What have we done to the world, Look what we’ve done,/What about all the peace. Michael Jackson’s commitment to the cause of African Americans in the US, the poverty in the developing world, and his anguish at the killing fields of Africa, at the nature of violence and the destructive capabilities of weapons were astounding, to say the least. That he firmly believed in the lyrics and tenor of these songs was more than evident in his concerts where despite being such a perfectionist regarding matters of artistic style and dance, Michael would passionately request his audience directly to “make that change” and help prop up the destitute and those less privileged than themselves. The last song urged the world to fight against discriminations based on race and colour by boldly portraying people from all countries as equal, be it India, the US, Kenya, Ethiopia, China or France in its video with a common notion of humankind: the progress of thought and human spirit.
While controversies ravaged this brilliant and unusually gifted musician in the later years of his life, the tipping point of which was the child abuse cases of which he was finally acquitted in 2005, the world at large will perhaps remember Michael as a man and a musician who inspired, cajoled, enlightened and provoked many of us to rethink our political and social notions on race, colour, poverty, the politics of nations, poverty, the underprivileged and the health of our planet itself through such songs as “Man in the Mirror” (1988), “ Heal the World” (1991), “Earth Song” (1996), and “Black or White” (1991). While we grieve that we did not see him perform his magical shows for the last time, with the benefit of hindsight one can argue that it was perhaps meant to be that way…his sudden passing away has left the world with a desire to practise what he so ardently believed in his lifetime: a peaceful world order based on human equality. Fields and Red Skelton at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California in a hidden mausoleum made of marble and mortar. Michael Jackson, the man, was finally laid to rest on Septem(nearly two months after his death) amongst the greats of Hollywood like Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, W.C.
Hence, in the light of the immortality of the man’s music his mortality on Jhas left the world with a physical void as it missed out on his last shows “This Is It” planned for July 2009 to March 2010. Given his talent and creative genius, it is therefore really no surprise that Michael’s music vibrates from places as far apart as Kohima or Dimapur in Nagaland, India to Alice Springs in the heart of Australia to Addis Ababa in Africa to the up-market streets of New York. Significantly, during the height of the Cold War, his song “We are the World” was popular in Eastern Europe and the USSR, to say nothing about the heart-beating popularity of his music album “Thriller” amongst the youth of these countries. Michael Jackson’s musical message of social and political equality amongst races the world over influenced the political and social thinking of many around the world with a liberal ideology of progress, change, human emancipation and equality.