Sam Nuvala Fonkem
23 November 2008
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No amount of eulogies and tributes in honour of Miriam Makeba can be considered enough to match the fame and fortitude of that Grand Old Lady who dropped dead a fortnight ago in Italy doing what she loved doing best - using her musical talent to fight a noble cause; the cause of freedom from oppression, freedom from racism.
She checked out of this sinful world in a spectacular manner at the age of 76 shortly after a stage performance in honour of six Africans who were assassinated in a racially motivated attack in the South of Italy and her dramatic exit was a traffic reminder of the popular saying that a Spartan dies but never surrenders.
My memories of Miriam stretch back to sometime in November 1974 when she visited Cameroon on the invitation of late President Ahmadou Ahidjo and during a subsequent trip several years later exclusive interview with her in the studios of Radio Cameroon in Yaounde.
At the time of her 1974 visit she had already taken up permanent residence since 1969 in Guinea-Conakry from where she toured many African countries whose leaders were vying with one another to host the Queen of African music.
Miriam was fêted by the likes of Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Jafaar Nimeiri of Sudan, William Tubman of Liberia, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Muamar Khadaffi of Libya, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia - in short, she was the darling of all African Heads of State except her native South Africa that was under the evil spell of apartheid. In this competition by African leaders to bask in the sunshine radiated by Miriam, our own Ahmadou Ahidjo was determined not to be left out.
The annual Red Cross ballroom dance was the only truly non-political, social and recreational outing Ahidjo permitted himself and, in 1974, Miriam was invited to thrill the occasion. It was my second year at the International Higher School of Journalism Yaounde (ESIJY now ASMAC) that was established by a convention of six African countries including Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Togo and Rwanda.
The school's dynamic director at the time, Hervé Bourges, an accomplished public relations stunts man, had succeeded to woo Myriam to give a pep talk to the students and staff, the substance of which can be found in the December 1974 edition of ESIJY FORUM I discovered by chance in my personal archives.
Miriam Makeba's message to journalists was as follows: "President Ahmed Sekou Toure (of Guinea-Conakry) reminds us that culture is a fundamental weapon in our revolutionary struggle for total liberation. Consequently, those of us Africans who are scattered across the globe because of the nefarious action of European imperialism must make use of our culture as a weapon of liberation.
In this regard, the journalist must act as an intermediary, the mobiliser of the masses. Any African journalist who does not see his role in this context should be considered as passive and cannot make the least contribution to the emancipation of his people, in particular, and to history, in general.
"Commonsense teaches us the duty of a communicator is to be active; history has decided it, a sense of humanity has imposed it, our people demand it and expect much from us. The people look up to journalists to demonstrate that they recognise, understand and master the need to propagate the positive aspects of African culture across the world.
"It has been said of the Blackman that he is the music maker of the world. In effect, the reality is that without Africans, American culture, and especially American music, would never have attained the level it has reached in the world today. The capitalist system, as vicious as it is, does not only exploit artists of all categories, including journalists, but seeks also to destroy the authentic inheritors of the African revolutionary culture. It is appropriate here to mention the case of Paul Robeson.
"I call on you, my brothers and sisters of the International Higher School of Journalism of Yaounde to join the ranks of those who make history. You ought to be conscious of the power you possess, and believe me, my brothers and sisters, you possess great power. This power ought to serve the interest of the suffering mass of our people.
"I extend to you my greetings and gratitude. I urge you to be intransigent in the struggle for the promotion of our African culture."Needles to recall that her message was greeted by a standing ovation after which she settled down to field questions in an impromptu press conference that spanned issues related to her precarious upbringing in apartheid South Africa, her experience in racist America, her musical career and her return to Africa, though not her native South Africa to which she returned only after the release from jail of Nelson Mandela.
That day, she spoke of many things; fools and kings; her trials and tribulations, the kindness, warmth, and understanding she felt in Africa, her wish to one day see South Africa being ruled by Africans. That wish was eventually fulfilled in her life time.
Speaking on problems facing the African continent, Miriam had this to say: "we have a lot to do with regard to the economic independence of Africa which is still under domination.
Whether you are a journalist or a musician, no one should tell himself that "I don't want to be involved in politics, I just want to sing about love or I just want to write what would please everybody.
"Drawing inspiration from the people, it is our duty, in a positive way, to restore meaning in the lives of our people. That is what I try to do for my brothers and sisters and for myself. If some of my songs militate in favour of the advancement of the African woman, I do sing primarily for the struggle of mankind (man and woman), the joy and the sadness of life in general."
Talking about the apartheid system, she confessed that she found it painful to speak about apartheid which she noted was a terminology used by the Dutch, European and American colonialists who seized our lands and practised a policy of racial segregation. These colonialists, she said, have attempted to relate the anti-apartheid struggle to the black civil rights movement in America, but beyond the issue of civil rights, the problem in South Africa has to do with the restitution of land to the rightful African owners.
She pointed out that the racist regime was interpreting the black struggle as a fight for the independence of the Bantustans (African village settlements created by white rulers) whereas the real struggle was aimed at recuperating lands that white settlers had expropriated.
On the question of African unity Miriam Makeba lamented over the fact that the continent was the richest in the world but that, unfortunately, its inhabitants were the most deprived and the poorest in the world because it was not united and, unlike Europe and the Arab World, it lacked solidarity.
My memories of Miriam Makeba, like everyone else, are unforgettable. That day, in 1974, she wore a black ankle-length dress, a necklace of African beads and ear-rings to match, and her hair was plaited rasta, no threads, no superfluous make up like Michael Jackson.
She spoke with a languorous strain which barely disguised the volcanic energy of her soul.
Her voice could tame a lion to sleep, but her vocal inflections, timbre and tone could move the mountain to the ocean. Like another great African musician, Manu Dibango of Cameroon who put African music on the world map, Miriam was a simple, unassuming talent of Olympian dimension. Plain red beans and rice that she was, she has left an artistic legacy that would remain unrivalled for a very long time to come.
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