Temptations Singer Jawan Jackson Honored by Royal Oak Township’s MLK Committee at His Old School
(Terry Lakins, Oct 13, 2024)
Royal Oak Township, MI – Jawan Jackson has done many things. He’s an actor, singer, and producer. He starred in the Broadway plays Motown the Musical and Ain’t Too Proud, where he played the role of the late Melvin Franklin, one of the original members of the Temptations. After Jackson played a Temptation for a decade, he got the call to join the group proper in 2022, making him the 27th member of the long running R & B group. Jackson has done many things but if there is one, he has not done, it is forgotten where he came from.
Though Jackson lives in New York now, he came back for a visit to his hometown. Once word got out, he was invited back to Grant Elementary in Ferndale, his old school, to receive a community service award.
Presenting the award was Mishelle Kennedy of the MLK Jr. Committee (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee History), a group that hands out awards and showcases local talent. Jackson had done a video for the committee, and they wanted to honor him with a community service award at their committee ceremony in January. He was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts, but with this quick trip back to town, the committee decided to find a way to give the award to him in a more personalized way.
Jackson is used to big crowds, spending time performing on stage as a theater actor or doing interviews with TV stations and news organizations. The crowd today was much smaller, intimate, made up of community members, family, and his old Elementary School principal. Receiving the award, along with hugs, handshakes, and the common catch phrase “we have a Temptation in the house”. All in room 210, his original classroom, this small crowd was barely above a dozen, but no less amount of love and admiration. Jackson couldn’t be more grateful.
“Out of every stage and place I’ve been in, being honored back home, it always feels good,” Jackson said. “Had it not been for the people in this community, the people that raised me back home, I would not be where I am today. They say it takes a village to raise a child, I am living proof of that. This is where my roots started, and they helped put something into me. Being able to be recognized and loved by them is the best and most rewarding thing.”
During Jackson’s stint playing a Temptation on stage he got to know the founder and last surviving original member Otis Williams, Motown music producer Berry Gordy, and Smokey Robinson of the Miracles. A long running joke between them was if they ever needed a background singer, or if a position opened, to give him a call. During the pandemic Jackson was living in L.A., and just happened to get close to Williams. There were plans for Jackson to contribute to Temptations 60, the 60th anniversary album of the founding of the group, but things fell through. Jackson said that Willaims didn’t seem too worried about it and told him that if a spot ever opened, he would be the first person to get that call.
Jackson didn’t think too much about it then. His Broadway show was ending, and he was figuring out his next steps, with an eye on pivoting to a producing like role. Then he got the call to be the next Temptation when a vacancy opened. Except this wasn’t a long running joke anymore, this was the real deal. Jackson had this to say on how he’s getting used to his new gig.
“It hasn’t quite set in that I’m in a legendary group and making history as the 27th member. Having gone from Broadway playing the exact same character and being taken over in the actual group of the founding members, it’s a lot to take in.”
Even his work in the legendary R&B group hasn’t slowed him down from other projects. Jackson is still doing commercials, acting gigs, and looking to build his own platform. He also has recently collaborated with popular Youtuber Ms. Rachel on an R&B rendition of the ABCs, and Aaron Marcellus with a remake of the classic song Everyday People. Jackson is certainly going places but if there is one thing he takes from his time spent with the Temptations, it’s the long and storied past.
“Being with Otis and them, it’s like a history lesson on steroids. This man has been around for 62 years, and he’s seen it all, come and go, with 27 members. It’s been crazy and it’s been a ride.”
