of divinity to save. Jarman-Ivens also noted the look between the gang member and Madonna, which she thought was a complicity of "White men rape/kill women, white men blame it on Black men; Women are raped/killed for being on the streets at night, Black men are nevertheless thrown in jail." Other themes noted by Metz include the burning crosses scene, which he felt evoked the murder scene of three civil workers, portrayed in the 1988 American crime drama film Mississippi Burning. He also noted that when Madonna dances with the choir in the church altar, a young Black boy joins her. This was a reference to the only person who had protested against the Ku Klux Klan murders in Mississippi Burning, a Black man. For the author, it was symbolic of his protest being transferred in Madonna. Regarding the kissing scene between the saint and Madonna, Carol Benson observed that the "numerous cut-scenes of burning crosses, shocked face of Madonna, bleeding eye of the icon etc" made a point that multiple times in history, black men have been punished for kissing or desiring white women. Grant believed this was where the racial equality message of the video came across as most poignant. On the contrary, when the curtain falls and the scene shifts to a smiling Madonna among the burning crosses, professor Maury Dean felt that another explanation was inevitable. Madonna portrays a successful heroine and thus the whole video becomes about female empowerment. Live performances The first live performance of "Like a Prayer" was on the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, with Madonna wearing a dress that looked like a cross between a Mediterranean widow's attire and a clergy's robe. Hundreds of burning candles surrounded her as she knelt down in front of the stage, the backup singers crying the words "Oh my God" several times. Madonna eventually removed a scarf from her head to display a huge crucifix hanging from her neck, and then rose and sang the full song, while her dancers gyrated around her. Two different performances were taped and released on video: the Blond Ambition: Japan Tour 90, taped in Yokohama, Japan, on April 27, 1990, and Blond Ambition World Tour Live, taped in Nice, France, on August 5, 1990. On his review of the latter release, Entertainment Weeklys Ty Burr praised the "gymnastic dance productions in songs such as 'Where's the Party' and 'Like