THE LATE JOSEPH JACKSON
CREDIT: JOSEPH JACKSON FACEBOOK
Right On!’s Cynthia Horner had a special relationship with the Jacksons’ dad, Papa Joe Jackson. Find out more about the man who launched a dynasty of famous brothers and sisters in one of her rare conversations with him.
Q. What do you remember most about with the kids back in the day?
JOE JACKSON: Feeding all those kids and having to providing for them. I wasn’t going on welfare, so I hard to work two jobs for a long time to deal with that.
Q. Was that a lot of pressure to have to provide for them. Mrs. Jackson didn’t work, is that correct?
JOE JACKSON: Well, she worked a little bit. But I had to take up a trade so that I could get another job.
Q. What kind of trade?
JOE JACKSON: Welding.
Q. You said welfare was not an option, please explain.
JOE JACKSON I never had to do that. I figured if I could work and provide for them another kind of way, why go to welfare? I kept them eating, Cynthia!
What happened if the check ran out before payday?
JOE JACKSON: You know what I did? I would get produce out of the field that the workers would leave behind. When they would harvest, they would leave some of the food.
What type of food were you able to get?
JOE JACKSON: Potatoes, beans, greens, stuff like that. We would can it, put it in jars.
PRECIOUS MEMORIES!
