Is Canceling My Kid’s Culture Another Form of Helicopter Parenting?

After I saw ‘Leaving Neverland,’ I stopped listening to Michael Jackson. I just couldn’t do it; it made me feel sick. I felt like all his lyrics where about the young boys he had groomed and owned. His songs about unrequited love made me feel uncomfortable. This was right on the cusp of Cancel Culture, but it is exactly what I did; I tore out that chapter of my life’s story, never to return to it again.

Until yesterday.

I was in the car with my girls and my 11 year old was DJ-ing on Spotify. She randomly selected The Jackson’s ‘Blame it on the Boogie’. I yelled, “Keep this on! This is a great song!” The girls danced in the back of the car, while I broke it down in the front, singing at the top of my lungs. The song made me feel SO GOOD. It filled me with happy childhood memories of dancing with my cousins and sister in the 1970’s golden sun of California.

I was 7 years old when the ‘Destiny’ album came out. My sister and I watched the ‘Blame it on the Boogie’ video on Soul Train. The video is disco-psychedelic magic. Michael is in a sequined star shirt, with the sleeves cut off. Jackie is wearing a long butter yellow scarf, and Marlon is wearing a gold lamé vest! They all have beautiful round afros, and none of them have hacked into their gorgeous faces, yet. They are black and…