GAIM 2021 Featured Woman: Miriam Makeba, Singer-Songwriter and Activist
Miriam peered around a giant red velvety curtain into the crowd. The audience filed in, laughing and smiling. They are so happy, she thought, but I and my people are not. None of the people arriving in the club looked like Miriam; they were all white, spoke only English, and looked down on her people. Tonight, she would perform Pata Pata, a song she had written in Xhosa, one of her native tongues. Thanks to this song, she had become famous in Johannesburg, her hometown. Even though the song was written in a native tongue, the native people of South Africa were not allowed in this audience. If Miriam were an audience member, she would have to wait until the next performance, when her people were allowed in.
Sadness welled in her as she stepped out onto the stage, but she remembered that her mother and young daughter, Bongi, needed her help, and she began to sing. Pata Pata was a joyous anthem for the divided peoples of South Africa, as music was one of the few things everyone was allowed to enjoy. For Miriam, performing this song to an all-white crowd was bittersweet, but she knew that through music she could make them understand her pain. She decided she would use song to talk frankly about what life in South Africa is like for black people.
Speaking about the realities of apartheid* became a hallmark of Miriam’s shows. She was eventually asked to have a small role in a film called Come Home, Africa which was an anti-apartheid film. This film and her 1967 recording of Pata Patabrought her to international fame and she left South Africa to perform, only to find that when she tried to return for her mother’s funeral, her passport had been cancelled and she was not allowed home. She spent 31 years in exile, during which she gained more international recognition, traveling all over the United States, Europe, and Africa to perform. She also starred in movies, and became the first African artist to win a Grammy.
In spite of her fame and exile, Miriam’s spirit and style remained the same. She wore traditional clothing and jewelry and remained vocal about civil rights, racial injustice, and other movements. As a result she became known as “Mama Africa”. When she finally returned to South Africa, after the oppressive government crumbled, she was welcomed home like a queen. She continued to perform internationally for the rest of her life, winning numerous awards for both her music and her activism. She also created an orphanage for young girls called 'Makeba Centre for Girls' which she said was her most personal project. Upon her death, Nelson Mandela had the following to say: “She was South Africa’s first lady of song and so richly deserved the title of Mama Afrika. She was a mother to our struggle and to the young nation of ours.”
*apartheid - institutionalized racial segregation in South Africa
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I look at an ant and see myself: a native South African, endowed by nature with a strength much greater than my size so I might cope with the weight of a racism that crushes my spirit. I look at a bird and I see myself: a native South African, soaring above the injustices of apartheid on wings of pride, the pride of a beautiful people.”