Little Jahmeel with mom Amira, Left,
and her sisters Muhammida, Center, and
Nefertiti, right.
Michael's Man in Mirror
Album
At work with grandfather
passing out poem Black History
is world History. Jahmeel observed,
"Some people don't like black history."
Jahmeel and the Man in the MirrorGrandfather, Jahmeel, Uncle Ollie
photos by Lumakunda and Rita Daniels
Mom Amira and Jahmeel
Grandpa told Jahmeel to go look at the man in the mirror. Jahmeel went to look. At first he said there was no man in the mirror. Grandpa told him to go back into the living room and look again into the mirror.
He went back and returned to tell Grandpa Jahmeel was not in the mirror. He said, "It was a scared Jahmeel in the mirror--not the real Jahmeel."
He refused to go back and look again. Grandpa told him to either go back or go to bed. He said he wanted to go to bed. He insisted there was no man in the mirror. Grandpa told him he was the man. He said, "I'm not the man!"
Go look again.
He said no and started to cry.
"I'm not the man," he shouted.
"You are the man!"
No I'm not.
Michael Jackson said you are the man in the mirror, so go look. Since he loved Micheal, he submitted. The conversation had begun with him listing the MJ songs he liked: Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Billie Jean, Remember the Time. He is terrified of Thriller and refuses to watch it.
All right, I'll look, he said.
He went again into the living room, came back and said, "No man in there."
"Did you see Jahmeel in the mirror?
No!
Go see.
No! I don't wanna look.
You scared to see Jahmeel? You wanna be scared?
I'm going night night! (to sleep)
He crawled into bed and planted his head on his little pillow. He pulled the covers over his head and went
to sleep.The next morning when he got up Grandpa read him the story. He said, "I'm not the man, I'm Jahmeel.
Jahmeel is a boy."
Grandpa read him the revised story. He said, "Grandpa, that's good. The man in the mirror
is somebody else, not me."
--Marvin X
2-8-10
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