I need help for a paper: Who has visited Michael's childhood home, or who would want to??

[Tholstrup83]

Hi. I am in the process of writing a paper for a class at my university regarding heritage tourism. Since the topic is pretty boring, I thought I would angle it towards Michael, since that will obvioulsy make it more interesting

I realize that there is a forum for the Jackson family, but since I am concentrating only on Michael, I chose to post it here. I hope that is ok.

I need a little help for this paper and that help should come from people who have either been to 2300 Jackson Street or from people who want to go there. My questions for those who have been there, are as follows:

What made you go?
How did being at his childhood home make you feel?
Did you go alone or in a group? If you went in a group, was it a group of fellow MJ fans?
Did you met others at the site? If yes, did you interact with each other?
Do you have an experience from the site that is particularly special to you?
What was your overall impression of that day?

And to those who want to go:
Why would you want to go?
Would you go alone or in a group? Why?
What do you hope to experience by going?
Why would visiting Michael's childhood be special to you personally?

I really hope people will take a few minutes and share their stories with me, since I feel your answers would put an extra umf on my paper

Thank you in advance,
Janni (Tholstrup83)

 

[qbee]

Welcome to the board Tholstrup83. Hope you will get some replies from members who have visited 2300 Jackson St.

 

[Sam Sam]

Hi I've been there a few times.

1. The first time I went, I went on the first b'day he had right after he passed away. I wanted to be close to him and visit somewhere that I knew he had been.

2. I felt very happy. I felt like I was in a time machine and I was trying to picture Michael and his family in the house and around the community. This was before they fixed up the house so there was a very modest feel, and the neighborhood just showed you that they achieved a lot.

3. I have gone with a group before. I went with The International MJFanvention twice. One time we went and Katherine and the children were there. That's was very nice.

4. There were vendors and lots of people there when I went with the Fanvention. Everyone was friendly and very excited. They were having a weekend long celebration to remember Michael in Gary, so it was a big deal.

5. I think a special experience was just being able to see the children and Ms. Jackson. I know the kids enjoyed seeing where their father grew up, so I was glad they were there and celebrated in the Jackson's hometown.

6. Every time I have visited I have had a wonderful time and I really felt great to be where Michael grew up. You can really feel his spirit. And it makes you very proud of the family that they came so far, especially since I am from the midwest as well. You just feel connected.

 

[LastTear]

And to those who want to go:
Why would you want to go?
Would you go alone or in a group? Why?
What do you hope to experience by going?
Why would visiting Michael's childhood be special to you personally?

I have not been but would want to go to see for myself where it all started, although I have seen photographs they don't give you the atmosphere or the sights and sounds of the surrounding areas.

I would probably like to go with a group, as I don't know the area and sometimes you learn more on an organised trip.

I would hope to experience an understanding of just how different the Jacksons life was back then to truly understand 'the American dream'

For me personally I would hope to feel a sense of closeness to Michael, I would like to be able to leave something personal there (flowers or such) and I think I would take comfort in sharing my grief and sadness with other Michael Jackson fans.

I'm not always very good at expressing myself but I hope this is of small help to you.

 

[Tholstrup83]

Thanks to those who took the time to answer my questions. I would, however, love to get some more responses since I can see that a lot of people have viewed the thread