How Latinos Are Reacting To Michael Jackson’s Death

People from all over the world, famous and otherwise, are issuing forth their response to Michael Jackson’s death. Let’s take a look at how his passing is impacting the Latino community while we wait for Mark Sanford to come bearing love letters. 

First, let’s turn to Perez Hilton, obviously the loud and braying voice of all Latinos, everywhere. He kicked off his coverage of Michael Jackson yesterday by announcing he had been taken to the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest, then immediately accusing Jackson of faking his illness in order to get out of performing:

Michael Jackson was taken by ambulance from his Holmby Hills home to a nearby Los Angeles hospital on Thursday afternoon!!

Supposedly, the singer went into cardiac arrest and the paramedics had to administer CPR!!!

His mother is even on the way to visit him!!!

We are dubious!!

Jacko pulled a similar stunt when he was getting ready for his big HBO special in ‘95 when he “collapsed” at rehearsal!

He was dragging his heels on that just like his upcoming 50 date London residency at the 02 Arena, of which he already postponed the first few dates!!!

Either he’s lying or making himself sick, but we’re curious to see if he’s able to go on!!!

Get your money back, ticket holders!!!!

Yes, Perez. You are, indeed, a highly dubious individual. Perez later took down that original post in favor of a more somber and reverent one. Or as somber and reverent as a post can be in which every sentence is followed by now less than three exclamation points.

Moving on.

If the LA Times‘ are any indication, Michael had a sizable following among Brazilians:

Words will not tell, how confuse this friday will be for all of us in Brazil, Michael. We went to bed yesteday, with the news of your death in our minds, hoping that it all would disappear like a nightmare…But it did not. And everything we can do now is cry and pray. God be with you…And God be with Farrah too…My God…what a day!…

Posted by: Marcos, Brasilia, Brazil | June 26, 2009 at 02:13 AM

 

I love you JACKO!
RIP!     

Virgínia Meirim from Brasil.

 

 

 

Posted by: Virgínia Meirim | June 26, 2009 at 02:52 AM

 

The world is saddened by the loss of one more great music icon.
Michael was color, was fun, he was sheer joy….
On behalf of your Brazilian fans, I bid farewell to the guy who made us all dance, made us all happy and proud of being BLACK. [Ed. note: Oh?]
Love you, babe, wherever you are. 

Posted by: Julio Cezar do Amaral | June 26, 2009 at 03:18 AM

Plenty of famous Latinos also chimed in on Jackson’s death. For example, Thalia:

It’s been a while since we’ve felt this sort of collective sadness, the kind you feel in your chest and leaves you breathless. It’s a feeling of shock and of loss. This loss makes you relive those personal moments accompanied by the soundtrack of his music and the innovative images from his videos.

And Ricky Martin:

I am deeply saddened. No one can ever replace him. But I’m sure that the light he has given will keep shining for all of us who saw him as he was and always will be: A great artist and pure musical inspiration.

And, of course, Daddy Yankee:

I owned all of Michael Jackson’s jackets and I’d dance along to his videos in front of the TV. I’d imitate him for school talents shows. The news hit straight to the heart of the little boy I used to be. Michael Jackson is my greatest inspiration - a genius and a musical leader. His legacy will never die.

The NY Times‘ website also has a fun little feature that allows you to see what people all over the world are saying about Michael and how they’re reacting to news of his death. Of course, the only region that isn’t working for us on their site is South America, so we can’t quote any heartfelt ruminations from there. 

We will say that its amazing to see what his music and image meant, on a personal level, to so many people. His appeal was truly global and crossed all sorts of boundaries: Male, female, Latin, Asian, white, black, rich, poor, young, old - people really, really loved this man’s music.