Laurence Ani
11 November 2008
Lagos — On stage, Miriam Zenzi Makeba exuded an uncommon grace that was unforced just like the simple lyrics of her songs that has thrilled audiences across the world for decades. You need not understand the lyrics of her songs to appreciate both the intensity of their message, or the ingenuity that underpin them. They were simple country ballads and village lores that evoke memories of lost innocence, an idyllic existence that speaks to our shocking repudiation of brotherhood and community.
Yet, those innocent lyrics, devoid of any fiery rebuke, were considered atrocious by South Africa's then apartheid government which revoked her citizenship and right to return to her home country, after her appearance in a riveting anti-apartheid documentary, Come Back Africa, in 1960.
Thus began a spell in exile that spanned decades from the United States (from where she fled after series of harassment from the authorities) and later Guinea. The Guinean government of Sekou Toure gave her all the courtesies a continent's mother (she is popularly called Mama Africa) deserves, even asking her to address the United Nations General Assembly on its behalf. She did that twice, and on each occasion spoke out against the evils of apartheid.
©FAO/Giulio Napolitano
Miriam Makeba the activist.
More accolades were to come later: She was received by such world leaders as Hailé Selassie, Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy and François Mitterrand. Makeba has also toured with great singers such as Paul Simon, Nina Simone, Hugh Masekela and Dizzy Gillepsie.
A website created to honour accomplished South African nationals (zar.co.za) notes: "The ban on her records was lifted in South Africa in 1988 and she returned to her homeland in December 1990. Four years later, she started a charity project to raise funds to protect women in South Africa. Her first concert in South Africa (1991) was a huge success and this was a prelude to a world-wide tour which included the USA and Europe."
She was married to Stokely Carmichael, a radical Black Panther leader. She had also been married to Hugh Masekela.
Although well received on the American culture scene, the love turned sour after her marriage to Carmichael, in 1968. The US never placed a formal ban, but her once thriving concert deals suddenly dried up. It is remarkable that she lived through the trauma without a whiff of bitterness in her songs and comments.
Where the evil wrought by apartheid made life seem hopeless for her fellow black South Africans, her music offered a soothing relief and gave them reasons to smile and cling onto life. The test of true art is in its ability to stay evergreen. Makeba's music has remained appealing decades after, surviving the onslaught of disco, hip-hop and the sub-cultures they have inspired in Africa.
Since her death was announced, there has been an endless stream of eulogies. It's no surprise given the accomplishments of this simple but exceptional woman whose music was - and still remains - a signature tune for all Africans.
Born 1932 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Makeba's first shot to limelight was as a vocalist with the Manhattan Brothers in 1954. She would later quit to record with her all-woman group the Skylarks while touring Southern Africa with Alf Herberts' African Jazz and Variety, an 18-month tour reputed to have launched the careers of many African artistes.
But it was a talent that blossomed much earlier when as a 13-year-old, she was adjudged winner of a talent show at a missionary school. The town took note; often inviting young Makeba to sing at weddings and other social functions.
In 1959, Makeba starred as female lead in the show, King Kong, a Broadway-inspired South African musical. She would later sing at President John Kennedy's birthday, working in New York with Harry Belafonte where tunes such as "The Click Song" and "Pata Pata" were created.
Performances in Europe and America brought her to the attention of Harry Belafonte and Steve Allen which helped catapult her to fame. In 1959, she won a Grammy award for the album An Evening with Harry Belafonte & Miriam Makeba.
Her other awards include, the 1986 Dag Hammerskjold Peace Prize and the UNESCO Grand Prix du Conseil International de la Musique.
In 1967, one of her most popular tune, Pata Pata, was released in the United States and scored an instant hit worldwide. Other popular and commercially successful songs include Welela, Malaika and several memorable tunes that were just the perfect anthems for a black world in the turbulent '60s seeking for a voice capable of giving meaning to the expression, black is beautiful.
Makeba surmounted challenges including the effects of several car accidents, a plane crash and even cancer. But there is always a time to take the final bow and exit the stage. Makeba has just succumbed to that eternal rule. The ovation remains as it was when she first walked into our lives - and stole our hearts.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
