La Toya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family

CHAPTER ONE: ON JACKSON STREET (Part IV)

I think Mother's parents sensed there were problems at home, because grandmother Martha-Mama, we called her-always did special things for us, like buying our school clothes, or getting Rebbie a fancy party dress. Whenever Joseph announced, "You're going to your grandparents' for the weekend," we whooped with joy. They still lived in East Chicago, yet to us it was like escaping to another world. Mama baked us cakes, pies, and shortbreads, and Papa, her second husband, brought us treats like cookies and potato chips from the store he owned.

Mama's immaculate house was a magical place filled with love. She and Papa were strict, but without the insults and brutality we knew at home. One coffee table held my grandmother's treasured collection of figurines, statuettes, and porcelain dolls from all over the world. They were so beautiful. I cautiously kept my hands behind my back while looking at them, but Michael couldn't resist picking up a piece, flipping it in the air, and trying to catch it. Sometimes he dropped it, for which he received a spanking. Mama also owned a real crystal ball that Michael and I gazed into every time we visited, wishing that one day we'd travel the world.

After Mother became a Jehovah's Witness, we no longer celebrated Christmas at home. So my grandparents, feeling sorry for us, took us to Christmas parties and gave us gifts and money. Although this went against my mother's religious beliefs, she permitted it, seeing how happy it made us.

Otherwise, except for Joseph, as children we all followed the Jehovah's Witnesses teachings and attended meetings at the Kingdom Hall several times a week. There we learned that the Bible was the word of Jehovah, the only true God, and the sole authority. Even compared to other evangelical Protestant movements, Adventism, as it is called, is unusually rigid. Witnesses must go door to door "publishing," trying to reach people with the word of God. They believe Satan rules the world now but that it will eventually be destroyed in an apocalyptic battle between good and evil. Only then will the true believers, an elect 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses called the Remnant, join Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God.

Witnesses do not smoke cigarettes, celebrate birthdays or holidays (except the annual Lord's Meal, which occurs approximately around the time of the Jewish Passover celebration), salute the flag, vote, serve in the military, or hold public office. Homosexuality, abortion, gambling, and profanity are considered sins. You may drink, but not to the point of intoxication; see movies, but none rated R or X; dance, but not touch your partner; date, but only if you plan to marry. Furthermore, you can associate only with other Jehovah's Witnesses. This isolationist aspect of the faith conformed neatly with Joseph's determination to sequester us from the world.

Mother encouraged but did not force any of us to become Witnesses, believing we should decide for ourselves. Several of us, including Michael and I, were later baptized in the faith and remained deeply committed most of our lives. Even those Jacksons who eventually abandoned it were influenced by its moralistic teachings.

With eight of us, it was getting harder to make ends meet, so Mother worked part-time as a cashier at Sears & Roebuck. The whole family was dedicated to developing the brothers' talents, and no one minded doing without little luxuries so that Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael could get an essential piece of equipment. At first the neighborhood kids teased them for staying inside to practice music every day, but soon those same kids were perched on our front lawn, listening to them sing and play.

My father continued to drill the guys with the single-mindedness of a football coach, refining their vocals, choreography, and presentation until they were perfect. For inspiration, he played them records by such r&b greats as Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and James Brown, whose moves Michael picked up effortlessly.

Around 1965, calling themselves the Jackson 5, my brothers took first place in a talent contest at Roosevelt High School, just around the corner from our house. I distinctly remember them swayi and harmonizing sweetly on the Tempts' recent smash "My Girl." Our whole family was happily surprised they won, since their competition consisted mostly of older kids.