Michael Jackson Visits South Africa
“We were greeted by a long line of African dancers. Their drums and sounds filled the air with rhythm. I was going crazy, I was screaming, “All right! They got the rhythm… This is it. This is where I come from. The origin.”‘ Michael Jackson, 1976 – Daka, Senegal, Africa
“The rhythms are incredible. You can tell especially the way the children move. Even the little babies, when they hear the drums, they start to move. The rhythm, the way it affects their soul and they start to move. The same thing that Blacks have in America “~ Michael Jackson, 1993 – Ivory Coast, Africa
After Michael read a prayer in the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in the Ivory Coast, a 9-year-old boy exclaimed “Michael is love, love, love! I want to be like him.”
The sound of MAKOSSA (a dance from Cameroon) was used by Michael in his “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”, influenced by Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa”.
This MAKOSSA is composed by Eva Nilsson, and contains Michael’s part. The live recording is a bit rough, but the piece is tenderly performed by EKOO!, a Swedish vocal constellation. Instruments: Hapi Drum (Eva Nilsson), South African kalimba (Helen Melin), Ghanaian rattle (Marie Larsdotter) and Doundoun (Diana Nuñez).
When Michael, now 33, came off the plane in Gabon, a West African neighbor nation of Senegal, he was greeted by an excited, screaming crowd of grade-school students who carried a banner that proclaimed: “Welcome Home Michael.”
Drum sounds filled the air with rhythm that flowed from fans who gathered at the airport and lined the streets in anticipation of seeing the “King of pop, rock and soul,” who would later be crowned “King Sani” in a West African village.
Despite or perhaps because of this acclaim, the pop idol almost immediately became the center of an international controversy based on a negative media campaign. The media bashing included these big lies:
Lie: “The singer cut short an African tour after a stopover generated the wrong kind of excitement.”
TRUTH: The sponsors wanted him to extend his tour to meet the demand for his appearances everywhere.
Lie: The trip was a “public relations disaster for Michael.”
TRUTH: It was a triumph in which he drew more spectators in Gabon than Nelson Mandela and more in the Ivory Coast than the Pope, according to African spokespersons.
Lie: He held his hand to his nose because the African nations smelled.
TRUTH: He sometimes touched his nose, an old nervous habit which earned him the nickname “Smelly,” given originally by Quincy Jones because Michael was touching his nose in Los Angeles.
Lie: He collapsed from the heat and he went to London for a medical appointment.
TRUTH: He was never bothered by the heat. His personal physician, Dr. R. Chalmers, accompanied Jackson on the trip. Jackson didn’t go to London for a medical appointment.
Lie: He refused to shake hands with Africans.
TRUTH: He shook the hands of hundreds of people, hugged and kissed children in hospitals and institutions for the mentally retarded.
Lie: He is “neither Black nor White” and is not a good role model for children.
TRUTH: After Michael read a prayer in the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in the Ivory Coast, a 9-year-old boy exclaimed “Michael is love, love, love! I want to be like him.”
He was crowned in COTE D’IVOIRE (IVORY COAST) because he is well known for his humanity and philanthropy. Tour organizer Charles Bobbit reflected on the African tour and said: “I was impressed with the interaction between Michael and the children. He sat on the bed with children who were deformed and children that were ill… He sat there and talked to them, hugged, cuddled them. He shook hands and did not wear a surgical mask like he does sometimes in America… That qualifies him as a role model for children–his deeds and not his looks.”
While the international controversy raged, Michael remained aloof, refusing to read the stories and saying that he preferred to let his deeds and his songs speak for him. Strangely and significantly, he had anticipated these and other criticisms in the song, “Why You Wanna Trip On Me,” in the Dangerous album. The song says, in part:
They say I’m different/They don’t understand/But there’s a bigger problem] Thats much more in demand/You got world hunger/Not enough to eat/So there’s really no time/To be trippin’ on
It was clear from the beginning that the African people agreed with Michael. And from the time of his arrival, the native of Gary, Ind., was welcomed like a ruling dignitary and a long-lost son.
He had come to the land of his ancestors to participate in a historic ceremony conducted beneath a sacred tree in the gold-mining village of Krindjabo, populated by the Agni tribe and located near Abidjan, Ivory Coast. As the village people stood in admiration, Amon N’ Djaolk, the traditional tribal chief of Krindjabo, placed a crown of gold upon the head of the musical monarch and pronounced him “king of Sani..
Almost overcome by emotions, the shy, sensitive son of Joseph and Katherine Jackson smiled and said, “Merci beaucoup,” to the French-speaking people and repeated in English, ‘Thank you very much.”
He then joined elders of the king’s court, signed official documents and sat on a throne of gold as women dancers, clad in white gowns, gave a dazzling performance of ritual dances. These elderly women are the guardians of the village, and their ceremonial dances gave their blessings to the crowning of”King Sani” and asked God for protection at a tree that symbolized the essence of power.
The musical messenger, who journeyed to West and East African nations as a self-proclaimed ambassador of peace, love and goodwill, achieved a success that exceeded his expectation.
From his sunset arrival in Gabon, where more than 100,000 people greeted him with spiritual bedlam, to his stop in Cairo, Egypt, to which he had paid homage on his newest album, Dangerous, with the best-selling single and music video Remember The Time, Michael was caught up in a hurricane of happy happenings.
By Robert E. Johnson
COPYRIGHT 1992 Johnson Publishing Co.
May The King Rest With The Ancestors. Sir Michael Jackson has done more for Afrika ( and the World) than many will ever know.
Read more about Michael being crowned here: Micheal Jackson Crowned as King Sani
11 Responses to “Michael Jackson Visits South Africa”
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Michael is amazing. No one will ever be like him, ever.
EVER.
They’ll be other great men, but never another Michael Jackson! Even if we do get someone LIKE him, people like that come around once a century!
King Sani… Is this where you got the inspiration for the name Saniia – or is it just a coincidence?
There will be no one quite like Michael – not in a million years. He was unique, truly one of a kind…
But then again, are we not all unique?
I think so.
No it’s not where I got the name, but of course I did think of the resemblance. I like to call it divine inspiration. OF course now when Prince Michael is crowned King, now we know what his title will be!!! :wink:
Yes, we’re all unique, that’s true — thing is, though, we humans have this thing called free will, and some of us use our gifts to serve our own self, or feed our egos or worst to hurt others
:heart: and then we have the people like Michael, who share our gifts with the world and make it a better place :smile:
I think that’s what makes Michael special. Not what was so special about him, but what he chose to do with it.
I think Michael was also in a pretty unique position to really share his gifts with THE WHOLE WORLD.He inspired many people in many countries and did good things all around the globe so he truly did make the world a better place. I have great admiration and respect for him because of the fact that he continued to do that all his life even when he had personal problems or was in deep emotional pain…he still had the energy and the will to help others, he still gave. That’s special.
I love that Michael was crowned as King in this village in Africa, where else but there? And that the people wanted his body to be buried there…I think he might have liked that. And I bet they would have given him a ceremony worthy of a King. :cwy:
It’s true he was, but I have to say, so are a lot of other people, and they don’t chooose to do the things he did. Michael, with all the world put him through could have very well said F it but he never did.
I’m reminded of Missy Elliot (if you’ve never heard of her then good, but she’s a rapper/song writer or whatever) she was giving an interview on the radio, and they remarked on the fact that she had a bunch of cars, and she said, Well, I have all this money, what else am I going to do with it?
And I was like :wassat:
I couldn’t believe she actual had those thoughts and admitted to it out loud! :pouty:
You’d be surprised how many people have so much to give and they hoard it for themselves and never think twice about another person.
I think Africa had a special place in Michael’s heart and I love that the people there honored him and treated him like royalty, in a way it makes up in some small measure for how he was treated here in the states, which IMO was deplorable.
A lot of people? No, I don’t think so. I can’t think of anybody who reached as many people all over the world with what he did, and the way he did it, be it singing and dancing or spreading the message of Heal the World. People reacted differently to him than to any other person I think. So even if MIssy Elliott helped build schools in Africa or something, she’s not a rolemodel for me for example just because she’s doing that. That’s why to me Michael is nearly the only person from this business who is so inspirational, who has this influence on me at least.
Yes, my thoughts excactly. Africa treated him like royalty and he was, really.
Hmmm, let me explain what I mean a bit more. . . . like Ms. Laura — I don’t know her last name because the children in her class, since it was special ed never called her Laura. She was my son’s teacher from when he was 2 yrs old up until he turn eight, and she really loved him, and he loved her. And she helped him speak, because my son didn’t speak until he was six years old.
And to me Ms. Laura is a hero and an inspiration. She found her gift and she’s sharing it with the world. It’s a small part of the world, the people God has chosen for her to touch, but she is doing her part.
It’s like Ms. Fine. Who would Michael be if he didn’t have Ms. Fine. Or Bill. These people were heros in his life. That’s where I’m coming from. It’s like in parenting they always say it’s not the quantity of time you spend w/ your child but the quality — and take Oprah for example, she has done so much for so many people, but I believe her intentions are ego driven, and she does a lot of harm, too, that maybe other people can’t see but I see it. So she’s not my hero.
I think we all have things inside of us that we can share and we can give — I actually think that’s the most important lesson we’re here to learn, to share. And I think why we loved Michael so much is because he showed us that so clearly :heart:
I’ve always wanted to go to Africa… the Motherland.
Whenever I see pictures of it or hear people talking about it, something stirs in my spirit. I’m definitely going to go soon!
I know Michael loved his time there but whenever I see this video I cringe a little because wherever he went people always tried to just grab him and snatch him up like he was a piece of meat.
Hi Ladake! :smile:
I know the feeling. I think it’s something about those drums! Michael was right you know, put a baby in front of some drums and music and they can’t keep still — they have to move.
I’ve heard, despite how it’s portrayed, that Africa is an extremely beautiful country, and with the natural habitats I can imagine.
I do kinda cringe when I see how people grabbed Michael and followed him around, but someone how in this video I see it much more as love then I do in more modernized socieities. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I think these people haven’t been bombarded with media images of him, so it’s more like love for a brother than for an “icon” or “entity”.
And once again, to me Michael is genuinely interacting and happy, you can see him moving in his seat to the drums and stuff — I don’t know. Sometimes I get the impression that Michael is performing, and then at other times that he’s truly present and there in the moment. Am I making sense?
Beautiful! Michael just WOW! :smile: