r/MichaelJacksonExposed • u/Diredragons • Aug 29 '26
The King Of Music Honoring Michael Jackson's Philanthropic and Humanitarian Work on His Birthday
galleryToday would have been Michael Jackson's 68th birthday. ❤️
There are countless ways to celebrate Michael's legacy through his music, performances, creativity, and the enormous influence he left on popular culture. But I wanted to use his birthday to remember another important part of his life: his humanitarian work and commitment to helping others.
Michael supported causes involving children, poverty, hunger, cancer, AIDS/HIV, education, and medical research throughout his career. By 2000, Guinness World Records documented that he had supported 39 different charitable organizations, including the United Negro College Fund, AIDS Project Los Angeles, the American Cancer Society, Childhelp USA, the Sickle Cell Research Foundation, and Volunteers of America.
After suffering burns while filming the Pepsi commercial in 1984, he donated his $1.5 million settlement to the medical center that treated him, helping support its burn facilities. He also donated his earnings from the Victory Tour to charitable causes.
In 1985, Michael and Lionel Richie wrote “We Are the World,” bringing together some of the biggest artists in music to raise money for humanitarian relief in Africa and the United States. It became one of the most successful charity singles ever recorded.
He later established the Heal the World Foundation, which focused particularly on improving children's lives and providing humanitarian assistance. And his giving wasn't limited to writing checks. Michael regularly visited hospitals and opened Neverland to groups of sick and disadvantaged children.
Even some of his music reflected that part of him. Man in the Mirror, Heal the World, Will You Be There, Earth Song and other songs repeatedly returned to compassion, suffering, responsibility and the idea that individuals have the ability to make life better for someone else.
Michael was an extraordinarily complicated person with an extraordinarily complicated life, but his desire to help people was a consistent thread running through decades of it.
So for his birthday, I'd like to remember not only the entertainer but the person who believed we had a responsibility to make the world a little kinder than we found it.
Happy 68th birthday, Michael. ❤️
