Michael Jackson’s sister La Toya, recounts her traumatic defilement by her father
La Toya Jackson (left) with her nephew Jaafar Jackson (Jermaine's son) at the Face Forward International 10th Annual Gala in 2019 in Los Angeles, California. In her memoir, she says father Joe would sneak into the living room where they slept, and molest them.
What you need to know:
- The Jackson family's public success masked a private life of profound abuse and suffering at the hands of their father, Joe Jackson.
- What broke La Toya's heart, was that her mother uncovered the defilement of her daughters, but chose to quieten, instead of denouncing Joe and having him arrested.
- His relentless physical and emotional abuse left deep psychological scars on his children, overshadowing their musical achievements.
The illustrious nine Jackson family siblings chronologically consist of a girl, three boys, a girl, three boys and a girl. The first born is Rebbie, descended by the first set of three boys Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, then the next girl La Toya and the final huddle of three boys Marlon, Michael and Randy, and the last born Janet.
They grew up in the vibrant Jackson Street in Gary, in Indiana State. The Jackson family was viciously commanded by the impulsive temperament of their abusive father Joseph 'Joe' Jackson.
Joe sold a pristine hypocritical image of an affectionate loving father, in public, but in private, he led a grief-stricken family that he subdued using a wave of his purgatory preoccupation with fists belts and derogatory vile utterances.
Charismatic voice
He had been a guitarist with unsuccessful R&B group, The Falcons, and gave grim orders to his children never to touch his vintage guitar. One day, Tito accidentally broke a string on his father's guitar while he was at work.
Upon his return, Joe allayed a weeping terrified Tito a rare opportunity to play his guitar, and his presentation emboldened him, leading to the formation of the Jackson 5. The group consisted of Jackie's angelic falsetto, Jermaine's raspy tenor, Tito's sonorous bass and Marlon's youthful tenor. Later, a five-year-old Michael became the lead singer with his piping charismatic voice.
In her memoir, La Toya: Growing up in the Jackson Family, La Toya states that the success that the public assumed brought joy and jubilation to her family had a covert accompaniment of comprehensive despair and devastation.
Joe wore a character trait that was incapable of sympathy, empathy or compassion. He often retrieved one of his hand guns from his firearm collection and threatened to kill his children and during his refractory rages, he would force his sons to wear boxing gloves and fight each other.
It was in moments like these that La Toya sensed how Joseph found sadistic pleasure and gratification from his doctrine of instilling pain and aggravation in his children.
La Toya was six when she experienced her first protracted assault. She was a straight-A student, and had a reverence to report-card day, since it was the only time Joe would complement her. She presented her enclosed report card to her father, unaware her teacher had lauded her, but the summation had noted that she rarely spoke up in class.
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Joe glanced at the teacher's remarks and impulsively took off his belt and repetitively reprimanded La Toya using the metallic belt-buckle, searing her skin, as she pleaded for mercy.
His eyes literally flared, as his boxer's fists pummelled her face and body, until her eyes were swollen and almost shut. He then yanked her by the arm and dragged her to the bathroom, roughly dropping her blood soaked fragile body on the concrete floor.
The Jackson home in Gary Indiana was a small, plainly furnished one story structure that consisted of a bathroom, dining room, kitchen and two bedrooms, one for the boys and one for Joe and Katherine. The house also had a living room which had an alcove, where Rebbie and La Toya slept.
Paedophile
When everybody was asleep, Joe would sneak into the living room, tuck in next to La Toya and Rebbie and molest them. What further broke La Toya's heart, was that her mother Katherine uncovered the defilement of her daughters, but chose to quieten, instead of denouncing Joe and having him arrested and sentenced for his paedophile infractions.
In 1969, the year the Jackson 5 was signed to Motown, the largest black owned record label in the US, they charted 12 singles in the Billboards Top 10 and four in 1972, becoming the most dominant R&B group in the US.
Joe's writhing jealousy towards Jackie, who had an attractive appearance, heightened incessantly. Jackie received the most attention from female fans while the Jacksons were on tour and Joe would pick on him and punch him so hard he'd often lose consciousness. Joe ended up seducing and impregnating Cheryle Terrell, a neighbour in their new home in Hayvenhurst, Encino in California, because of her strong liking for Jackie. During a trip to Senegal, Joe went on to brag to his children about impregnating Cheryle and siring a child named Anna.
One mitigating factor of all stories of abuse is isolation. The Jackson siblings weren't allowed to socialise with other children and this bore a disproportionate burden to their social skills that trickled to their adulthood. All the Jackson children had mild toned, timid voices that could hardly be raised, an implication of the violence and fear they endured, which left remnants of crippling psychological ramifications that impeded their confidence.
Worsening their gravity, Joe's years of persistent negative comments towards his children's appearance, broke down their self-esteem, leading most of them to nasal surgeries to adjust their self-image.
Majority of children from abusive families statistically develop a flattering tendency toward early marriage, using it as an escape from their debilitating conditions. Rebbie was the first one to dash from the sexual and physical abuse of her father by finding salvation in her marriage to her secret boyfriend Nathaniel Brown, when she turned 18.
In 1971, 17-year-old Tito wedded his first girlfriend, Delores 'Dee-Dee' Martes. Jermaine married Berry Gordy and Motown CEO's daughter Hazel, Marlon wedded his girlfriend Carol Parker when he turned 18, and when Janet, turned 18 too, she married James DeBarge of famous R&B group DeBarge.
Jeff Anthony is a novelist, a Big Brother Africa 2 Kenyan representative and founder of Jeff's Fitness Centre @jeffbigbrother
