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 servant for white families.
Exiled from South Africa for 31 years, she lived a peripatetic life and was showered in awards and accolades, but at times became a fugitive because of her stance on apartheid, as well as for affiliations that others found awkward.
The youngest of six childen, Makeba was only 18 days old when she was imprisoned with her mother Nomkomendelo, whose "crime" was brewing and selling beer (umqombothi), which was illegal at the time for Africans. This was before apartheid, which would make life even more difficult when it became the state system in 1948.
Makeba's career flourished in the US, and she released several albums and songs, her most popular being "Pata Pata" (1967) which featured the distinctive clicking sounds of Xhosa, the first language of her father, who died when she was six . Along with Belafonte she received a Grammy Award for her 1966 album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba .
She also became involved in African-American politics. In 1962 she sang at President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration, and in July 1963 gave the first of two addresses that decade to the United Nations calling for action against apartheid. Her citizenship was revoked. In the same year, after collapsing onstage, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, surviving only by having a hysterectomy.
Makeba married the American black activist Stokely Carmichael in 1968 (divorced 1979), a circumstance that led to the decline of her career in the United States.
she lost support among white Americans and faced hostility from the US government, leading her and Carmichael to move to Guinea of Africa, settled in Guinea, and then moved to Belgium, continuing to record and tour in Africa and Europe.
She also testified against the South African government in front of the United Nations and became involved in the African-American civil rights movement. She specifically requested an arms embargo against South Africa, stating that weapons sold to the government would likely be used against black women and children. As a result, her South African citizenship and her right to return to the country were revoked. Makeba thus became a stateless individual, but she was soon issued international passports by Guinea , Belgium and Ghana. In her life, she held nine passports and was granted honorary citizenship in ten countries.
She sang her South African music songs from Latin America, Europe, Israel, and elsewhere in Africa.
In February 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from prison and in June she returned to South Africa to a heroine's welcome. In 1992 she starred in the film Sarafina! about the Soweto uprisings and was reinstated as a South African citizen. In 2000, her album Homeland received a Grammy nomination, and she appeared in the film Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony in 2002.
Zenzile Miriam Makeba died in Castel Volturno, Italy, 9 November 2008, married four times and had one child. She won't be forgotten in a hurry. The lion of Africa" MAMA 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 servant for white families.
Exiled from South Africa for 31 years, she lived a peripatetic life and was showered in awards and accolades, but at times became a fugitive because of her stance on apartheid, as well as for affiliations that others found awkward.
The youngest of six childen, Makeba was only 18 days old when she was imprisoned with her mother Nomkomendelo, whose "crime" was brewing and selling beer (umqombothi), which was illegal at the time for Africans. This was before apartheid, which would make life even more difficult when it became the state system in 1948.
Makeba's career flourished in the US, and she released several albums and songs, her most popular being "Pata Pata" (1967) which featured the distinctive clicking sounds of Xhosa, the first language of her father, who died when she was six . Along with Belafonte she received a Grammy Award for her 1966 album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba .
She also became involved in African-American politics. In 1962 she sang at President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration, and in July 1963 gave the first of two addresses that decade to the United Nations calling for action against apartheid. Her citizenship was revoked. In the same year, after collapsing onstage, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, surviving only by having a hysterectomy.
Makeba married the American black activist Stokely Carmichael in 1968 (divorced 1979), a circumstance that led to the decline of her career in the United States.
she lost support among white Americans and faced hostility from the US government, leading her and Carmichael to move to Guinea of Africa, settled in Guinea, and then moved to Belgium, continuing to record and tour in Africa and Europe.
She also testified against the South African government in front of the United Nations and became involved in the African-American civil rights movement. She specifically requested an arms embargo against South Africa, stating that weapons sold to the government would likely be used against black women and children. As a result, her South African citizenship and her right to return to the country were revoked. Makeba thus became a stateless individual, but she was soon issued international passports by Guinea , Belgium and Ghana. In her life, she held nine passports and was granted honorary citizenship in ten countries.
She sang her South African music songs from Latin America, Europe, Israel, and elsewhere in Africa.
In February 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from prison and in June she returned to South Africa to a heroine's welcome. In 1992 she starred in the film Sarafina! about the Soweto uprisings and was reinstated as a South African citizen. In 2000, her album Homeland received a Grammy nomination, and she appeared in the film Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony in 2002.
Zenzile Miriam Makeba died in Castel Volturno, Italy, 9 November 2008, married four times and had one child. She won't be forgotten in a hurry. The lion of Africa" MAMA AFRICA"
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