Paris Jackson, the only daughter of late pop star Michael Jackson, opened up about her African-American roots and how proud she is of that, as well as the criticism she received.
Paris, 25, was born to parents Billie Jean hitmaker and Debbie Rowe in 1998.
Over the years, there have been speculations that Jackson wasn’t the biological father of his three children, Paris and her two brothers, Bigi, 22, and Prince, 27. This was due to the fact that that many couldn’t see any resemblance between the late star and the kids, especially Paris who has white skin, light eyes and now bleached-blond hair.
The kids were very close with their father who went to great lengths to protect them from media scrutiny. His measures were unlike, however. He would show his son Bigi to the public with his face covered with a blanket, causing him troubles while growing up because his friends often teased him. He now prefers to be called Bigi.
Following the star’s death in 2009, his children were tossed alone in the public eye, turning them a highly profitable prey for the media that were eager to share their photos and followed their every step.
This experience left Paris battling a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“I experience audio hallucinations, sometimes, with camera clicks and severe paranoia and have been going to therapy for a lot of things, but that included,” she shared.
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By age 15, Paris attempted suicide “multiple times” and in 2019 she was admitted at a treatment facility. “It was just self-hatred…Low self-esteem, thinking that I couldn’t do anything right, not thinking I was worthy of living anymore.”
Today, she’s a successful musician who follows into her father’s footsteps. Over the years, she has also walked the runway for famous brands such as Chanel. Paris is a member of the band The Soundflowers.
“Everyone in my family does music. I mean, I’m a Jackson,” she said in 2020. “It makes sense that I’m a musician but like, a Jackson doing folk indie?”
Paris is very close to her brothers and looks up to Prince. “He’s everything to me, you know?” In 2020, she told People of her relationship with her older brother. “I’ve always looked up to him and always wanted his approval and everything, and wanted to be more like him.”
He loves and supports his younger sister as much. “Basically, as a person, she is who my dad is. The only thing that’s different would be her age and her gender,” he said of Paris, adding that she’s similar to her father “in all of her strengths, and almost all of her weaknesses as well. She’s very passionate.”
The physical appearance of the King of Pop underwent significant changes over the course of his life and many accused him of bleaching his skin, which was considerably darker in his younger days, but he claimed he had never done anything to his skin and that it turning white was a result of Vitiligo, during an Oprah interview in 1993.
“I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am,” Jackson told Winfrey at the time.
Back in 2017, speaking of herself, Paris told Rolling Stone magazine she “considers [herself] black,” and that “[Michael] would look me in the eyes and he’d point his finger at me and he’d be like, ‘You’re black. Be proud of your roots.’”
“Most people that don’t know me call me white. I’ve got light skin and, especially since I’ve had my hair blond, I look like I was born in Finland or something,” she said. “And I’d be like, ‘okay, he’s my dad, why would he lie to me?’ So I just believe what he told me. [Because], to my knowledge, he’s never lied to me.”
This declaration of race triggered criticism on Paris. Among the rest, it was host Wendy William’s that mocked Paris’ statement.
“I get that she considers herself black and everything, but I’m just talking about the visual because you know…black is not what you call yourself, it’s what the cops see you when they got steel to your neck on the turnpike.”
She added: “It’s what they see. But that’s cute and good for her.”
Meet the Korean Couple, 61 & 56, Who Started Working Out Together and Proved That a Healthy Couple Stays Together
Many people have a usual idea of what it looks like to get older. We imagine droopy skin, a weaker body, and wrinkles as common signs of aging. However, there is a Korean couple who are defying these negative stereotypes about old age.
He’s 61 and she’s 56 years old.
The couple from Seoul, known as @okdong_fit on Instagram, mainly shares posts about staying fit and their daily life. This type of content usually doesn’t include older people.
However, despite their ages of 61 and 56, this couple embraced the challenge and embarked on a fitness journey together. Now, they are the most amazing and inspiring senior couple you’ll ever come across!
In a video narrated by their daughter Grace, she shared the story of her parents’ fitness journey. Grace mentioned that her father got motivated by a popular trend in South Korea, where people would exercise for six months and share their body changes on the internet.
Their life before they started working out.
In an Instagram video Grace shares that her mom was overweight but at the same time, her dad was extremely skinny due to being an amateur kickboxer. Her mother started swimming a year after she gave birth to her son and she swam for the next five years.
After Grace’s dad quit kickboxing he started going out to play soccer every week, so he has always been active. But this activity caused him a knee problem which resulted in him not being able to walk more than 30 minutes at a time.
When he decided to join this trend, his wife decided to join him as well. Grace explained that her parents have always been a team, and this journey was no different.
The couple began exercising and eating a healthy diet, and after six months, they took new profile pictures. However, even after achieving their initial goal, they decided to keep going and push themselves further.
Apart from their workout routines, the senior couple also shares updates about their everyday life. They post about going on dates, shopping for fashionable athletic wear, and even share their diet plans. The duo truly does it all and does it with enthusiasm!
The gym is their typical date spot.
Many of us wouldn’t even think of the gym as a date spot. However, they regularly go and have gym dates either in the evening or during the day.
The couple’s life is nothing we would expect from a couple of their age. They are just purely awesome, and they also share their joyful life in many perspectives.
Their children hold an equal place of importance in their hearts.
The couple lives far away from their children. Their daughter and eldest son reside in America. However, distance doesn’t stop them from getting together.
Every summer or winter, the whole family goes on a trip. Even though it’s a short journey, the time they spend together as a family is more precious to them than anything else.
The Beatles sang a song called “All you need is love.” But in real life, arguments, spending time alone, and disagreements are what really make relationships stronger and more interesting. When you have your first fight, you might feel upset and start questioning your partner. However, psychologists say that going through these challenges helps couples understand each other better and ultimately become stronger.
Preview photo credit okdong_fit / Instagram, okdong_fit / Instagram
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