The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait

Newsletter Highlights: January 2011

January 23, 2011

MJTP Artist David Ilan Visits with

Gardner Street Elementary School Students

David had a chance to spend some quality time with around 35 students from Gardner Street Elementary School last week. It was a special moment for David because this is the same school Michael attended and the one that named their auditorium after him. It was also a special moment for the students because they got to see the MJTP portrait in person and meet the artist. David spent a couple of hours with the students, speaking with them and teaching them how to draw using the pointillism technique. He said, "I love working with kids because they love to learn and try new things. They all created wonderful drawings and I am proud of all of them. Every one of those students has the potential to become a humanitarian and legend like Michael. They are all, literally, at the same place Michael was when he was their age. I am excited to see what they do with their talents and with their hearts as they grow older."

Dr. Patrick Treacy Gets His Dot

Dr. Treacy, a good friend of Michael’s from Ireland, was honored with his dot in Michael's Portrait on January 2, 2011, during a visit to Los Angeles. He and Michael shared a common passion for helping the children of Africa and other humanitarian work. Please welcome Michael's good friend with your comment.

Our Love and Condolences to the Family of 'Thriller74'

The MJTP Tribute Team would like to extend our heartfelt and deepest condolences to the family and friends of a fellow MJ Fan and dot member named Nikki (aka Thriller74) who passed away last week.

Please take a moment to leave a message of love and support on her profileHERE. Your notes may bring a sense of comfort to the family. Rest In Peace, Nikki. We will miss you.

David’s Blog and Photo Contest

We Have the Winning Caption!
The winning caption for this photo was chosen. We had so many great entries to choose from so thank you to everyone who submitted captions. The winning caption was provided by Dot Member 2468244 (username), Dot #245167.

CLICK HERE to read what the caption is!

Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait in Rome

We have a lovely video to share with everyone from David’s trip to Rome with the Tribute Portrait. The video is in Italian with has English subtitles.

Special thanks from The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait to No L.O.V.E. No Party and MJ Italian Foundation for making the November 2010 event in Rome possible.

To watch the beautiful video, CLICK HERE.

Tribute Tidbits

Who Is It
The Michael Jackson Tribute Portrait Team takes great care in all that we do for you and for Michael. This Tribute and this website is run with the utmost respect and integrity. We get to know each other as a Team, and we get to know you as part of the MJTP family. If you have ever wondered whether someone contacting you on this site is in fact an active MJTP Team Member, look at their profile badges section on their profile page. Official MJTP Moderators will have an MJTP Verified Moderator badge on their profile, and be listed on our Acknowledgments page with a Moderator title. Please click here for more information.

Beware MJ Facebook Scam
There is apparently a new scam going around Facebook that claims to have video footage that Michael Jackson faked his death on June 25, 2009. The link appears with the title, “Did Michael Jackson fake his death? Look at this video!”

According to security firm Sophos, a click on the link takes users to a photo of the King of Pop wearing his trademark white sparkle glove. But following the scam directions won’t take users to a video, but rather to a page that asks people to install a fraudulent application.

The application then asks permission to search the Facebook account holder’s profile and list of friends. In the end, victims are left with their personal information compromised, and no video of Jackson at all.

Source: MJFC / msnbc.msn.com / thanks to Juliana for bringing this to our attention!

Don’t Be Fooled: An Important Safety Reminder
In an effort to help keep this site safe and enjoyable for everyone, we are addressing three uncommon but important issues which are mentioned in our Terms of Service and/or FAQs.

A Note about Website Safety - Don't Be Scammed: You should easily be able to trust most of the members on this site. However, if someone you don't really know contacts you and asks you to contact them offline or provide personal information, you should beware. If you get a note like that and are not sure what to think, you can report them to us. If you're contacted by someone offsite after you've given them your personal email address, and you think this person is up to no good, maybe asking for money or personal information they probably shouldn't be asking for, be wise. Ask questions, get details, make sure you understand and that you're comfortable with the answers, and that you're not coerced into anything. If it doesn't feel right or seem to make sense, that could be your instinct alerting you. As a first step, you can usually report them to their email provider. If fraud is suspected or has occurred, consider contacting your local authorities for help. Please click here for important information.

A Note about Rumors: Michael spent most of his life dealing with rumors. We don’t want them spread about Michael, members or us. We don’t want them on our site at all. Put yourself in the shoes of the people who are having rumors spread about them. If you want to know if something is true, go to the source. If you hear something about or involving two people, go to both people. If you hear something having to do with the Tribute Portrait and you want to know the truth, please come to us. We would do the same for you.

A Note about Spam: We have been practicing a somewhat loose spam policy here. There's no problem with sharing information with people who ask you for it - that's not spam. Spam is sending out copy/paste, impersonal messages, often multiple messages, to people you don't know or have no real relationship with, just like the junk messages you might receive in your personal email. Please use sound judgment when posting anywhere on this site, ensuring that you know the people you're sending messages to, so they are not receiving unsolicited or unwanted messages from someone.

To read the entire article about Rumors, Scammers and Spammers click here.

In Michael’s Words
“There are two things which the NAACP stands for, which are the most important things in my life; freedom and equality. In every person there’s a secret song in their heart. It says ‘I am free.’ It sings ‘I am One.’ This is the natural feeling of every child, to be free as the wind, to be one with every other child. All the troubles in the world is caused by forgetting this feeling, and when I perform, my connection is with people just to remind me of that; to be free, and to be one.” ~ Michael Jackson

To see a video of Michael accepting this award and a very cute Raven Simon (VIP Dot) giving it to him, CLICK HERE.

Thanks to MJTP Partner “A Million Trees for Michael” for posting this quote on Facebook

January 11, 2011

Spotlight Article

“Through The Eyes of Love”

By Linda Higgins - As we say goodbye to 2010, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me in my work to love, honor and celebrate Michael Jackson on behalf of the MJTP.

Since he passed away, I’ve used my articles & videos to capture and convey the heart and soul of Michael in an effort to show the world who he really was: an exceptionally talented, loving, creative, sensitive man who wanted to bring joy and escapism to people through his music and make the world a better place.

My work has focused almost entirely on motivating, educating and inspiring people to look at him through the eyes of love, but moving into 2011, my heart is telling me it’s time to make a slight but powerful shift from looking through the eyes of love at Michael to looking at love through Michael’s eyes. Read More

Michael Jackson’s Beautiful Neverland Ranch

We recently came across two beautiful videos that we feel truly capture the essence of Neverland Ranch and we wanted to share them with you. They reveal the stunning beauty inside and out; very moving videos that convey perfectly the joy that emanated from this place because of Michael. We hope they touch your heart as much as they did ours. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE to see Michael Jackson’s Beautiful Neverland Ranch Videos

Tribute Tidbits

Discovery UK Cancels Autopsy Program
The Discovery UK Channel has canceled plans to air a documentary in January showing a re-enactment of Michael’s autopsy. Our deepest thanks to the MJJJustice Project, the Michael Jackson Estate and all of the fans who got involved. CLICK HERE to read more.

In Michael’s Words
Excerpt from interview in the book, Michael Jackson Making HIStory by Adrian Grant, 1998. MICHAEL: "For some reason there's a certain part of my concert where I break down in every show and in that spot I get a certain thought. I think of the plight of the children and it gets me every time. I don't know why in that place, it's during ‘I'll Be There.’ The thoughts just come to me, and I try hard to contain myself."