"WHITE MAN GO TO JOHANNESBERG, HE COME BACK, HE COME BACK...

BLACK MAN GO TO JOHANNESBERG...NEVER COME BACK...NEVER COME BACK". WHY? WORDS AND LYRICS BY JEROME KERN AND TOD DUNCAN...TO THE MUSICAL, "LOST IN THE STARS" BASED ON ALAN PATON'S NOVEL "CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY"... AND NO ONE SINGS THE SONG MORE BEAUTIFULLY AND ELEGANTLY THAN INEZ MATTHEWS, "LOST IN THE STARS" ON THE DECCA LABEL...MANY HAVE TRIED, BUT MISS BY AT LEAST HALF A MILE IN MY OPINION. WHY DID THE BLACK MAN NOT COME BACK, AND WHERE WAS HE FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE, OR COULD HE BE FROM ANY WHERE, THE PLACE DIDN'T MATTER, WHAT DID MATTER PERHAPS, IS THAT WHEN HE VISITED AFRICA, HE HAD FOUND A HOME?... AND PERHAPS NO PLACE ELSE HAD OFFERED HIM/HER MORE COMFORT... I HAD ALWAYS INTERPRETED SOUTH AFRICA AS BEING HAZARDOUS TO BLACKS AND PEOPLE OF VARYING HUE, BUT WAS MY INTERPRETATION ASKEW BY FALSE IMAGES...IMAGES CONSTRUCTED TO DELIBERATELY MANIPULATE EMOTIONS AND CREATE A DISHONEST PARADIGM IN ORDER FOR THOSE IN POWER TO REMAIN IN POWER...FOREVER...THEY THOUGHT...UNTIL NOW... IS AMERICA PERHAPS NOTHING MORE THAN AN EXTENSION OF ENGLAND WITH ITS EUROPEAN VALUES OF FALSE SUPERIORITY AND SINCE ENGLAND IS OLDER THAN AMERICA, THE ASSUMED POWERS AT BE LOOKED BACK TOWARDS THEIR HOME LAND IF YOU WILL, FOR GUIDANCE ON HOW AMERICA SHOULD BE RULED...UP UNTIL NOW IT HAD WORKED... YES, I HAVE BEEN WRONG ON MANY COUNTS, YET REMEMBER WHAT UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE'S INTENT TRULY IS, TO ENTERTAIN AS WELL AS ENLIGHTEN... COULD IT BE THAT SOUTH AFRICA IS MORE AMERICAN THAN AMERICA? AND BY ADMITTING THESE TRUTHS SUCH AS THEY ARE, COULD IT BE THAT WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO MAKING A BETTER WORLD BECAUSE OF THE FACT. EACH BRINGING THEIR OWN UNIQUE AND NECESSARY VALUES TO STRENGTHEN ITS WEAKEST LINK, "AMERICA" IN HEALING THE ENTIRE WORLD, THROUGH THE MAGIC ELIXER, THAT WE CALL LOVE. (C)COPYRIGHTED BY GWENDOLYN MITCHELL ON JANUARY 11, 2015 AT 11:47AM LA, CA