The Jackson Family Compound - Finally

photo by Tonya Keitt Kalule

Every since the passing of Michael Jackson, I have wondered where exactly was the compound located. Well I finally found out through a friend, so I went there yesterday afternoon and it was really cool. He is a man that I have grown up watching from the time we were both kids. Reading about his childhood and his childhood home in all of the teen magazines. Tearing out the posters of him and his brothers and taping them all over my bedroom walls and doors. Now here I am at 48 years old standing in front of his childhood home where his mother still lives. Outside the gates there is a make shift memorial and fans and media line the street. They are there first in his memory and second hoping to see anyone from the family emerge while they are there. Well nobody recognizable emerges from the compound, only a black SUV that looked as though it is driven by teenagers.

While there I met a photographer and videographer both from the Associate Press and both named Mark. The videographer was from Chicago, and had just flown in the day before, and the other Mark is actually local, and grew up not very far from Michael Jackson's family home in San Fernando Valley. They were really nice guys and I really enjoyed talking to him. The photographer was shooting with the Nikon D3 which is very similar to my Nikon D300, but with a full frame sensor and a price tag of about $2,000 more.

Tuesday is the public memorial service at the Staple Center, where they will be giving away over 17,000 tickets, and I have heard that there have been over one million people requesting those tickets. LAPD does not know what it is up against, may God bless them.