By Rahman Dukes

The day will forever be remembered.

Roughly two hours before my partner Shaheem and myself were getting ready for tonight's NBA draft we received some bad news from one of our fellow news peers "Did you hear? They're saying that Michael Jackson suffered cardiac arrest!" My first response was "Damn!" As we sat around waiting on confirmation that hopefully it wasn’t true I couldn’t help but let the thoughts travel through my head "What if it IS true? Will he be OK?" Then not even moments later I read a report online that said MJ was not breathing at the time medics came to his home. Not good. Sha and myself, incredibly huge Michael Jackson fans, just prayed for the best. Then the worse news came crashing down: "He's dead." Unbelievable.

After getting over the immediate state of shock I decided to put in a call to my close personal friend Rachel Noerdlinger. Rachel is executive vice president of communications for Reverend Sharpton's Action Network. My intention was to secure a statement from the Reverend for our one of many expected reports. Sharpton was a close friend to MJ and even escorted him to the late James Brown's funeral.

After a brief conversation with Rachel she informed me that Rev was holding a press conference for MJ in front of the Apollo similar to the public viewing for James Brown held two years ago just days after his passing. The Apollo Theater on the famed 125th Street in Harlem is an iconic venue where stars are born. It was only right to celebrate the legacy of the greatest pop entertainer ever at the historical landmark.
Read more...