I still stand by my words. But after listening to Minister Louis Farrakhan at Maryam Mosque in Chicago on Sunday, I learned that Michael had been more racially sensitive than I  had known. Farrakhan revealed that he had spoken with and met Michael many times over the years and that without fanfare, the entertainer donated $100,000 to the Million Man March.

Farrakhan described his association with Michael as "a quiet relationship." That's an understatement from a man not known for using soft language. According to Minister Farrakhan, the quiet relationship was initiated in the 1980s with a telephone call from Johnnie Cochran, the famous attorney,

"Johnnie Cochran called me," Farrakhan stated. "He said, 'I need you to talk to Michael. He's really going through something." That something was depression. Minister Farrakhan, himself a former entertainer, said he reminded Michael that blues and gospel had sprang from the depth of pain and that he should use his pain to become more creative.

Farrakhan said he met Michael in different places, including Michael's Neverland ranch in California. But it was a conversation the two of them had in New York that was the most revealing.

"When we were doing the Million Man March, I met brother Michael in a hotel suite in New York," Farrakhan stated. "I said, 'Brother Michael, it's one thing if a million women and girls cheer you. But when a million men cheer you, that's significant.' I said,'Michael what I would like for you to do is to come to the Million Man March and sing the song, 'I'm Looking at the Man in the Mirror.'

"Michael was all for it, but after we left, somebody persuaded him differently. But Michael gave $100,000 to the Million Man March."

Describing their "quiet relationship," Farrakhan disclosed, "He'd call me on New Year's Day, wish me well, send me a big bowl of fruit." The Nation of Islam leader said he would typically end each conversation with, "I love you Michael" and the pop star would say, "I love you more."

Minister Farrakhan said he hoped his outspokenness would encourage Michael to become bolder.

"I met with him in Florida," Farrakhan recounted. "He and I had a private dinner. And I told him that I was going to the National Press Club and that I was going to talk to the world about the neo-conservatives, most of whom are Zionists.

"I said Michael I'm going to step out and call attention to this.' He said, 'You would do that?' I said, 'Yes,' I said, 'I'm doing this because I want you to see that if you stand up in the name of God, you will be the winner. I want you to see that when I step up, I'll be around. And I'm around and I'm around and I'm around. And I'm alive and I'm getting stronger day by day."

In his speech titled, "The Crucifixion of Michael Jackson," Farrakhan did not gloss over Michael defacing his face.

"At 10, he was Black with a Black face, a broad nose, thick lips," Farrakhan reminded the overflow audience. "Somebody told Michael, somebody told my brother he wasn't good looking. Somebody told you the same thing. So, you began to hate the way God made you. But you don't have no money to fix it."

Farrakhan said, "Michael went from Black at 10 years old to White in his 40s."

However, Michael's looks were deceiving, according to Farrakhan.

"You saw Michael's color going from Black to White," Farrakhan said. "That's the outside. But the inside of Michael was going from White to Black."

Exhibit A on Sunday were the lyrics to "They Don't Care About Us," a song that Michael had rehearsed  the week of his death.

Summoning up his past skills as an entertainer, Farrakhan bellowed:

Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, aggravation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Bang bang, shot dead
Everybody's gone mad

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

Beat me, hate me
You can never break me
Will me, thrill me
You can never kill me
Jew me, sue me
Everybody do me
Kick me, kike me
Don't you black or white me

Farrakhan, who is roundly criticized for being anti-Semitic by Jews - a charge he vehemently denies --- noted that under pressure, Michael was forced to remove the "Jew me, sue me" line. It was replaced by, "Chew me, sue me, everybody do me."

All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us

Tell me what has become of my life
I have a wife and two children who love me
I am the victim of police brutality, now
I'm tired of bein' the victim of hate
You're rapin' me of my pride
Oh, for God's sake
I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy...
Set me free

Repeating the title of the song, Farrakhan said, "They don't care about us." Pausing for effect, he said, "He's sending his people a message."

 George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com.

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