark, one of our regular readers here, and we wanted to share them with all of you since they highlight some of the things we’ve been talking about in this blog for the past several months. The videos are really excellent so here they are – enjoy!
Joie Collins is a founding member of the Michael Jackson Fan Club (MJFC). She has written extensively for MJFC, helping to create the original website back in 1999 and overseeing both the News and History sections of the website. Over the years she conducted numerous interviews on behalf of MJFC and also directed correspondence for the club. She also had the great fortune to be a guest at Neverland. She has been a Michael Jackson fan since she was three years old.
Lisha McDuff is a classically trained professional musician who for 30 years made her living as a flutist, performing in orchestras and for major theatrical touring productions. Her passion for popular musicology led her to temporarily leave the orchestra pit and in June 2013 she received a Master’s degree in Popular Music Studies from the University of Liverpool. She’s continuing her studies at McMaster University, where she is working on a major research project about Michael Jackson, with Susan Fast as her director.
Willa Stillwater is the author of M Poetica: Michael Jackson's Art of Connection and Defiance and "Rereading Michael Jackson," an article that summarizes some of the central ideas of M Poetica. She has a Ph.D. in English literature, and her doctoral research focused on the ways in which cultural narratives (such as racism) are made real for us by being "written" on our bodies. She sees this concept as an important element of Michael Jackson's work, part of what he called social conditioning. She has been a Michael Jackson fan since she was nine years old.
Hi Sunny. All of the analysis in the videos is provided through written text, not spoken words, so you might check them out and see what you think. Even without hearing the sound, I think you’ll still be able to get a lot out of them. And be sure to let us know if this is an issue in the future, and we’ll try to provide a transcript.
My understanding is that the MJAP is a group who wishes to maintain their anonymity. Their interpretation is very compelling and well-crafted but I should probably add that, even though I’m quoted, the video does not reflect the entirety of my views on Michael and race.
dancing with the elephant 
very good videos!
Hi Willa and Joie! First of all, best wishes for you two and this blog in the coming year.
Thanks so much for the links! I will definitely be checking this out!
No comment, I am deaf.
Hi Sunny. All of the analysis in the videos is provided through written text, not spoken words, so you might check them out and see what you think. Even without hearing the sound, I think you’ll still be able to get a lot out of them. And be sure to let us know if this is an issue in the future, and we’ll try to provide a transcript.
Everyone who considers him/herself an MJ fan needs to watch these videos right NOW. Fantastic!
Does anyone know who is making this videos? I think they are so interesting. I would love to congratulate them personally.
I don’t, but I noticed that Sylvia is quoted in the second video. Do you know who is making these, Sylvia?
My understanding is that the MJAP is a group who wishes to maintain their anonymity. Their interpretation is very compelling and well-crafted but I should probably add that, even though I’m quoted, the video does not reflect the entirety of my views on Michael and race.
Well, whoever they are, they do good work. Those videos are wonderful.