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| Africa lost her son: Michael Jackson |
 Artist of the Millenium at the World Music Awards in 2000, a real icon for Afro-Americans, earning more prizes than any other artist in the world, “the King of pop” passed away on June 25th 2009, leaving behind him several question marks regarding his eccentric lifestyle. Between his artistic genius and the accusations that deteriorated his image, perhaps, Michael Jackson is just an artist who was not understood in his own time. Hereafter highlights of the history of a shooting star…© Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Born in 1958 in the United-States, Michael Jackson is predestined to become an international star: beginning his professional carrier at age eleven with The Jackson Five, he reached the pinnacle of fame by recording five studio albums, which topped every international billboards: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995). Despite the many scandals emanating from his private life and his numerous surgery operations, dubbing him the “bleached” Black with a “funny nose”, according to Wil Haygood, “Black America refused to give up on him, as if knowing the hardship and unhappiness of so many child singers, whether black or white”. Michael did not give up on the Black community either, as his timeless song entitled “We are the world" illustrates. Michael says: “And the truth, you know, love is all we need”… Thanks to his African tour during which he held many concerts, several hundreds of million of dollars were collected for the benefit of the victims of famine in Africa. In 2004, following his visit to Washington, in order to mobilise the international community and the American legislators in the fight against AIDS in Africa, Michael Jackson obtained a distinction from the association of the African Ambassadors’ wives accredited in Washington. Today, the whole world mourns the king of the pop. A century ended and a generation disappeared with his death. A child too mature for his age compared to his peers, an adult too childish the rest of his life. A black-white man who united races not only through his music, but also through the colour of his skin. Half a century was sufficient to engrave his name forever on the Walk of Fame as well as in the history of humanity. While "Paris Match" in its homage described him as a “legend”, the words of Nigerian Steve Ayorinde express best Michael’s importance to Africa: “The popularity of Jackson is not comparable to any other. He was the first world icon and he was one of ours. A black man, an African. In any case, he was perceived as so in Africa. We even gave him a Nigerian name “Mukaila Jamiu”, to reaffirm this sense of belonging”. Michael Jackson thought, “Everyone should follow his heart”. He, himself, followed his heart. Between his Neverland and his mythical “Moonwalk”, the dreams and reality, his artistic genius and the sadness of a lost childhood, perhaps we were the ones who did not truly understand him. |
