Beat me, hate me
You can never break me
Center
The word "militant" would probably never bring to mind the icon we know as Michael Jackson. Yet, that's the first word that came to mind when I first heard "They Don't Care About Us," which came out in 1996 as the fourth single from his album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. He was putting it all out there. Speaking about everything from derogatory racial slurs to the disproportionate jailing of Black men, Michael was speaking the truth of how he saw the world. As biting and aggressive as this song is, with its staccato beat and unforgiving chorus chant, I was filled with such pride and respect for Michael who, for the first time it seemed, identified with the plight and position of the disenfranchised in this world as a disenfranchised person, instead of one of entitlement, wealth and fame.
Michael Jackson: "They Don't Care About Us"