NEW YORK -- On Tuesday (June 30), the Reverend Al Sharpton led a memorial for Michael Jackson at Harlem's Apollo Theater. Thousands of fans lined up as early as 5 a.m., according to reports. The theater opened its doors at 2 p.m., admitting Jackson's fans 600 at a time. MTV News went to the world-famous venue, where it looked as if more than 1,000 people were lined up waiting.

"The Apollo has always been the symbol for black music and, later on, popular music because as black music expanded, American popular music became greatly grounded in the black music tradition," Sharpton explained from his office. "No one was responsible for that more than Michael Jackson.

"I said, 'We need to do a memorial in New York and give the people in New York an opportunity to express their love for Michael, similar to when we brought James Brown's body to the Apollo,' " Sharpton continued. "Michael was a part of Amateur Night at the Apollo, Michael in 2002 came back and performed at the Apollo for the Democratic National Committee. At 5:26 Eastern time, which was the time [article id="1614744"]Michael was announced dead,[/article]

I will call for a silent prayer to remember Michael five days after the exact moment of the announcement [of his death]. I will give a eulogy for this community and what he meant to us."

Sharpton said the love for Jackson in the black community was immense despite the talk in some media that African-Americans had become ambivalent about the King of Pop over the years.

"What mainstream media is doing is catching up with black support of Michael," the Reverend said. "Blacks never abandoned Michael. When Michael had the problem with his catalog, he came to Harlem and we marched with Michael. When Michael was indicted with the [article id="1504017"]molestation case,[/article] black people stood by him, all the civil-rights leaders, and were criticized for being there. We never abandoned Michael. What is interesting now [is that] in his death, they're discovering our support for Michael. When everyone abandoned Michael, it was his family there and his base community. It's fitting the Apollo has the first big memorial for him because we were the ones that never left Michael. We were proud of him wherever he went, whatever changes he went through. We understood his success was our success."

Sharpton says no one supported Jackson more than his family, and addressed father Joe Jackson's controversial statements on the BET Awards red carpet.

"He wanted to thank the fans for all the love, and he felt there had been some distortion that he was trying to promote a record when he did the BET red carpet," Sharpton said, explaining the press conference he and Joe Jackson held Monday. "But my position is, whether one thinks what he said on the red carpet was appropriate or not, Joe Jackson is the head of that family and he stood by [Michael] during his trial. Look at the footage, Joe and Katherine walked him in and out of that courtroom. To say he doesn't care about his son is absurd. When it looked like all was lost, that family stood by him."

Addressing the crowd at the Apollo, Sharpton said, "Michael Jackson represents to us something we understand. When the whole world turned on Michael, we never turned on Michael."

The Jackson family is having a [article id="1615008"]public memorial service[/article] for Michael on Friday in California. A private memorial will be held on Sunday.

For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered."

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