The lion of Africa Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba (Mama Africa), was a South African great singer, United Nations Goodwill ambassador, Actor, and civil rights activist. She was associated with musical genres which includes Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was known for her advocacy against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa. Makeba's first name, Zenzile, means "you have no one to blame but yourself" or "you have done it to yourself", which seems unfair, considering how much her life was governed by external forces. In her time, she survived cancer, plane and car crashes, political coups and jailings. After the death of her father, she moved with her mother to Riverside in Pretoria, where, after sneaking repeatedly into rehearsals by the choir her sister Mizpha sang with, she was eventually allowed to join. She won a missionary school talent show at 13 and soon began singing at weddings and other celebrations, although she was also forced to make a living as a