Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, United Nations goodwill ambassador, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa.
Miriam Makeba was born in Johannesburg, during a time of economic depression. She grew up in Nelspruit where her father was a clerk with Shell Oil. Her mother was a practitioner of herbal medicine, divination and counselling in traditional Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi societies of Southern Africa. Her father died when she was five years old, Miriam was sent to live with her grandmother at a compound in Riverside, Pretoria. From a young age, Makeba loved to sing at church, and performed her first solo during the 1947 Royal Visit. Miriam began her working life helping her mother clean houses. In the 1950s, she lived in Sophiatown when it was a vibrant place and one of the few areas where all races could mix. It was the scene of kwela music, marabi and African jazz and big band music became popular.
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Makeba began her music career singing for her cousin’s band, the Cuban Brothers, but it was only when she began to sing for the Manhattan Brothers in 1954 that she began to build a reputation. She toured South Africa, Zimbabwe (former Rhodesia) and the Congo with the band until 1957. After this Makeba sang for all-women group, the Skylarks, which combined jazz and traditional African melodies. Makeba’s appearances in the films Come Back Africa (1957) and as the female lead in Todd Matshikiza’s King Kong (1959) cemented her reputation in the music industry both locally and abroad. She later married her King Kong co-star, Hugh Masekela, in 1964. Makeba arrived in New York in November 1959, later resigning herself to exile after South Africa refused to renew her passport.
The South African government then revoked her passport and denied her the possibility of returning to South Africa. She was the first black musician to leave South Africa on account of apartheid, and over the years many others would follow her.Makeba took up refuge in London after the Venice film festival and met Harry Belafonte, who helped her to immigrate to the USA. In the early 1960s, she shot to fame in the USA overnight, and performed for former US President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962. Among her other admirers were Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, Nina Simone and Miles Davis.
In 1960, when she tried to return to South Africa for her mother’s funeral, she discovered that her passport had been revoked. In 1963, she testified about apartheid at the United Nations and her South African citizenship was taken away from her. She lived in the US thereafter and her records were banned in South Africa.
In 1966, she won a Grammy award for An Evening with Harry Belafonte in 1965. She was also the first black woman to have a Top-Ten worldwide hit with Pata Pata in 1967. In total, she recorded four albums in the USA. It was in the United States that she also recorded her famous Qogothwane (The “Click” Song).
In 1968, she married militant African-American civil rights activist and Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael but harassment from the US government and forced to move to Guineau. They separated in 1978. After moving to Guinea, Makeba managed to find work outside the USA. She toured Europe, South America and Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. It was during this period that Makeba addressed the United Nations’ General Assembly twice, speaking out against apartheid as a Guinean delegate to the United Nations (UN). In 1986, she was awarded the Dag Hammerskjold Peace Prize from the Diplomatic Academy for Peace.
The 1980s were a difficult time for Makeba, as she separated from Carmichael and her daughter, Bongi, died in tragic circumstances. She also battled with alcohol abuse and cervical cancer during this period. In 1987, she joined American folk singer Paul Simon’s highly successful Graceland tour to newly independent Zimbabwe. After Graceland, Miriam was in great demand, and went on to perform for heads of state, and even the Pope. In 1990, African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela was freed from 27 years in prison, and encouraged Miriam Makeba to return to South Africa. She then returned, after 31 years in exile, and became a goodwill ambassador for South Africa to the United Nations.
In 1997, she embarked on her Farewell Tour and appeared in the movie Mama by Veronique Patte Doumbe. In 1998 she toured Africa, the USA and Europe and sold out theatres. In 2005, Makeba announced her retirement for the mainstream music industry but she continued to make appearances and to do smaller performances. Makeba continued her humanitarian work and also supported campaigns against drug abuse and HIV/Aids awareness.
