For me, the memory of Michael Jackson is all bound up with second grade and a girl in my class then who was murdered, Cynthia Hinds. Cynthia loved the Jackson Five.
I have been thinking about her and recently, I found the essay I wrote about her death back in 2003 when her murderer was sentenced. Cynthia was one of the victims of Gary Ridgway, the Green River Murderer. The Green River Murders were a series of serial killings of prostitutes along a lonely strip of highway south of the Sea-Tac Airport.
In 2003, I wrote:
Cynthia Hinds and I were in the second grade together at Lowell Elementary School in Seattle. We were not friends. She envied my ability to read with ease; I envied her beauty. Looking back at our class picture, I can see that she was a wide-eyed, buck-toothed girl who had yet to grow into her looks, but to me, at seven, she was the prettiest girl in the class. Beautiful. She had cinnamon skin, huge brown eyes, and long wavy hair that she wore in a ponytail on the side of her head, tied with thick, fuzzy red yarn. Hers is still the hair I think of as the prettiest I have ever seen. …There is a lot to say here—about my nerdiness and aspiration, about her love for the Jackson Five and my sense that I wouldn’t know what to say to them (let alone remember Marlon, Randy, and Tito’s names or tell them apart). (Funny to imagine being more comfortable with Lincoln than with Jermaine Jackson, but with Lincoln, I felt more confident: I had a lot of questions to ask him and I knew a lot more about him, having read the D’Aulaire biography dozens and dozens of times.) Lowell was a very integrated elementary school: no one race dominated and we thought and talked a lot about race all the time.
She was good at dancing. Everyday, we did Soul Train. I ran between the two swaying lines of classmates, trying to get it over with; Cynthia thrived on the attention. She loved the Jackson Five. One day, Ms. Pogue asked us to write a little composition, finishing the sentence: “If I could invite anyone to dinner, I would invite…” While I wrote an essay on Abraham Lincoln, Cynthia was getting Ms. Pogue’s help with the spelling of Michael and Jermaine.
I also remember that Cynthia pinned me to the wall every day for a little over a week and kicked me in the butt. No matter which exit I used, she found me, gave me one kick, and walked away. Eventually, the teachers got control, and I was freed.
Even after elementary school, I remembered her—how pretty she was and her animus to me and all the confusing feelings connected with that, with knowing that I was smarter than she was, knowing (duh!) that just by my being white, things (what things I couldn’t have said) were easier for me than for her. So I was shocked to see her picture on the front page of the Seattle Times as a murder victim in 1982. There I was, in high school honors classes and this girl who had been such a part of my second grade life was dead.
I think back to that intimidating Soul Train line in second grade and remember loving Michael Jackson in spite of my fear of dancing in public. I think we all loved Michael Jackson. I still do.
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7 comments:
This was so hard for thousands of people because Michael Jackson is an idol I mean an icon for many of them, actually he inspired me to release my new CD called Sildenafil Citrate which has some Jackson's covers.
Hi Anne, I was in your 2nd grade class also. We were friends and Cynthia was my nemesis. I was a geeky, sickly kid named Lyndy Wisdom. My parents were puppeteers. I ended up buying a house in 95, that is right next to Pac-Highway where she was killed . I felt so bad when she died because the last time I saw her ..as she was punching me in the arm..I told her that I hoped she would just die. I also remember her and the Jackson 5 and envied her dancing and jump rope skills!
Hi Anne I'm Sharon, I lived across the street from Cynthia. I remember being in my friend Jennie yard with Cynthia drinking thunder bird and green cool-aid. She was telling me she was going to make some money cuz she was broke. That's the last we seen her. It's funny that I also remember her hair and how beautiful it was. It was real nice to read this letter. God bless, Sharon
Hello,
It's great to read something that humanizes the Green River victims. I was wondering as well whether you knew any of the other women, like Opal Mills.
The story of Cynthia Hinds is incredible and shocking. She became famous here in Brazil with the song "Let's Fall In Love Again" but nobody knows she was killed by serial killer Gary Ridgway. She was talented, sad story
Many people in Brazil makes confusion because of the singer. The whereabouts of Cynthia Hinds (the singer) are unknown, it's impossible to find anything from her on the Internet, except for the song "Let's Fall in Love Again".
Cynthia Hinds (the student) was murdered at age 17, I think. This article was really touching. I was unaware until yesterday about this serial killer. I googled "Cynthia Hinds" and then I found out about this horrible massacre. God bless all the families who suffered so much when their girls went missing.
Thank you, Anne, for sharing your thoughts with us. It's been 9 years, but the article still remains very interesting and induces us to reflect on life.
I also knew Cynthia Hinds and her sister,Sherri too. I remember her as a fun loving person who always wanted to be the center of attention. I went to Meant middle School with both of them. I had been in trouble when I came to Seattle in 1977, so although I am a year older than Cynthia, I was in the same grade. I continue to miss her and think about still today. My thoughts and prayers to her sister and family
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