.The Michael Jackson phenomenon didn't start in my family with my red leather jacket with a million zippers and a white t-shirt of Michael's amazing feet while on the tip of his toes. It didn't start in the 80s with the "Billie Jean" video on MTV, which was on something new that gave us more channels called cable. It started in the 70s on the equator on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama, hundreds of miles away, with Jackson 5 posters plastered on my mother and aunt's bedroom walls. It started with Jackson 5 hits blaring on the American radio station.

My mom claimed Jermaine because she says, "He was the cutest one." And her all-time, absolute favorite Jackson song is "Ben." I used to play that song 50 million times a day," she says. Michael was Aunt Sharon's favorite, naturally since she's the baby.

Around age 12 for her and 14 for my mom, the Jackson 5 came to Panama in the Fall of 1974 for their Latin American Tour. Neither my mom nor Aunt Sharon can remember the buzz or the details surrounding that concert. But my aunt says the one thing she does remember is: "I just got up and screamed and it wasn't even time to scream."

More than 3 decades later, on a highway in New Jersey, I wanted to scream, too, but not with unbridled excitement... with shock.

Someone who's been in the Smith family for several generations was no longer around to create lasting musical memories across space and time. Though I never got the chance to see Michael in person or in concert, his genius will be missed.

Shanida Smith Carter is a television producer and writer in New York City. She also teaches college courses on the Latin American and Caribbean Diaspora. She lives in New Jersey with her husband. BBN looks forward to her coverage and perspective. .

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