Inspiration for the Musical

The inspiration for "Africa & Plumbridge" came to me in a very special way. It began when I married my wonderful, kind and giving husband, Thomas. His love and generosity provided a lifestyle I had only dreamt possible. I had everything a woman could wish for and that fueled in me the desire and need to give back to those less fortunate.

Photo of Africa and Sue, courtesy of Paladino Photography

I started volunteering at homeless shelters for abused children. It was heart-wrenching for me to see so many children without a home and a family to care for them. Toddlers would crawl to me and lay their heads in my lap and other children would beg for me to adopt them. Children of all ages were bundled together without the bare necessities or even a healthy meal to eat.

Most of the children were aimless and unmotivated; many not even attending school, let alone learning if they did attend. I knew, through my own experience, that their key to a decent life would come through education and knowing that someone cared. Because these children were abused and treated as if they were worthless human beings, they behaved as though they were totally expendable. The question for me was how to reach them and teach them that they were somebody. Then, it came to me: "Learn to Earn."

The children who needed the most help were the teenagers. Through the Board of Directors for my non-for profit organization, Homeless and Abused Children of Chicago, and the help of hundreds of volunteers we gave a party for these kids every few months. These get-togethers soon became known as the "Learn to Earn" parties.

The invitations for "Learn to Earn" were given to the teens as a reward for their good behavior in their group homes and at their schools. The invitation included a list of 25 polysyllabic words to memorize for a giant spelling bee and the opportunity to earn as much as $200.00. During the spelling bee at the party, each contestant would receive $3.00 to spell the word, another $3.00 to give the meaning of the word and then another $3.00 to use the word correctly in a sentence. If the child aced the test, they would get a bonus of $1.00 per word

These parties were so successful that almost all of 40,000 children in the Department of Children and Family Services wanted to attend. We were handling as many as 1,000 kids at each party. One of these parties included a presentation of Homer Bryant's classical rap ballet. The beautiful dancing mesmerized all of the teens and especially one child in particular, Africa. Following the performance, I offered free ballet lesson to all interested and Africa was the first to accept. She was thirteen, very shy and seemingly unhappy.

From that day, we kept in touch. As time went on, my husband and I would take her to dinner and she would also spend weekends with us. Then the worst happened. One morning, just after Africa's fifteenth birthday, I received a phone call that changed my life. An assistant in the group home where Africa was residing called and told me that Africa had been taken to an institution after attempting suicide.

My husband and I immediately went to see her and were informed that she would be locked up in the institution for at least a year and that she had been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. As we were leaving, a nurse took us aside and told us that she believed that Africa has been misdiagnosed. I also believed this. I knew she was extremely rebellious and angry, but she certainly did not have a multiple personality. I was very frightened about what would happen to her. There and then my husband and I made the decision to go to court to rescue Africa from what could have been a death sentence for her or anybody else.

Through our fight for Africa, we wrote the musical, originally titled "Love is the Reason." After Africa had been with us for a year, I sat her down and asked if she would mind us using her name for the musical. She immediately said yes. For her, it was and still is vindication that she is okay, that she is not a multiple personality. She, unfortunately like many other unloved, young people, was trying to hold onto herself the only way she knew how.

We hope that the musical, "Africa & Plumbridge," is so successful, that we have to hire people to give the proceeds away to all the thousands of children who attend our "Learn to Earn" parties. Thank you for your interest.

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